‘Marcus is going to open a lot of eyes.’ It’s Ordunez’s time to shine for Panthers.

Marcus Ordunez has been waiting for this opportunity. The Pacheco High senior played receiver and tight end last year, leading the Panthers with 11 catches.

With the graduation of Aric Barton, Ordunez makes the move to quarterback this year and he’s anxious to show what he can do.

“Marcus is going to open a lot of eyes of a lot of people this year,” said Pacheco coach David Snapp. “He played tight end and receiver the last couple years with Aric here. Marcus has big upside.”

At 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, Barton was really undersized for everything the Panthers asked him to do at quarterback. Barton made up for it with his speed and agility, rushing for 775 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Ordunez stands 6-2 and 193 pounds. He may be better suited to take hits while running the Panthers’ veer option.

“He’s definitely a lot taller and has about 20 or 30 pounds on Aric,” Snapp said. “Aric just had the intangibles.”

Ordunez feels he’s ready to step into a leadership role.

“Personally, I feel I’m the best athlete on the field at all times. I feel like you have to have that type of confidence when you’re out there. I feel like we have plenty of weapons and I wouldn’t be here without our offensive line.”

Ordunez will have a pair of running backs in Ronnie Garcia and Julian Moran to help shoulder the rushing load. Garcia was the leading rusher for the Panthers last season, finishing with 887 yards and six touchdowns. Moran had 260 yards and three touchdowns. Both averaged 5.5 yards or better per carry.

“Ronnie is explosive,” Ordunez said. “I push him and he pushes me. He’s the backbone of our offense.”

Most years the offense has racked up yards and scored points. Last year Pacheco averaged 31.2 points per game 354 yards of offense each week.

The problem has been on defense where the Panthers gave up 32.4 points per game. Pacheco gave up 38.8 points per game in 2016 and 41 points each week in 2015.

It’s a big reason the Panthers have gone 5-5 and missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.

Snapp hopes a strong defensive line will help anchor the defense this year. Pacheco returns players like Jacob Nieto, Brandon Miller and Max Gandy along the defensive line this year.

“It’s probably the best defensive line we’ve had the last three or four years,” Snapp said. “More so with our depth and athleticism. We’re six or seven deep up front this year.”

The players are hungry to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

“I feel like we have a decent chance to make the playoffs,” Ordunez said. “The last two years we’ve been close. You have no idea how much we want to do it this year. We’ve been working hard and guys are stepping up in different spots.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 4:10 PM with the headline "‘Marcus is going to open a lot of eyes.’ It’s Ordunez’s time to shine for Panthers.."