Cardinals' Ledesma tabbed Offensive Player of the Year

From his first official start as a Harlingen Cardinals quarterback against Harlingen South in 2010 to his final start against San Antonio Madison earlier this month, Kevin Ledesma never relented.

A two-year starter for the Cardinals, Ledesma will go down in the history books as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Harlingen history.

Many could argue he was or wasn’t the best. But no one can deny his place in history of the storied and tradition-filled Big Red program.

Ledesma combined for over 3,500 offensive yards this season and 50 touchdowns in leading a Harlingen offense that averaged over 450 yards per game in 13 games.

On top of those impressive numbers, Ledesma also led the Cardinals past the third round of the playoffs for only the second time in school history and the fourth time overall by a Valley 5A club.

For his efforts Ledesma was named the Valley Freedom Newspapers 2011 All-Valley Offensive Player of the Year. Last year Ledesma was named the All-Purpose Player of the Year for his rushing and passing abilities.

"It means a lot to me," Ledesma said of the honor. "This was a special year. We got to the fourth round, we had a great team. And these guys (All-Valley) are the best the Valley has to offer. Just being part of this group means a lot."

This season was one of high expectations for Ledesma and the Cardinals. After narrowly being ousted of the playoffs in the third round last season, Ledesma and the Cards made it a mission to break through the barrier that is the third round.

And from the opening whistle, the Cardinals steamrolled the competition starting with a 72-0 win against CC Carroll at home in the regular season opener.

Ledesma and the Cardinals went on to beat Abilene in Week Three in a highly anticipated non-district match up.

Harlingen claimed its fourth straight district title and completed with third straight undefeated regular season.

In the playoffs, Ledesma and the Cardinals’ offense continued to roll.

On the season, Ledesma threw for 2,494 yards and 27 touchdowns. He rushed for 1.064 more yards and an additional 23 TDs.

In two seasons as Harlingen quarterback, Ledesma went 25-2 losing only to San Antonio Stevens (2010) and San Antonio Madison (2011). Both teams were Class 5A state semifinalists.

In that same time, Ledesma tallied 6,868 total offensive yards and 97 touchdowns. By comparison, McAllen Memorial’s Matthew Kauffman tallied over 10,000 yards and over 100 touchdowns in four years as the starter of the Mustangs.

"It’s been a lot of hard work," Ledesma said of staying healthy and consistent that past four years. "I was surrounded by a lot of good people and a lot of great coaches. I knew my role on this offense and on this team. This is a great program and I feel confident that future teams will be just as good or better than we were this year."

KEVIN LEDESMA, HARLINGEN

POSITION: QB
CLASS: Senior
HEIGHT: 5-8
WEIGHT: 170
BIO: Ledesma finishes with one of the best winning percentages as a starting quarterback in Valley history with a 92.6 percentage (25-2)…Ledesma was named the Built Ford Tough Player of the Week in Class 5A for the state in Week Three…Four of Ledesma's 25 wins came against teams from outside the Valley…Ledesma accounted for over half of the Cardinals offensive yards this season…Ledesma accounted for 50 touchdowns this season and 97 in two seasons.
One thing fans don't know about Kevin Ledesma: “That I really loved their support. It pumped and hyped me up before games. Seeing them go crazy before games really got me going.”

SUNDAY: Player of the Year