How Roland Vera Jr.'s gymnast background has propelled Reitz to another 3-0 start

JASPER, Ind. — Roland Vera Jr. had his arms outstretched in front of the Jasper student section, having scored a 30-yard receiving touchdown. The Gladiator-like pose elicited boos from the Wildcat faithful, his are-you-not-entertained antics resembling both Russell Crowe’s famous scene and the starting point of a gymnast on parallel bars.

Reitz’s most recognizable utility man was the Panthers’ gladiator and, a former gymnast himself, their gold medalist. Operating at wide receiver, out of the wildcat, as the punter and occasionally on defense, Vera did a little bit of everything to vault Reitz to a 24-7 win at Joe Rohleder Field — “he does all,” coach Cory Brunson said.

“He’s one we’ll move around,” said Brunson, who is admittedly not much of a gymnastics guy.

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Vera was a gymnast for 10 years before deciding to focus on football in his freshman year. He won seven state titles and a regional in that span, finishing fourth at the Junior Olympics Nationals.

“I just grew up in the gym,” Vera said. His daycare wasn’t building blocks and storytime. It was mats and trampolines. His mother Lisa Vera was a cheer coach and was involved in that, dance and gymnastics for over 30 years. That’s where Roland got his start and grew into one of the top boys gymnasts in the country. “I was flipping around in the gym when I was little and that just transferred over. … It just worked out pretty good.”

Like he showed at Joe Rohleder Field, and as the Wildcat defense figured out, Vera’s versatility is a defensive nightmare. He and Reitz used that to their advantage. As it turns out, that may be a result of his years on the mats.

Vera participated in six events — vault, rings, parallel bars, high bar, floor and pommel horse for 20 hours a week — and described it as “just a bunch of flips, really.” But the juggling of different events, thought of previously or not, has helped Vera become the football player he is now. The strength and flexibility gained from this aspect has its physical effects, but the mentality of going to different spots shows.

“He thrives on it, to be honest,” Lisa said. “I think he enjoys that he’s getting to help out in those areas. … It’s the same kind of thing when you’re coming here. There are different tasks that he has to do.

“I think he’s used to all that variety.”

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The Panthers are now on a 13-game regular season winning streak. Following Friday’s win in Jasper, Reitz hasn’t lost a non-playoff matchup in 655 days. Vera’s versatility has been a huge part of that. He played quarterback most of last season as the Panthers went 10-0 before falling to Boonville in the playoffs and has countless gymnast-like jobs throughout Retiz’s units, though he enjoys the wide receiver spot.

“I’m glad Ben (Davies) is able to start throwing the ball more,” he said. “I’m glad I’m able to do more outside the field instead of running the ball the whole time.”

Brunson wasn’t pleased with Retiz’s overall performance Friday — “If we don’t come ready to play (next week against North), it could be a long night for us,” he said — and had his Panthers run and do pushups after the win.

“We definitely gotta be more physical,” Brunson said. “We have to be better with our practices. … We’ve got to lock in.”

“We kinda got slow towards the end. Offense wasn’t doing as good as we did at the beginning,” Vera added. “(A) win’s a win. We just gotta build off that and work on next week.

As they exercised, Vera was among the leaders, as he has been over recent memory on the football field and distant memory on the high bars. That work has been ingrained in him since he started as a gymnast and has grown on the gridiron.

“He’s just always had a handle on it,” Lisa said. “He’s able to take one task at a time and know what he needs to do for everything and be successful at it.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA football: Former gymnast Roland Vera Jr. leads Reitz past Jasper