Sports
Plant High Football Player Gonzalez Moving Up the Line
Former tight end Alberto Gonzalez hopes to find a spot as a guard on a talented Panthers offensive line in 2012.
Rising senior Alberto Gonzalez is still growing into his right guard position for the Plant High football team.
Last season, he was a reserve tight end and did not record a stat. This season, he'll be starting on an offensive line with loads of talent and experience.
Plant offensive line coach Sean Love told Gonzalez last year he might have a starting guard position for him in 2012. Since then, Gonzalez has set about to convert himself from a 225-pound tight end to a guard, now weight in at 250 pounds.
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"I'd like to at least get to 255 before the season starts," Gonzalez said.
The body conversion seems to be the toughest part of Gonzalez's transition. He is grasping the techniques and movements of interior guards very quickly, and Love pointed out Gonzalez's rapid ascent through the stable of quality linemen Plant already had. Gonzalez notes his rapport with Love in assisting his ascent.
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"It's actually a lot of fun, hard as it is," said Gonzalez. "Coach Love and I really work well together.
"I feel like this spring I've gotten so much better, so fast."
Gonzalez gets overlooked squatting next to behemoth, multi-Division I recruit Richie Klepal, but when the ball is snapped, a defense had better know where No. 61 is on the field. He admits he has a lot to work on, including "power blocking" and "hands," but Gonzalez stands to make the most marked improvement out of all the Panthers' starting linemen.
"This might not be the biggest, but this is the most athletic group of linemen we've had since I've been here," said Gonzalez.
He is homegrown Panther talent, having put in two years on JV before coming up to the varsity last year. He's seen what it takes to make it to and win a state championship. Gonzalez was a recipient of a state championship ring this spring, but it was a bittersweet ceremony for the rising senior.
"This was cool, but I really didn't feel like I quite deserved this one," he said. "It really makes me want to win one this year; I would feel like I earned it this year."
