Coach’s dedication to Desert Pines involves more than football success

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Tico Rodriguez manned his booking post at the Juvenile Detention Center each day, watching teenager after teenager enter the system accused of committing a crime. By the time they made it to Rodriguez, who just moved here from Miami, reality started to hit for most as they faced the consequences of poor decisions.

After a month, Rodriguez became dissatisfied with the job. He wanted to help children before their situation led to a trip to the juvenile system. He wanted to get back into coaching football, a sport that helped him and other inner-city youths in South Florida avoid trouble.

So, Rodriguez interviewed for a job at Desert Pines High School. It was one of the only schools he knew because it was down the street from the detention center, and, most important, the Jaguars played good football.

“These kids (at Desert Pines) are the ones I felt I could make the most impact with,” he said.

He has been on staff for more than 15 years, which starts to explain why at-risk Desert Pines is one victory away from the football program’s shining moment — a state championship. The Jaguars play Spring Creek at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bishop Gorman's Fertitta Field looking for their first state championship after a few near-misses. OK, one gigantic miss — it led Moapa Valley by 22 points two years ago in the fourth quarter, but lost in overtime.

Desert Pines is like most schools in an economically unstable neighborhood. Graduation rates aren’t great, nearly 90 percent of students qualify for free breakfast and lunch, and athletics often suffer because many students care for younger siblings after school or work to help their family survive. Others are academically ineligible.

That’s the environment in which Rodriguez has thrived.

When other educators only spend a few years at an at-risk school until something better opens, Rodriguez travels past those schools each day to get to Desert Pines. When the program needs money, he’s out raising funds, if not dipping into his own pocket. When a player doesn’t have strong parental support at home, he willingly steps up to offer encouragement and teach life lessons.

“He has made me a better leader, as a young man and athlete,” said Marckell Grayson, the Jaguars’ team captain. “I developed leadership from him. We’ve had so many distractions, but he can handle adversity like anyone I have met. He’s always so calm and collected.”

In the wake of the program’s most disappointing loss, squandering what appeared to be an insurmountable lead against Moapa Valley, Rodriguez became more than a coach. He immediately started building the team up for the future, whether it was next season for returning players or life after football for seniors.

The team was dominated by sophomores, players who are now seniors, and Rodriguez stressed to them that the loss wasn’t the end of their journey — it was the beginning. They’d win more games, hang championship banners in the gym and send players out of the neighborhood for a better opportunity in college.

“I really believe in building a family and relationship with the players,” Rodriguez said. “We have coaches who are mentors, not just coaches. They build positive relationships with the guys.”

Turns out a tough-to-stomach playoff loss wasn’t the only setback the team had to overcome. During the spring workouts for the following season, top offensive lineman Sam Poutasi suffered a leg injury that would force him to miss most of the upcoming fall season. A few months later, just one week before the first game, defensive lineman Anthony Smith tore his ACL and would be lost for the season.

These weren’t your typical run-of-the-mill players — Poutasi (Oregon) and Smith (Colorado State) ranked as the state’s Nos. 1-2 college recruits, a major blow to winning a state championship.

Rodriguez had doctored the Jaguars' schedule last season to include higher-classification opponents to prepare them for the rigors of the postseason, knowing part of the reason they lost to Moapa Valley was because players became tired and weren’t used to competing against a quality opponent for a full game. They opened the season against Arbor View, a perennial large-school classification power, just seven days after Smith’s injury. Many predicted they’d lose.

What happened that day was magical — not only did Desert Pines beat Arbor View, they won by a convincing margin, 50-14. Arbor View went on to win all of its games until losing in late November to Bishop Gorman, the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, in the regional finals.

“We beat Arbor View. Not a lot of guys can say they beat Dan Barnson (the Arbor View coach),” Rodriguez humbly said.

The season took an unexpected turn. Desert Pines was forced to forfeit two games for using an ineligible player — a mix-up with paperwork handled by administrators that had little to do with Rodriguez or his players. In a true blow, one of the forfeited games was the rematch against Moapa Valley, meaning they had finally topped their nemesis only to have the outcome reversed.

The players refused to blame anyone and definitely not their teammate who shouldn’t have played. That moment may have been more important than anything that’s happened on the field in Rodriguez’s tenure. It showed the family he built was strong.

His players often call it, ‘DPP’ meaning Desert Pines product. They are so proud of being part of the program they often return for home games, including NFL player Jeremiah Poutasi traveling 90 minutes out of Las Vegas to Mesquite for a game last season during his bye week.

“When you get here, it will change your life,” Grayson said. “Our bonds are unbreakable. That goes from the administrators to the players. We are family; family never fades.”

The forfeits forced Desert Pines on the road for the 2015 playoffs, meaning a return trip to Overton to face Moapa Valley. The Jaguars led for most of the game but committed a fourth-quarter turnover and lost to end the season.

Still, they had this season, the year they had been building for. Players such as Grayson, running back Isaiah Morris, linebacker Tony Fields and lineman Poutasi Poutasi would be seniors. Some labeled them as the second best team in the state, behind Gorman.

One play forced them to hit the reset button, again. The quarterback Grayson, in the second half of the first game, tore his ACL and would be lost for the season. He also wouldn’t play for the basketball team in the winter, a sport where many football players often occupy crucial roles off the bench. They suffered heartache in basketball, too, being upset in last season’s state championship game.

It’s safe to say Saturday is no ordinary game. It’s a chance for this group to finally win a championship three years in the making. One win won’t erase what happened two years ago, or in basketball, but it will sure help. And, make no doubt about it, the players are determined to finish what those before them started.

“When you lose a game like that, it doesn’t go away,” Rodriguez said of the 2014 loss. "It’s in the back of your mind. It’s a driving force. ... Our kids are relentless in what they have had to overcome. Injuries. Forfeits. They keep fighting. It’s created a toughness in them, a grit. It build an obsession.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21