EUNICE QUARTERBACK CLOSING IN ON 10,000 YARDS
At Eunice High School, the football standards are the same each season. “The expectations are all the same, there’s only one team that ends happy and that’s the team that wins the state championship,” said Eunice head football coach Greg Jackson. “That’s always the goal, but the process is what we really try to focus on. If we can be better today than we were yesterday, then we are heading in the right direction. I want to produce high character men who are successful on the football field, but they use what they learn to be better husbands, better fathers, better employees, better sons, because they are going to be those things a lot longer than they are going to be football players.”
On his roster, Jackson has a player who embodies that vision: senior quarterback Elijah Melancon. A four-year starter with nearly 10,000 career passing yards in sight, Melancon is poised to etch his name among New Mexico’s all-time greats. But ask him about records, and his answer comes quickly. “My main goal is to bring home a blue trophy to Eunice,” he said. “The numbers are cool and everything, but the blue trophy would mean the world to me.”
“He’s dynamic, he’s a leader, he’s a lead by example type of kid,” Jackson described. “I tell our boys there’s three things to be successful: be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there, doing what you’re supposed to be doing, and he hits it every time.”
“I love the game, I love to play football, and I will work harder than anyone else on the field,” said Melancon.
The quarterback deflects most of the attention thrown his way. “My role is just to get the ball out as quick as I can, be a leader, and let my other guys go do the work. It’s not really me, my guys are doing most of the work, I’m just giving them the ball,” explained Melancon.
“I think what separates him from the others is his athleticism and his ability to extend plays and his ability to run the football,” said his head coach. “He’s got a great arm and he’s super accurate and takes care of the ball really well.”
Melancon and the Cardinals will pile up more than stats this season, they will rack up the miles. Playing out of the state’s southeastern corner of the state means long road trips to Ruidoso, Estancia, Santa Fe, and Tularosa. “I added it up, it’s 2,252 miles on the bus,” said Jackson. “You have to embrace it, you have to learn how to be mature, and focus on what’s important and those are good life lessons along the way. But they have to be comfortable winning wearing all white (road uniforms).”
The next stop for the Eunice Cardinals is a district road trip to Loving.
