Gonzales making history for Citrus Valley football program

REDLANDS - It's a warm, clear evening, twilight is creeping in from the east and from the west, the last rays of light are streaming over the crest of Robert J. Hodges Stadium. The sun and the smog have combined to paint the sky in the kind of hazy, orange California glow that looks seemingly-stylized - like the aerial backdrops of a Tony Scott film.

The setting is only appropriate.

Senior Citrus Valley running back Andrew Gonzales is pacing the rubber-flecked turf on which he made an indelible mark in the program's history books, clad, for one last time, in his black-and-gold No. 5 jersey, shaking his head as he tries to process a story that - to him - seems like a Hollywood melodrama.

If Tinseltown were to produce a film about his gridiron journey, it would have all the elements of a manic popcorn hero flick much like "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder" - formulaic Tom Cruise star-vehicles Scott directed that involved a talented young hot shot who met with success, before facing adversity and coming out the other side all the better for it, ultimately triumphing before the credits rolled.

Of course, Gonzales' movie would be of the indie variety, as, truth be told, he's not headed for the big screen, the big stage, the TV screen or anywhere near any of the three.

But he's made it.

And he's happy.

"I still can't believe it, it's so surreal," Gonzales said. "It's all happened so fast. Everything just came together

for me. It's like I'm living out all my dreams."

Gonzales isn't giddy over the lucrative opportunity to play for a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team, nor a Division I Football Championship Subdivision squad or even a Division II program.

He's landed a spot at Division III Linfield College, a modest Oregon institution where, because D-III programs technically can't offer scholarships, a combination of grants and waivers will pay for all of his tuition.

The fact is, the honor has never crossed his mind - the college ticket was all he's ever wanted - but not so long ago, neither it looked like it would come to fruition.

Gonzales wasn't supposed to get top billing - even in the Blackhawk backfield.

After showing promise in his sophomore year, Gonzales injured his collarbone and sat out his junior season.

When he came back, the first emotion that struck him certainly wasn't joy.

"I just had a lot of fear - I didn't want any contact," Gonzales said. "I didn't know whether I'd hurt myself again. If I did, I didn't know what I would do with myself."

The wide assumption held that fellow senior running back Jason Snow would be the one to turn in a breakout season, and if not Snow, surely brawny junior quarterback Dalton Douglas would steal the limelight.

But Gonzales got over his trepidation the first week his squad strapped on pads, and a funny thing happened when the undersized, 5-foot-7 Gonzales touched the ball come fall.

"We put him out there and he was like a wild animal that we released from its cage," Citrus Valley football coach Pete Smolin said of Gonzales' jaw-dropping performances. "I mean he just totally went nuts. He exploded through the holes."

His 1220 rushing yards were by far tops on the team, and he tied the reliable Snow for the most rushing touchdowns (10), while landing on the First Team All-MVL squad.

Gonzales scored the first touchdown in program history as a sophomore, and would cap his career by leading his team to its first Mountain Valley League title.

On the night of Nov. 10, under the lights at Hodges, there was no brighter Blackhawk star than Gonzales, whose triumphant 199-yard rushing performance in the pivotal championship-clinching showdown with reigning champ Rubidoux capped off a senior season that nobody saw coming.

Gonzales is a tough, athletic kid, but as Smolin has always told anyone within earshot, he's a smart, grounded one, too.

That's why his parents, Larry and Lisa Gonzales, have been guiding him to play for coach Joseph Smith's Wildcats.

Lisa, who knows her stuff when it comes to academics from working in student services at the University of Redlands, has long believed that northwest Oregon's Linfield was a perfect fit.

Sure, he garnered other attention - even FCS recruiters sat up and took notice - but the family had the big picture in mind.

The idea was that her son could study psychology with an eye on possibly getting into the criminal justice field after graduation, while starting something like a new life on his own 1,006 miles away in McMinnville.

"He was looking at playing for a couple of colleges in Kansas, but I talked to him about it and we decided that Oregon just made sense," Lisa said. "It was somewhere he could realistically see himself living after college. He could make connection, put down roots."

Lisa might be concentrating on the future, but as for Larry, he's got the past in mind.

A former high school slot back at La Puente's Nogales, he played a year at Mt. San Antonio College, but that was it. He never got the chance to see where football would ultimately take him.

Like Andrew, this fall's unlikely plot twists left him talking about dreams.

"To see him go out there and accomplish everything he did was great - I've coached him since he was 8-years-old and it's like he's living my dream," Larry said. "He's going off to play football at the college level, where he's going to become a mature man. That's what every boy wants."

As for Andrew, he's busy covering all his bases.

He's looking to the recent pass, focusing on the future and soaking up every moment of the present.

"When I look at what's happened to me from September to now, it's been an amazing ride," Gonzales said. "It was a season I'll never forget. I can't wait to tell my kids about it."

Cue the credits on his high school saga - but keep an eye on the marquee.

There's already a winning sequel in the works.

brandon marshall iditarod nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell