There’s not many of them left.
Most of them got together Wednesday, just a handful of players, laughing and joking, helmets swinging at their side on their way off the practice field and up to the fieldhouse to take a photo.
They thought way back to their freshman year — their first season in an Odessa High uniform together.
There were plenty of memories, and plenty to talk about.
“Wasn’t that the Midland High game?” “They tried to lateral it, and Aaron picked it up.” “Almost every game was close.” “Remember this?” “Remember that?”
It was fond talk for this group of Bronchos seniors, once members of a perfect 10-0 team on Odessa High’s Freshman Red in 2014 — though now there aren’t many still walking with them to share those memories.
It’s been a long road for this crew.
Wednesday, by the time they finished that walk to the fieldhouse, less than a dozen were still around to snap that photo.
But the remaining few are ready for one more ride together.
“Us 10 that stayed — or however many that stayed — we’re happy to be with each other,” Joseph Chavez said.
The Bronchos open District 2-6A play against Amarillo Tascosa on the road at 7:30 tonight at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo — setting in motion one last run through league action for the Bronchos’ seniors, including those from that 10-0 team.
More than 40 kids suited up for that Freshman Red team through that fall in 2014, but now, after two tough seasons, a coaching change, and plenty of adversity, less than a dozen of those players are still with the program, working to finish out their careers as seniors with the Bronchos.
Those still around, though, are serving as core leaders for the Bronchos in 2017.
Out of Odessa High’s 33 seniors on the roster, there’s 11 that have stuck it out from that 10-0 Freshman Red team. Three of those are team captains, and six of them are starters.
Now, they’re primed to lead the Bronchos through one more run in district.
“I’m proud of them for sticking with it,” said Bronchos offensive line coach Dex Dennard, who was that group’s head ninth-grade coach back in 2014.
“If you go 2-8 as sophomores and then 0-10 as juniors, you’re going to lose a lot of kids. It meant enough to these guys to stick around and fight through the hard times. Now they’re going to see some rewards, hopefully, at the end of the season.”
Dennard has the team photo from that freshman group above his desk in the coaches’ office in the OHS Fieldhouse. He pulled it down this week, to count the remaining players who are still around as seniors.
He ran his finger across the rows of faces, often times passing several before he could stop to count up another one of the ones still around.
But, perhaps because they’ve survived those hard times since, all the familiar faces he stopped on are key contributors now in 2017.
A couple have battled injury, but of the 11, three of them are team captains, in Chavez, Jacob Munoz and Chase Webster. The six starters include Zay Brown, Tony Carrasco, Aaron Ochoa and CJ Washington. Jaime Acosta is a do-it-all for the offensive line, ready to step into any spot. Three others didn’t make the photo: Christian Rocha; Christian Alvarez, who started the season injured; and Nathan Levarrio, who’s out now with a knee injury.
Together, though, that group has managed to recapture some of its old lightning at times already this season.
Washington scooped up a fumbled snap and scored the game-winning touchdown to lift the Bronchos to a thrilling win over Lubbock Monterey in the season opener. Carrasco was in on the play, clearing out the Monterey punter on the botched punt attempt to allow Washington to pick it up. Ochoa pulled down the game-sealing interception moments later.
“That’s what the freshman team was like,” Ochoa said that night, as the Bronchos stomped off the field after the big win. “Everybody was making plays.”
There was more like it in Week 2. Brown and Munoz both caught touchdowns passes in the win over Amarillo High. Webster and Chavez were both in on a game-tipping fourth-down stop on defense.
For those part of that freshman team, those were familiar sights.
“The first thing they said to me after that win against Lubbock Monterey — Aaron was like, ‘That’s our freshman magic right there,’” Dennard said this week with a laugh. “‘Freshman magic.’ That’s the first thought that came to their mind, and mine too. There was probably four or five games that year that were one-score, that came down to the last play, where we made a play and won the game.
“It gives them some confidence that, as long as we stick around, in the end we’re going to have a chance to win it. I think we see some of that this year, and hopefully it continues in district where we can get some wins.”
That’s the plan for these Bronchos, and it has been, even through a couple of tough seasons in 2015 and 2016.
Even with teammates dropping out around them amid plenty of other adversity and struggles, that group stuck with it.
“Football teaches you lessons about life. There’s going to be hard times. They’ve definitely gone through that,” Dennard said. “Now they’ve come out on the other side, and hopefully we can get to the playoffs and they can reap the rewards of all their hard work.”
It’s been a long road, but that much is still ahead for these Bronchos.
“It’s hard when you go through so much adversity — but I think these are the strongest kids, and I wouldn’t want anybody else, to be playing with,” Carrasco said.
One way or the other, they’re looking forward to giving it one more shot together in the district season.
“It’s going to be fun, but a little bit emotional, because I know I might not play with these dudes again,” Washington admitted. “They’re some of my best friends. I kind of don’t want it to end.”
Call it one last run for the last ones left — and it starts tonight.
“It just shows how dedicated we are to this program — how dedicated we are to each other, mostly,” Chavez said. “When we’re down, those are the people we go to, people back from the freshman year.
“We’ve always been together, no matter what.”
