On football: Scott Ford rolls dice again and again and again

Scott Ford’s got guts. You know the old saying, “no guts, no glory.”

Yeah, those type of guts.

The type of guts that you’ll also find in Edcouch-Elsa head coach Joe Solis.

Not many coaches can claim these type of guts. The funny thing is neither Ford nor Solis would boast their gutsyness.

They’re the kind of guts that separate good coaches from great ones.

And for a while now, Ford’s proving it time and time again that he deserves to fall under the great category.

Although sometimes Fords’ gambles might cause Falcon fans to cringe a bit. For the most part, they love Ford in Los Fresnos.

They really LOVE him right now.

Down by one, Ford went for the two-point conversion in overtime against the Harlingen Cardinals in their Class 5A, Division I bi-district clash at Boggus Stadium.

The call was reminiscent of Solis’ decision to go for two and the win against Weslaco in Week One.

That’s when the Yellowjackets’ record streak of 37 straight regular season games was on the line.

The conversion failed, but you have to love the call. It was all or nothing.

But for Ford and the Falcons, there was a little bit more on the line that just a streak.

The season was on the line. And thanks to Ford’s gamble, that season remains alive for at least one more week.

Third-string quarterback Aaron Rangel lined up at QB for the Falcons trailing 21-20 in the first overtime against the Cards.

Rangel took the snap and ran a quarterback sweep to the right. The speedy sophomore wasn’t going to be stopped.

Rangel scored and the Falcons won, setting up an area contest against the Donna Redskins in Donna next week.

Ford gambled again near the end of regulation when the Falcons lined up for a 41-yard field goal.

Ford called a fake but quarterback Mark Carmona overthrew a wide-open receiver.

It didn’t work this time, but the game was headed into overtime. And Ford — a candidate for all-Valley coach of the year — wasn’t done with his trickery.

“I just had a gut feeling,” Ford said. “And you just have to have faith in your team that they’ll execute the play. We put our fastest kid (Rangel) out there and he ran around the corner and scored.”

Los Fresnos attempted one punt in the game and went for it on fourth down like it was second-and-one.

Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. But it doesn’t mean Ford isn’t going to at least try.

“He’s very competitive,” tackle Eloy Atkinson said. “He gets us fired up and the whole team feeds off his confidence.”

Ford’s gambles are becoming a thing of legend in Los Fresnos.

Ever since he first took over as Falcons head coach back in 2002, the Valley got its first glimpse at Ford and his gutsy play calling.

Young and brash, many accused Ford of being flashy and arrogant.

He wasn’t.

An on-side kick or fake field goal early in the game wasn’t unusual.

The fans loved it and they loved Ford.

He left for year but returned for the 2004 season when the Falcons were moved up to Class 5A.

Ford had the Falcons in the playoffs by 2005 and they won their first district title in 2006.

Los Fresnos was picked to finish third at best this season. But Ford and the Falcons came through with big wins against San Benito and Weslaco to win their second straight district title.

And it couldn’t have been possible with out some of those Scott Ford gambles.

“Our kids have a lot of pride and when we were 1-2 (on the season) a lot of people told us it was OK to have a down season,” Ford said. “We took it personal and we never gave up on the year. We circled our wagons and hunkered down. We were determined to win.”

Mix that determination with Ford’s gutsy play calling and the Los Fresnos community can expect many more magical seasons ahead.