Eight-year-old Edna resident Lorenzo Gomez truly loves football. It’s been obvious since he began playing in local leagues at age five. He’s played at every opportunity for those three years, qnd it turns out, he’s pretty good at it.
He’s good enough, in fact, that a coach from the Houston Seahakws, a youth team, reached out a few months ago and invited Lorenzo to try out for a spot in a Houston league. The Gomez family had seen the coach, Al Blackmon, in action before. Impressed with his skills, they were excited for the opportunity to branch out and give Lorenzo new opportunities.
“We were at the point that we wanted him to compete against different competition,” said Minerva Gomez, Lorenzo’s mother. “We wanted him to see there was different talent than the towns surrounding us.”
Once Lorenzo made the team, he, Minerva, and his father Greg realized this was a whole different world. He was going to have to work hard to hang in this league, which was exactly what his family wanted for him. More challenges equaled more opportunities to grow.
“He was at the bottom of their depth chart,” Minerva said.
“He definitely had to work his way up that depth chart to become a starter.”
The Seahawks ended their season as state runners up, but the season wasn’t over for Lorenzo. He was also chosen to play in the United Youth Sports National competition, all the way in Florida, and his all star team placed third in Nationals. He will also play at the national level in Panama City, Florida next month. At those levels, Lorenzo said there is a lot riding on him and his teammates.
“It’s pressure,” the offensive lineman said.
“The team depends on us because we’re the great wall. We have to be on task so our running backs can score.”
Lorenzo said that as he played in larger, more competitive leagues, both the stadiums and the competition got larger.
“We played in college stadiums,” he said.
“When we played in Florida, it was a whole different thing. Like, there were kids the size of adults. 14-year-olds had beards already. It was more compeition.”
When the time rolls around, Lorenzo does plan to come “back to his roots,” Minerva said.
He’ll come right back here to Jackson County to play in his Crossroads league, for Coach Jacob Gandy, who they say has supported him throughout this journey, even traveling to see him play. Lorenzo plans to one day play varsity football for the Edna Cowboys, and then he hopes for a Division One scholarship to continue playing at the college level.
He is grateful for his family, his coaches and teammates, and the Cortez family for always traveling to support him.
