Two local high school students were honored as the 2013 offensive and defensive high school football players of the year in Tijuana at a press conference December 3 at the Puebla Amiga Hotel in Tijuana. Officials from the National University Holiday Bowl and sponsors of the award presented the offensive award to Alejandro Mendoza Ruelas of Osos CETYS Universidad Tijuana. The defensive award went David Chavez Sanchez from Zorros Mexicali Resena de Biografia.
In addition to football, Ruelas, a quarterback and the offensive award winner, is accomplished in tae-kwon-do where he has earned a red belt. He began playing football at a young ago with the Playas de Tijuana Dolphins and from there eventually earned a spot on the varsity team with the Osos (Bears) from CETYS Universidad Tijuana. He guided his varsity team to a fourth place finish for the 2012 season.
Sanchez, a defensive end, started playing football at a young age and helped guide his youth league team to a state championship. Playing in high school for the Zorros in Mexicali, he led his team to a second place finish in 2011 and to the state championship at the varsity level in 2012. Sanchez hopes to continue playing football at the university level and has a long term goal of studying medicine.
For their accomplishments each of their schools received $1,000 grants for their respective football programs. This generous contribution was made possible by lead program sponsor, Entravision.
The award recipients will be recognized on a float in the bowl game’s Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade, and on the field during the National University Holiday Bowl. Both events are set for December 30th. The 36th annual game kicks off at 7:15 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium and features teams from the Pac-12 and Big 12. The game will be broadcast in Spanish on XEXX 1420 AM, XHRST 107.7 FM and XHSOL Super 89.9 FM.