Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – During a football season filled with uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic there is a common message coming from coaches across the state – make the most of every opportunity.

Clear Creek Amana coach Gabe Bakker has found himself giving that same speech to his football team through the preseason.

In the season opener on Friday senior tailback Alex Figueroa showed he had been listening to every word.

Figueroa rushed for a career-high 175 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-27 season-opening loss to Mount Pleasant.

“We really don’t know what is going to happen so like coach says you just have to make the most of every chance you get to play,” Figueroa said. It’s like a fire in you. You never really know what is going to happen so you just have to make the most of it.”

Figueroa and the Clippers had that scare last week when a positive COVID-19 test prompted Clear Creek Amana to close school on Thursday putting the status of Friday’s opener up in the air.

That brief scare, was the moment it hit home for Figueroa that any play could be his last as a Clipper.

“We saw last week how quickly things can change,” Figueroa said. “You have to take advantage of every chance because it could get taken away so fast just out of nowhere.”

Figueroa has been a regular in the Clear Creek Amana backfield for the past two seasons rushing for 1,240 yards and two touchdowns.

Getting tossed into varsity action as a sophomore Figueroa learned quickly he needed more than just speed to be successful.

“In freshman you could just bounce outside and just run and you can’t do that at varsity,” Figueroa said. “Using my vision was something I really struggled with sophomore year, finding the holes and hitting the hole right but over the years I’ve gotten better at that.”
After getting his first taste of varsity action as a sophomore Figueroa rushed for a career-high 681 yards and six touchdowns last season while sharing time in a crowded Clear Creek Amana backfield.

The work Figueroa put in over the offseason put him in a position to carry the running back load as a senior.

“Last year we kind of had a running back by committee so he probably didn’t get as many touches as he would have liked but this year he knows it’s his show at the running back position,” Clear Creek Amana coach Gabe Bakker said. “We will spell him but we are going to ride him as a senior leader and see what he can do.”

When track season was cancelled last season Figueroa took it upon himself to contact the coaches and continue doing the workouts to increase his speed.

He lifted weights, sometimes twice a day in an effort to bulk up and says he ‘bothered’ Bakker constantly via text message asking for drills or workouts to do by himself on the football field.
“He’s been focused on this year more than anybody else in our program,” Bakker said. “He’s put a lot of time and effort in, especially during the quarantine time, and it really showed on Friday night.”
Figueroa averaged better than 9.2 yards per carry on Friday scoring on touchdown runs of 75, 7 and 6 yards in the loss to the Panthers.

“He’s stronger and he was fast before but I think he has an extra gear at this point and time,” Bakker said. “He really saw the field well in the first game, he really read the line well he even improved that from our scrimmage a week ago.”

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