Jordan HammAlex Centa does a little bit of everything for the Goldwater Bulldogs.
He’s one of the team’s top receivers, he plays free safety. He rushes, he catches, he lays blocks, he tackles. His reliability and effort inspired offensive coordinator Matt Pinnick to dub Centa “Captain America”. That…and the fact he bears a resemblance to Steve Rogers.
“Google Captain America and tell me if he doesn’t look just like him,” Goldwater head football coach Rich Metcalf laughed. “That came from Coach Pinnick, he coined him Captain America, and that stuck and took off. I believe that it was Coach Pinnick that tweeted it out a picture of Captain America and Alex side-by-side and said, ‘tell me if it’s not similar.’”
The Bulldogs even have a formation entitled Winter Soldier, the title of the second movie based on the Marvel characters, where Centa goes under center as quarterback.
“I like to put my shoulder down and make big plays,” Centa said.
The senior is one of the leaders of the Bulldogs football team and has started since he was sophomore. When the season wraps up, he will have started over 30 games for Metcalf. Over those 30 starts, specifically while playing defense, Centa developed a confidence that has helped him in his senior year where he has 38 tackles, two interceptions and seven total touchdowns.
“He plays with an edge and that’s something he didn’t have,” Metcalf said. “That’s something we needed to get him to develop to get a little nasty, and being able to finish plays, deliver hits and be more aggressive not only on the defensive side of the ball but as a run blocker as well.”
Though a leadership role was something he had to get used to.
“It was a new thing this year, being a leader, but I like it. I like being able to keep everybody’s spirits up,” Centa said.
With a nickname like Captain America, would you expect him to not step up?
