“[I thought] if I don’t do something, I’m going to regret this forever and I’m going to hate myself for this forever, and then I ended up scoring with 30 or 20 seconds left, so I was like ‘This is the peak of my football career,’” senior Alex Aguero said.

Scoring this winning touchdown in the Tam-Redwood rivalry is what Alex calls the most memorable moment of the 2018 season, although his football career began much earlier. Beginning as a childhood interest and a way to spend time with his older brother Dixon, it’s safe to say that football has left quite a mark on running back Alex. However, the brotherhood and competitiveness of the sport have made Alex fall in love with football and stick with it for 10 years.

“I love the game, just playing it. The sport, in general, is just so much more intense and competitive than anything I’ve ever experienced and that’s what drives me to love it every year and play every year. It’s such a brotherhood and you learn a lot of valuable life lessons from your coaches,” Alex said.

Alex was MCAL’s 2018 All-League Offensive Player of the Year. Last season, according to MaxPreps, he rushed a total of 1853 yards, with an average of 205.9 yards a game, and scored 22 touchdowns.

While originally having committed to play Division I football at the University of San Diego in the fall, Alex recently decommitted in an effort to focus on academics and his future career. Alex will begin at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo in the fall, where he hopes to play intramural rugby.

“[Running back] is such a demanding position to play. You’re always taking contact and injuries are so prevalent, and I think that it’s not something that I’m going to take with me to the future, like the NFL; that’s a very far-fetched type of thing. I know it’s possible, but I also just want to focus on academics and my profession, what I want to do after four years,” Alex said.

While Alex may be leaving football behind in high school, he will carry the many life lessons he’s learned with him for the rest of his life.

“After so many years of football, it’s taught me so much and made me a better person, more resilient, and I’m definitely going to take away the life lessons I’ve learned from it,” Alex said. “Training of football, [with] the amount of hours and the brutal contact shows that a lot of [barriers] are mental and you can physically do it, but you just have to get past the mental block.”

According to Alex’s football teammate and friend of over a decade, junior Joey Calzaretta, despite Alex’s departure, the team will be able to succeed and grow without him next season.

“He was ‘the guy’ last year; we all looked up to him, on and off the field, and him leaving is a huge loss for us, but I think that his work ethic and his ability to make plays happen will definitely leave an impact on our team,” Calzaretta said. “Having him last year was really important for our growth this year and it’s going to be a big reason why hopefully we can win some games [next season].”