Nederland's Cardenas fights vicious cycle

[KFDM COOP]

Dogs Cardenas fights vicious cycle

By Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News

NEDERLAND -- Call Asa Cardenas' life a bit of a vicious cycle. Athletes, performing artists, even common laborers deal with this cycle daily. 

  When a person tends to be a perfectionist, the characteristic serves as a double-edged sword of sorts. It's both a wonderful God-given blessing and a terrible demon-induced curse.

  The cycle starts with being very skilled at a certain ability -- such as the 6-0, 165-pound Nederland junior wide receiver is at catching passes.

  Now let us travel the cycle so familiar to the Bulldogs pass catcher in Nederland's most recent game, an exciting 21-14 victory over Waller.

  Cardenas knows he's good. He realizes his skill as a pass receiver contains a special level to it. But Asa is human. He's not a robot. He's going to make mistakes. When Cardenas makes those mistakes, he has to shake them off. It definitely can be counter-productive if Asa chooses to beat himself up about it.

  That's where the terrible demons work on Asa's mind and cause his attitude to deteriorate. That's life at Asa's age 16, and it still very well might occur when he's 55. This writer deals with it from time to time at age 55... We all have certain moments in life when we have to block out demons and keep them from pulling trick plays on us.

  Cardenas truly had turned in the wrong direction and had ventured "down in the dumps" by halftime of that Waller game. He lifted himself out of his woes just in time to catch a 37-yard game-winning touchdown pass with 55 seconds to play.

  Hours after his heroics, Wanda McCowan's grandson saw fit to apologize to his head coach for falling into one of his emotional valleys. Larry Neumann -- the winningest coach in Nederland's football history -- gave a Waller-game halftime speech to his team, exhorting them not to lose heart during the battle.

  "I was just getting frustrated over the littlest things," Cardenas recalled his halftime demeanor when Waller led 7-0. "He (Neumann) gave us a speech about how we have to keep fighting and not allow ourselves to wear our emotions on our sleeves."

  Cardenas will be the first to admit that strong tendency to wear those feelings quite outwardly. Thank God for Asa's Nederland receivers coach named Bryan Spell. Thank God for Asa's Confirmation sponsor at St. Charles Catholic Church named Bryan Spell. Thank God for an occasional tip in Algebra from Spell, too.

  Bryan merely listed Asa as one of his many pass catchers last month. Three games into the season, Cardenas has jumped to the 22-4A individual lead in both receptions (14) and receiving yardage (249).

Accepting minimal credit for his involvement, Neumann quickly lateraled praise toward Bryan Spell for taking Asa under his wing.

  "Asa's confidence level is pretty high," Neumann said. "He's that kind of guy, but he can't allow himself to get in the doldrums from frustration. It's not unusual for a young player to feel like that. Asa wears his feelings on his sleeves. He can be pretty transparent. Coach (Bryan) Spell can say a lot more. He's done a great job with him."

  Cardenas has blossomed due to improvement in two important categories. First, blocking. Nederland receivers have to block. Second, adjusting his routes to elude opposing defenders.

  "Asa really has become committed to being a better blocker," Nederland's receivers coach said. "Plus, he's done a good job against zone coverages of finding soft spots. He has great vision."