Carrizo Springs Wildcats Spotlight

Carrizo Springs is a small South Texas town less than an hour from the Texas-Mexico border and is in a region mostly overlooked when it comes to college recruiting. The Carrizo Springs High Wildcats are headed in a new direction under new head coach Joaquin Escobar, finishing top 3 in the district for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. Coach Escobar has instilled a blue-collar mentality in his team since arriving, and has a simple message for college teams looking for hard-working players, ‘Recruit Carrizo Springs.’ The Wildcats’ season ended in the first round of the playoffs, but 3 seniors have stood out all season and are intriguing prospects for the next level. <img class="size-medium wp-image-24527 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/06/Generic-Featured-Image-2-300x187.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="187" /> <strong>RB/Wildcat QB/DB Joshua Carrizales #22</strong> &nbsp; Despite being undersized at 5’5” 145lbs, Josh enjoyed a productive season out of the backfield. This 3-year letterman, and 100m dash district champ (11.03 seconds) was 1^st team all-district, leading his team with 1104 yards rushing, 10 rushing touchdowns, and tacked on an additional 34 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown. He averaged 122 rushing yards per game, at an astounding 7.8 yards per carry, thanks largely to his speed that jumps off the film. Carrizales’ good vision and shiftiness allow him to set up blocks and find holes, where he can showcase his speed and spatial awareness near the sideline. He is a determined runner, keeping his feet moving at contact. Josh also displays soft hands and solid ball tracking ability in the passing game, or on kickoff returns. Carrizales has the tools to make him a dangerous weapon at the next level. &nbsp; <strong>RB/OLB Oscar Ramirez #34</strong> &nbsp; Oscar has a thick, well-built frame at 5’11” 215lbs. On the season, he had 56 total tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks, 5 hurries, and 1 pass defensed. Ramirez was also a productive between the tackles runner, rushing 35 times for 170 yards and a touchdown. He plays with great pad level on offense and defense, running behind his pads to push piles and break arm tackles, or keeping his pads low on defense to win the leverage battle, allowing him to exhibit his hand usage to shed blocks and set the edge. Oscar is a disciplined defender, playing with gap integrity and great play awareness to help him make plays in the box or the open field. Ramirez would be a value add to either side of the ball. &nbsp; <strong>RT Daniel Garza #70</strong> &nbsp; Daniel is the poster child for Coach Escobar’s new ‘bring your lunch pail to work’ mentality. At 6’2” 311lbs, he can bench 350, squat 525, deadlift 535. Garza is a strong down blocker that can wash the defensive line out of the play. His strong hands allow him to lock onto the defender and finish with a pancake. Daniel shows good depth on his pass sets, using his long arms to shove the rusher by the quarterback, and also has good awareness to pick up blitzers. Currently, Sul Ross State University is the only school showing interest in Garza, but any team looking for a hard working offensive lineman that will play to the whistle and display a bit of a nasty streak, then this is your guy.