Trainer Tony Muñoz has watched rise of Weslaco East

Weslaco East trainer Tony Muñoz is in his third season working with the Wildcats. Before that, Muñoz spent 10 years at Mercedes. RGVSports.com caught up with Muñoz to discuss the Wildcats’ rise, his memories of working with the Tigers, and any possible mixed emotions when the teams meet in The Monitor and the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week.

Q: This is your third year at East and seen the program’s three best years. How is Armando Cuellar doing this?

A: I think coach Cuellar is doing a great job. I think the people he has with him, our offensive coordinator, our defensive coordinator, are hard-workers. I think they know what they’re doing and they get after it and work hard and set up their gameplan and the kids follow it the best they can. 7-0 I guess is the result. Coach Cuellar has been putting it all together and it has worked out.

Q: It seems like they’re also trying to build a tradition here. What’s the feeling around here about that?

A: I think the school being so young, it’s making history. You look back at all the big programs like Calallen, they have a long history. Edcouch, they have a long history. You’ve got to start somewhere. Weslaco East is starting it’s history, building their foundation and the program should grow from there.

Q: Weslaco East is in the same town as Weslaco High, while Mercedes is the only school in its town. How different does it feel from Mercedes?

A: It’s a little bit of a difference, because as they say it’s not a one-horse town like Mercedes is. Some people are purely Weslaco Panther fans, some people are purely Weslaco East fans, and there’s some that root for both teams and want to see both teams succeed because they’re from Weslaco so they want to see the city of Weslaco do well. You kind of share fans. It’s a little different, but it’s something I’m getting used to.

Q: Is there a chip on this program’s shoulder?

A: I think it’s kind of like the little brother in the family. The big brother goes off to school and does great things while the little brother doesn’t want to be left behind. We need to make our own stand. We need to prove ourselves in what we do in all sports and academics and everything as the smaller school. Yeah, we want our own attention. We have to work hard to get it, to deserve it.

Q: That almost sounds similar to Mercedes against Edcouch-Elsa. Do you see any similarities?

A: That’s more of a rivalry. The people from (Mercedes), it’s totally different. Edcouch is Edcouch, Mercedes is Mercedes and they’re big-time rivals. Here, I don’t think that rivalry really exists. I think it’s just, they have their share of the pie and we want our share of the pie. Basically, that’s what it is. You have to earn your respect and you have to earn your share of the pie and that’s what we’re trying to do here.

Q: What’s your opinion of the job Michael Uribe has been doing at Mercedes?

A: I think he’s done a great job. I had a chance to work with him while I was in Mercedes for a couple years. He’s a young guy and he knows what he’s doing and has a great work-ethic and he instills that in his kids over there.

Q: Any mixed emotions when Weslaco East faces Mercedes?

A: Honestly, the first couple of years I was like that because I have a lot of friends over there. Now that I’ve been there and I’ve worked with these kids, I wish Mercedes the best of luck but these are my kids now. We want to do the best we can and I want to see these kids succeed.

Brian Sandalow covers District 32-4A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via e-mail at bsandalow@themonitor.com.