Lyford QB Esparza on a tear

LYFORD — Faith, friends and football go hand in hand for Johnny Esparza.

So does fun.

And the Lyford senior quarterback has been having plenty of it with his friends – the 8-0 Lyford Bulldogs.

“This season’s been a dream come true so far,” Esparza said. “To be undefeated so far in our senior year with all of our friends, I wouldn’t want to play for any other team.”

Heading into Friday’s home finale against Rio Hondo, Esparza leads the Rio Grande Valley in passing yardage (2,104) and touchdown passes (23). But he was quick to credit his teammates for their collective efforts.

“Our O-line has done a lot and given great protection,” Esparza said. “And we’ve had 14 different guys catch passes.”

Now, he’ll try to carve up the Bobcats defense to help the Bulldogs officially clinch a share of the 32-3A title.

“He’s definitely a pleasure to coach and a pleasure to watch,” Lyford head coach Jaime Infante said. “Johnny’s been a leader for us and he’s just a tremendous student of the game.”

Esparza knows Infante’s spread offense inside and out and has all the traits a coach dreams of: A strong, accurate arm, pocket presence, mobility, poise and leadership.

“He’s not your prototypical quarterback as far as stature goes,” Infante said of the 5-8 signal-caller. “But he is one in every other sense.”

And when Infante went from the nasty slot to the spread a few years ago, the table was certainly set for the then-youngster coming up the ranks.

Esparza saw his first varsity action as a freshman against rival Raymondville in 2006. He then started as a sophomore and has been a fixture in Kelly green & gold ever since.

“It’s a lot of fun to play in this offense,” Esparza said. “Especially when we’re good at what we’re doing. We’ve got the timing down.”

You can add “team player” to the list of attributes for Esparza, who tied the Valley record for touchdown passes in a game (7) last year and was an all-state pick as a sophomore.

“We all grew up together,” Esparza said of his teammates. “We just have faith in each other that we’re gonna come through.”

Now the Bobcats come calling, winners of four straight. RH took last year’s 57-50 barnburner and has won five straight (including a playoff game) against Lyford.

“We remember that game last year and they’ve beat us (the last three times),” Esparza said. “But we’re just out to prove everybody wrong every week. We were picked by everyone to finish seventh in the district.”

Armando Garza covers District 32-3A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers.