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Sunday, December 24, 2000

Boyd joins Refugio’s elite players
QB claims his second All-South Texas award
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times

Caller Times File

Refugio quarterback Alex Boyd was named Caller-Times All-South Texas Player of the Year for the second time. Boyd threw 13 touchdown passes on the season and was second on the Bobcats in rushing yards for the season.

REFUGIO - The names still carry meaning in Refugio: Bill English, Willie Mack Garza, Ronnie Gipson, Toya Jones, Eugene Lewis, James Lott and Dana Robinson, among others.
   They are former football stars who made such an impact that longtime followers of the high school program still reminisce about their exploits.
   Maybe one day, Alex Boyd will join that list.
   Maybe he already has.
   Having just finished with his senior season, Boyd was the clear choice to claim his second Caller-Times All-South Texas Football Player of the Year Award. Whether he was at quarterback throwing or running the ball, at safety swiping passes out of the air or as a punt returner giving opposing coaches ulcers, Boyd was spectacular in everything he did this season.
   And, after claiming the award for last season, Boyd may have etched his name into Refugio lore. Maybe he has become the kind of player the old-timers sit down and discuss on the porch or at the drugstore.
   "He's top 10 for sure," said Gary Bellows, who played for the Bobcats in 1965 and has been the team's statistician for over 20 years. "He had great hands. That's why he was such a good defensive back. He wasn't as good a running back as Willie Mack, I don't think. There were bigger backs, but he could make people miss."
   Where to play
   That might be one problem in whether Boyd has certified himself as a Refugio legend: finding the position where Boyd was best.
   Garza was a steamroller at running back, Gipson a demon of a hitter at linebacker, English a pure passer, while others like Lewis and Robinson could excel at more than one position, but were noted for their running ability.
   So, what is it about Boyd that will allow him to take his place among the likes of Othalee Green, Rudy Vela, Charles "Nut" Williams and Jason Youngblood?
   Possibly it's the way he went from starting as a running back for his first three years in high school to taking over at quarterback as a senior. He threw for 873 yards and 13 touchdown passes, in learning the position in under a year.
   "I started off a little rough at quarterback at the beginning of the year," Boyd said. "But I got comfortable as the year went on."
   That wasn't obvious to those that watched him.
   "He really came into his own this year at quarterback," said Jack Sportsman, who played for the team in the 1940s and has announced games since 1954. "He throws the ball very well. Although we didn't throw the ball that much, he was adept when he did throw."
   "To show you how good an athlete he was," Bellows said, "he learned to play quarterback in one year. He got to where he was just better and better as a passer."
   The throw vs. the run
   But clearly he was a terror to defend because of his ability to run with the ball. He was second on the team in rushing, having rolled up over 1,200 yards and, despite a hobbled ankle, was the team's leading rusher in the Bobcats' 21-20 state semifinal loss to Mart.
   He only ran for 56 yards and two touchdowns in a 58-0 bi-district win over Skidmore-Tynan, but his impact was obvious.
   "Where he scares you most is on offense," Skidmore-Tynan coach Guy Grover said. "They run the same offense as we do. We feel like we know how to stop it. What you can't account for is his talent and speed.
   "You can stop where he's supposed to be going, but he'll run into another hole that's not defended because he's not supposed to go there," Grover said. "He has enough vision to see where we cheated and go away from there. You can't simulate that in practice."
   Mastering positions
   His play at defensive back also can't be copied. Boyd grabbed 10 interceptions this season, including two in the Mart game. Dangerous again in the open field, he returned three picks for touchdowns.
   "His defensive skills and his punt return skills are his best assets," Sportsman said. "As a defensive back he could cover lots of ground."
   But his legend may come from punt returning. His numbers as a returner will be renowned, as he averaged nearly 22 yards per punt return and took five back for touchdowns.
   Grover instructed his punter to kick out of bounds no matter the situation. The punter even launched a 2-yard punt, but Grover was not going to complain.
   Even more impressed was Bloomington's Abby Barnett, who watched as his team was victimized by perhaps the definitive Boyd game. Boyd ran for a touchdown, passed for two, returned an interception for another and took punt returns of 45 and 46 yards back for scores.
   Barnett came away impressed with all Boyd's skills, but the returning ability stuck with him.
   "Going into the game, I wasn't worried about his return skills," Barnett said. "I'm convinced now, no matter how good you think your special teams are, don't punt the ball to him. He ran one back, so we punted to the other side of the field, away from him. Well, he ran over there and took that one back, too. I just threw my hands up in the air. Forget it. We'd go for it on fourth down. We'd go for it even if it was fourth and 50. If I had to do it over again, he'd never touch the ball at all."
   That alone earns Boyd the right to star status in the town. But comparing him to others in the past is a difficult task, even for those that have seen many of the legends that have graced Bobcat football.
   Almost all that should know - Bellows, Sportsman, coach George Harris - say that since these players came from different eras, it would be hard to make a straight comparison between him and players past.
   Boyd has earned the right to have his name mentioned with other Refugio greats, some say. Maybe at the drugstore, a restaurant or perhaps in the stands at a game he will be recalled as one of the Bobcats' best, alongside Bill Bisby or Byron Shaw or any of the others that have taken part in the Refugio tradition.
   "I would like that," Boyd said. "That's something anybody would like. To have people remember you in the future."
   So don't be surprised if a conversation pops up in Refugio, maybe at a restaurant five, 10, 20 years or so down the road. It might start with, "Say, you remember that time Alex Boyd was playing against Bloomington . . ."



Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com

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