Bears feel like they can spread out opponents

BALMORHEA In six-man football, being able to run the spread offense is a luxury.

You need talent at all positions. You need depth. You need players who can grasp the system.

More than anything, “you gotta have speed,” Balmorhea head coach Debiasie Mendoza said.

The Bears think they have it all this year.

Six seniors — all of whom have played since they were freshmen — and five juniors; all the defensive starters from last year’s team, and only one missing on offense; and a team that ran the spread late last year out of necessity because of injuries to key players.

“The leadership is there,” Mendoza said. “The only thing is, it’s gonna come down to determination and hard work and some dedication. Throw all those three in there and that’s gonna be the difference.”

At spread back is senior Adam Roman, who last year collected 1,636 total yards and 22 touchdowns. He was forced to step up when a couple of the Bears’ other top players went down with injuries.

He is the top returner, handling an offense that last year resorted to the spread because it was in a third-and-long or wanted to surprise a defense.

“We have more speed and more people and me and (junior receiver Ryan Mondragon) got used to running spread last year,” Roman said. “A bunch of people were hurt and that’s all we had left. We threw a lot of teams off. We’d surprise them because they think we’d line up to run the ball but we’d pass it and run spread.”

The 6-foot-2 Mondragon had 771 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, tallying 117 tackles at almost every defensive position.

The Bears limped into the District 8 Division II schedule and went 0-3 against district opponents, ending 4-5 overall.

The district should be tough again, Mendoza said.

But the Bears are banking on a lot, including the luxury to run what can be an electric offense.

“This year we’ll actually get to use it to our advantage,” Mendoza said. “We can hit the big plays, gain 30 or 40 yards per play.”