Arroyo’s Yesdan Marquez making most of second chance

yezdan

It’s been a crazy season for the Arroyo High School football. And at the center of the craziness you’ll usually find Yezdan Marquez.
The standout receiver/defensive back has proven himself to be one of the top two-way players around, and when fans look back on the Knights’ magical 2016 season, Marquez will be one of the names they remember.
When Marquez looks back on it, though, he’ll not only recall the good — and there’s plenty of it to go around — but also the tough lessons learned.
“He’s always got a smile on his face, but there are times I wish he wouldn’t be so jovial,” Arroyo head coach Jim Singiser said. “He’s a light-hearted soul and he loves to play football.”

If Arroyo (13-1) is to go on the road and beat La Jolla Country Day (11-3) in Saturday’s CIF State Division 5-A regional bowl championship, then Marquez is going to need to put forth another huge performance. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

Marquez has established himself as Arroyo’s top man on the outside, be it on offense or defense. As a receiver, Marquez leads the team in yardage and touchdowns with 796 and 14, respectively. As a defensive back, Marquez is Arroyo’s top cover man and is the area leader in interceptions with eight.

But before Marquez’s senior season at Arroyo ever got really rolling, it hit a speed bump. Marquez, along with some teammates and schoolmates, made a bad decision to partake in an ill-advised activity toward the outskirts of campus. The result was them getting caught, and for the football players, suspended for some key games, if not the whole year.

For Marquez, the suspension was two games and could have been more if he didn’t quickly show better behavior. After sitting out Arroyo’s wins over Rowland and Rosemead, Marquez was back on the field for the South El Monte game, which turned out to be for the league championship. He scored two touchdowns, but that was the easy part.

“It was my first time being in trouble and they gave me a second chance,” Marquez said. “When that happened, I told everyone that things happen for a reason. I didn’t even know if I was going to come back.

“I regret it because my coaches told me they thought better of me. I just didn’t want them to think bad about me and to still have trust in me. As a player, you don’t want your coaches to not have trust in you.”

Added Singiser: “Getting back on to the field for him was one thing, but rebuilding that relationship with his coaches was another. He had to rebuild that trust and he did that. I believe everybody gets a second chance. My dad was an alcoholic. He had to get a lot of second chances. When you grow up in a house like that and you live that way, you want to give somebody the benefit of the doubt. It’s not always easy.”

Marquez began his prep career at South Hills, where he stayed for two years before transferring to his hometown school of Arroyo prior to his junior year. What he had hoped was a move that would pay off on the field came to an abrupt end when Marquez broke his collarbone early in the season and missed the remainder of his junior year.

Once back in the fold this season, Marquez has shown why he’s considered to be one of the better athletes on the team. Marquez has caught at least one touchdown pass in 10 of the 12 games he’s played in. He’s currently working on a streak of seven consecutive games with a touchdown.

On defense, Marquez usually winds up covering the opponent’s top deep threat. That’s an interesting proposition this week as La Jolla Country Day — the CIF San Diego Section Division IV champion — features an excellent pass attack led by Arizona-bound quarterback Braxton Burmeister. But throwing to Marquez’s side has been a bad move, as evidenced by the eight interceptions and 12 passes defended.

“Last year, I started on defense and didn’t play so much on offense, but the coaches told me this year I would be a big factor on offense and defense,” Marquez said. “It made me want to step up for my team. My whole life, I’ve played defense. So I would prefer defense. I love hitting. Everything. It’s just exciting.”

Like any team still playing at this point of the season, Arroyo is operating with house money. The Knights reached their main goal last week by winning the CIF Southern Section Division 12 championship. The traditional part of the season is over, but Marquez and his teammates are hungry for more.

“I’m really grateful,” Marquez said. “All the adversity that we went through, I just thought I had to work harder. It all feels like a dream. It’s unbelievable how our team got so close together, rose to the occasion and got it done.”

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