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October 29, 2009

Guard dogs

Defending family, country drives New Waverly pair to join U.S. Army following graduation

By Gene Schallenberg

Every Friday night, the Bulldogs strap on their gear and put on their uniforms to get ready for a battle.

For a couple of New Waverly seniors, that scene hits a little closer to home.

Following graduation next May, Jesse Elias and Guadalupe Garza will put on a different uniform with new equipment as they begin their service with the U.S. Army.

“It’s one of those things that a lot of coaches look on with a sense of pride in what you’re doing in your program,” New Waverly head coach Ken Craig said. “You raise, along with their parents, young men that you depend on and don’t even know it. They’re the ones that put themselves in harm’s way to protect our way of life, and our lives, in particular. I’m so proud of those young men.”

Elias and Garza get a thrill out of sporting their colors and playing for New Waverly under the bright lights on Friday nights, but they take especially great pride when they don their Army fatigues.

“It makes me feel proud,” Garza said. “I feel great every time I put it on. It’s just like when I put on that jersey every Friday morning. You’re out there to do something and you have to show it.”

Elias, whose basic training was held at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and Garza, who underwent boot camp at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., knew that when they left for boot camp in June that they’d miss most of summer football camp in August.

“I was displeased at first,” said Elias, who plays defensive end and center for the Bulldogs. “I’ve been doing two-a-days ever since I was in high school. When I was at basic, I missed it a lot. But I knew basic was hard and it would get me ready for football.”

The pair of Bulldogs didn’t miss a beat as they arrived to summer football camp in late August fit and ready to go.

“They were lean, in shape and strong,” Craig said. “I think one of the things I noticed was that they didn’t seem like high school boys anymore. They matured in a lot of different ways. Physically, I think they’re better for it. I think their maturity and leadership skills that they learned made them better too.”

During the 10 weeks in basic training, Elias and Garza took on leadership roles, which Craig notes is obvious since they rejoined the team. Garza was a platoon guide and Elias served as a team leader for his squad.

“A lot of times leadership is shown by how you live,” Craig said. “They have that personal responsibility, dependability and willingness to place the team above themselves. Those are the kinds of qualities that you want from your leaders.

“You see it in the little things. When we had tutorial time at a pretty significant time in our season because we got near the end of the second six weeks when grades were reported, Jesse came up to me and said, ‘Coach, would you like me to take (my teammate) to his teachers and make sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to?’ That was good he wanted to do that. Those are the qualities that they’re going to use in their lifelong skills.”

Elias and Garza know that after they receive their full training after they graduate, approximately 12 weeks of advanced individual training, they could be sent overseas to fight where their lives are going to be on the line every day. But they acknowledged that is part of the job.

Defending their families and their country outweighs anything that could happen to them.

“If we’re sent over there, I’ll miss everybody, but it wouldn’t bother me at all,” Elias said. “I’ll fight for my country. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I’d do anything for my family. That’s what it’s about.”

Garza echoed those sentiments.

“We didn’t sign up just to have fun,” Garza said. “We’ll go with a purpose. Every soldier counts, no matter how weak he is or strong he is. Everyone counts. Our lives is something that we put up.”



New Waverly notes

Weather wins again — In the final home game of the regular season, the Bulldogs will celebrate their homecoming tonight against Groveton. Due to inclement weather this week, the New Waverly homecoming parade has yet to roll. The parade could be rescheduled for next week, but a decision has not been made.



Clinching opportunity — Tonight, the Bulldogs can accomplish a couple of goals with a win over Groveton. Not only will a victory over the Indians clinch a second straight berth to the playoffs, but it will give New Waverly at least a share of its second straight district title.

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