Breaking through

When David Camacho began spring football practice at Odessa High in 2006, it was all about pass routes and hitting the holes on the running plays.

Set to be an all-around weapon on offense, in the mold of Chandler Goode from the previous season, Camacho was running 8-yard curls or quick slants across the middle, when he wasn’t in motion to take a handoff on sweeps around either end.

In the blink of an eye, however, all that changed as incumbent Mason Munguia injured a knee and Camacho was quickly thrust into the starting quarterback role.

“We needed to find the best athlete we had and that was David,” offensive coordinator Brad Boyd said. “He had played some quarterback in junior high, but really we were looking at using him all over the field.

“He got a crash course in how to be a starting varsity quarterback during the spring and we asked him to learn a lot of things in a short amount of time. But we needed him to be ready and to be prepared to step up and lead the team.”

It was a lot to learn for someone who had taken a few snaps during his sophomore season at OHS on the junior varsity, a job that consisted primarily of turning around and handing the football to the running backs in a run-oriented offense that then-head coach Scott Phillips was running.

However, Phillips and his ground-pounding offense were gone in the spring of 2006 and new head coach Ron King was installing a wide-open attack that Camacho was trying to learn on the fly. Add the pressures of stepping in to run the new schemes and things could get a little overwhelming at time.

His father, David Camacho Sr., saw it at home quite a bit during the first half of the season.

“I don’t think he realized completely that it was his job until the second or third week of the season last year,” the elder Camacho said. “Normally he is joking around and loose, but you could tell by Wednesday or Thursday of each week that he would start to get a little more uptight because he was thinking about what he needed to do.”

Considering all those factors makes Camacho’s debut at quarterback that much more impressive.

RECORD SETTING

When a coach is throwing a quarterback into the fray for the first time, expectations are lowered and just managing a game plan is the most that usually can be hoped for.

David Camacho did much more than that.

By the time the 2006 season ended, Camacho had etched his name into the OHS record book in three different categories and helped two teammates — wide receivers Byron Monahan and Daniel Rivas — set marks as well.

Previous records for most pass attempts in a season (218), most touchdown passes in a season (15) and most touchdowns combined (22) fell as Camacho (219, 17 and 25 respectively) quickly grew into the role as the team’s leader. He finished with a single-game high of 289 passing yards against Lubbock Coronado and averaged nearly 200 yards passing per game during District 3-5A competition.

For the season, he had 872 yards rushing on 185 carries with eight touchdowns and was 98-of-219 passing for 1,572 yards and 17 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

Not bad for someone who last played quarterback full-time as a seventh-grader at Ector Junior High, his first year of organized football.

“David did everything that we asked last year,” King said. “He was put in a tough situation and he responded for us and gave us a chance to win every ballgame.

“That he was able to set some records along the way is nice and will be something that he’ll be able to look back on when he’s finished at OHS.”

Camacho’s breakout season has pushed him into territory rarely seen by Bronchos signal callers as the previous seven decades of football have been dominated by run-oriented schemes. Still, another year like his junior campaign and Camacho likely will be atop the list of several marks in the OHS annals.

The records within reach in 2007 are:

>> Most pass attempts in a game (41) and career (393).

>> Most completions in a game (22), season (106) and career (188).

>> Most passing yards in a game (326), season (1,731) and career (2,840).

>> Most combined touchdowns in a career (46).

>> Most touchdowns passing in game (4) and career (22).

The records, however, are secondary to Camacho. The only record he worries about is the won-loss mark and last year’s 2-8 season still weighs heavily on the senior’s mind.

“We had a good team last year, but we didn’t play very well as a team,” Camacho said. “We need to all be on the same page and ready to play this year.

“I want to help this team get to the playoffs and show everyone that Odessa High is a good football team.”

DEFENDING DAVID

Mention Camacho’s name to opposing District 3-5A coaches and the initial reaction is the same — stunned silence — as they think about the fleet-footed Bronchos leader.

Midland Lee coach Randy Quisenberry just shook his head when he remembered what Camacho was able to do against the Rebels last season, even when the defenders knew what was going to happen.

“We were able to hold OHS down in the first half and then he (Camacho) took over against us,” Quisenberry said. “He’s so fast and he was just running all over the place and then started hitting his passes.

“After one play, I looked over to our defensive coaches and asked how we could stop him and they just threw their hands up. We didn’t have an answer for him and we were fortunate enough to have gotten an early lead and were able to hang on.”

Camacho rushed for 3 yards and passed for just 54 in the first half against Midland Lee. He finished with 163 yards rushing and 215 passing, warranting the accolades from Quisenberry.

Abilene High coach Steve Warren is another believer in Camacho’s abilities to run a football team, especially after watching him orchestrate three fourth-quarter touchdown drives in the final regular-season game of 2006.

Warren also understands the toughness that Camacho brings to the field and knows that aspect carries over to the rest of the Bronchos each night.

“He’s just the returning all-district quarterback,” Warren said. “There were times last year that we hit him so hard and he just bounced right up and refused to quit or let his teammates quit.

“When you have a leader like that, with his ability to make plays with his feet or through the air, it makes life very tough on defensive coordinators. And he’s just going to get better.”

EXPECTATIONS

The Bronchos coaching staff certainly hopes that Warren’s words are prophetic about the upcoming 2007 season.

With a full season and spring practice under his belt, Camacho knows as well that more is expected of him as he embarks on his senior season. He knows that he has a younger corps of receivers to throw to this season, but it’s a group that King, Boyd and Camacho all feel are capable of getting the job done.

“We are very deep at receiver,” Boyd said. “Last year, we had a couple of receivers that you knew David was going to try to get the ball to on each play, if he could.

“That’s not the case this year as we have eight to 10 different receivers who have stepped up and shown they want to be a part of what we are doing here. That’s going to give David more options and make him more dangerous because he’ll have several different reads before he decides to pull the ball down and run.”

King’s expectations run a little higher for Camacho, because he knows what his quarterback can do. Camacho was capable of equally frustrating both the opponents and OHS coaching staff with his decisions at times on the field.

That, King said, was a result of being thrust into the quarterback role without much preparation and many of the mistakes made were “young mistakes” and ones King expects Camacho to grow out of this season.

The second-year head coach also is looking for Camacho to have a better handle on things during the crucial parts of each game.

“We’ve sat down with David and told him what we are looking for this season,” King said. “Last year, we were playing from behind so often that David was forced to do some things that took us out of our normal offense.

“This year, we are looking for better balance from the offense and that comes from David because he’s the leader of that unit. I need for his yards to come in crucial situations, when we are driving down the field and controlling the football and not so much when the game already has been decided.”