Demons backup QB handles roster naming snafu with good humor

Sep 02, 2023

Will Webber

Commentary

In nearly three decades of putting pen to paper and reporting on local sports, there are plenty of athletes whose names and faces I’ll never forget.

The latest entry in that mental filing cabinet is Izaiah Juarez, a 5-foot-9, 150-pound freshman quarterback on Santa Fe High’s football team.

Wait — or is it Gabriel? I’m still a little fuzzy on the details. More on that in a bit.

First things first: Juarez will get the start in Friday night’s Demons-Horsemen game at Ivan Head Stadium. Santa Fe High coach Andrew Martinez said it’s a temporary role, one Juarez will continue to fill until senior Mike Abeyta returns from a sprained ankle.

When healthy, Martinez said, Abeyta sits atop of the depth chart. Until then, it’s Juarez calling the shots. He got his first start last week at Roswell, throwing his first career touchdown pass for the Demons’ only points of the game.

In a contest dominated by the Coyotes, that lone play was one of the few bright spots for a Demons squad that has been outscored 100-12 in its first two games. Naturally, I wanted to speak to the player responsible for those points, the guy wearing Santa Fe High’s No. 14 navy blue jersey.

This is where it gets weird. The team’s roster on MaxPreps tells you No. 14 is Gabriel Gonzales, a 5-9, 140-pound freshman cornerback. After the game I stood about 20 feet behind No. 14 as Martinez talked to his players.

As soon as the coach cut them loose, I called the player over for an interview using the name on the roster. “Hey Gabriel, come here a second,” I said.

He complied immediately. In the course of the next 3 minutes, 39 seconds we discussed the game, his touchdown pass, his thoughts on filling in for Abeyta and playing one of the best teams in Class 5A — while calling him “Gabriel” at least three times as we spoke.

A subsequent interview with the coach confirmed the assumption. Half an hour later the story was written and filed, then it was off to grab a cup of coffee and make that lonely drive from Roswell to Clines Corners in the pitch black of a New Mexico Friday night. Within moments the story appeared online.

Right around Vaughn, an email from Juarez’s mom somehow squeezed through the one bar on my cell phone’s signal to inform me that No. 14 wasn’t actually Gabriel Gonzales. His aunt also sent a message.

It was confirmed not long after when my call woke Martinez on the team bus, revealing that the MaxPreps roster — which had (and still has, in fact) Juarez listed at No. 5 and Gabriel Gonzales at No. 14 — was inaccurate.

“My mom called me when we were driving back and said, ‘What’s up Gabe?’ ” Juarez said. “I knew I got hit hard a couple times but not that hard. I knew my name wasn’t Gabe.”

Too amped up to notice he was getting called by the wrong name but engaging enough to have a little fun with it. Priceless.

Here’s a little insight to the life and times of a journalist doing 75 mph in the middle of the night with little or no cell service knowing an error is about to go to print: Panic. The heads-up action of those back in the office helped iron things out and, thankfully, the fix was made before the printing press put ink on paper. The online version was corrected in a matter of minutes.

Martinez, though, joked that he’d probably call Izaiah “Gabriel” the rest of the season.

On Wednesday, Juarez shrugged it all off. With one of New Mexico’s most storied rivalries just 48 hours away, his focus was on knocking off the Horsemen. Such an achievement would surely make him a named commodity in a town that has grown used to watching St. Michael’s have its way against its Siringo Road rivals for most of the last two decades.

At just 14 years of age, Juarez said he’s well aware of how much that game means to the people of Santa Fe.

“If you win against those guys it’s a pretty big deal,” he said. “Everyone around the city always talks about it so, yeah, I guess there’s some nerves there. Maybe I’ll be nervous but once the game starts it won’t matter. You just play.”

Even if he’s not at QB, Juarez will probably be on the field in some capacity. Martinez said he envisions offensive packages where both Abeyta and the young freshman are in the huddle together.

“I look up to Mike and he helps me a lot,” Juarez said. “He’s a good guy, he is always doing something to make me a better player.”

Now if there were only something our resident

No. 14 could do about that roster mix-up on MaxPreps.

Until that particular fix is made, two bits of advice: If someone calls you by the wrong name again and again, feel free to politely correct them. Second, don’t ever change. That sense of humor and go-gettem attitude will service you well in the years ahead.

Will Webber is the sports editor for The New Mexican. Contact him at [email protected].

Will Webber

Commentary

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