Underdog Apaches fill up all-district team

GONZALES — If a team goes 3-1 with a share of the district title after being picked to go last preseason, their players are expected to top some of the first and second-team all-district spots. That’s where the Apaches find themselves with the District 15-4AD1 all-district team listed officially announced earlier this week.

Head Coach Kodi Crane as well as Chris Tabor of La Vernia and Che Hendrix of Boerne were all named coach of the year in the district. Seniors James Martinez and Jared Esparza were named offense and defensive players of the year, respectively.

On offense, named to the first team were fullback Ja’Corveon Walton, tight end Lion Williamson, center Nico Anzaldua, guard Larry Gomez, tackle Alex Villa and punter Adrian Rodriguez. Named to the second team were fullback Contrell Smith, wide receiver Heber Cardona and guard Cameron Mileham. Desmond Bolden was named one of the five offensive wildcats. Arbreyon Dora, Zach Davis, Jorge Cervantez, Matthew Almaraz and Cole Hendershot were all honorably mentioned.

On defense, named to the first team were defensive end Lion Williamson, inside linebacker Isaac Longoria (who was unanimously voted to the first team), safety Kenneth Cavit and outside linebacker Seth Gibson. Named to the second team were defensive lineman Trent Wilkerson, defensive end Diego Diaz DeLeon and safety Heath Henke. Vicente Reyna was named one of the five defensive wildcats. Honorably mentioned were corner Matthew Velazquez-Banda, corner Domingo Garcia, safety Eduardo Izaguirre, outside linebacker Christopher Box, safety Michael Bosquez and kicker Daniel Cruz.

“I thought we were very well represented,” Crane said of the all-district list. “I was a little bit disappointed in some positions, like you always are every single year, but we were extremely well represented.”

“We’re extremely well represented, got some superlatives, the MVPs and stuff and it’s very well deserved for our group,” Crane added. “What they did and how hard they competed and played, I promise you, every offense that we played in our district had more people six foot starting on offense than we had on our whole team. They’re faster than us and I can prove that in any track meet that we go to. So how did this team compete to win a district championship? Well it’s competitiveness, it’s work ethic, it’s sacrifice, it’s commitment to our team, all those intangibles that you always talk about came together with this team and it was extremely fun to be a part of and I’m extremely indebted to those kids that sacrificed their time and their effort for Apache football.”

The Apaches finished the season 6-6 overall, 3-1 in District 15-4ADI.