Alex Rubio breaks a tackle during a scrimmage at Ewing on Sept. 3, 2015. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
During the summer, Alex Rubio had a part-time job at his uncle’s Ace Hardware store in Mercerville.
Customers often ask hardware store employees handyman questions like “How do I fix a fuse?”
“I just tell them I’m not an electrician,” Rubio said.
That may be true. But now in his senior year, he is the guy who generates much of the energy for the Steinert football team’s offense.
In 2014, the running back gradually improved with each game and busted out in Week Six with 153 yards and three touchdowns in Steinert’s 28-14 win over Hightstown, the Spartans’ first victory of what would be a 2-8 season.
Just six days later, however, on Halloween night at Notre Dame, Rubio suffered a severely sprained left ankle in the first half and missed the next two and a half games. He returned to play on Thanksgiving against Hamilton West but was not much of a factor.
“It was very frustrating,” Rubio said. “Injuries always stink. It’s very hard to get back from them. I did the best I could. I never fully recovered but you’ve got to get back some how.”
What really frustrated Rubio is that he was forced to miss Steinert’s only other win of the season, at West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
“We didn’t have many wins last year, and it would have been nice to play in that one,” he said. “I felt like I would have performed well, but I didn’t have a chance.”
Rubio finished the season with 485 yards on 138 rushing attempts (3.5 yards per carry) and five touchdowns. He also had 11 catches for 81 yards.
He returns this season as a major cog in the Spartans offense, although he is running behind an offensive line that returned just one starter. He started the season by rushing for 95 yards in Steinert’s 21-0 opening day win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North.
“Losing [Rubio] to injury, we lost the majority of our offense,” coach Dan Caruso said. “I said to him last year and I’ll say it again, he’s the toughest kid I’ve ever coached. He’s just tough as nails. He’ll play through injuries, he’ll try to hide injuries, so we’ve got to watch that. He’ll never want to come out.”
And when he’s in the game, he wants to see action.
“He’s the kind of kid who always wants the ball in his hands,” Caruso said. “You like that kind of player. He’s confident in what he does and he’s going to give you everything he has on every single play, so you want to coach more kids like that.”
Rubio’s attitude grew from a rough-and-tumble childhood. When he wasn’t playing Pop Warner—where he had “a very tough coach”—he was getting beat up every day by his brother Andrew, who played football for Nottingham and Steinert.
“Not just in football; he just beat me up in general,” Rubio said. “He was a good influence in my athletic career. If I would do something he was not a fan of, he would always tell me how to act mature. My goal was always to be as good, if not better, than him. He’s 23 and he still beats me up now.”
Caruso knows all about those younger days and said, “it made Alex tough.”
When Rubio arrived at Steinert, he admittedly had some growing up to do. Playing for the JV squad as a sophomore, Caruso noted that Rubio did some immature things off the field, but was the ultimate competitor on the field.
He underwent a metamorphosis between his sophomore and junior seasons and came up to the Spartans’ varsity with a new attitude. That delighted Caruso, who said, “I knew Alex was the type of kid other guys would listen to.”
The initial plan was for Rubio to play fullback behind A-back Kyle Fischer, but also split some reps with Fischer. When Fischer got injured, Rubio became the fulltime A-back and had a productive season despite running with a bone chip.
It was all part of the maturation process.
“A lot of responsibility was given to me last year, and I had to deal with it,” Rubio said. “Football has given me a lot. It has taught me when to keep my mouth shut, it’s taught me to be disciplined and it keeps me out of trouble. It definitely made me grow up.”
Rubio’s runs are exciting, if only because of his relentlessness. So often he appears to be stopped, but picks up more yardage on second and third efforts. He’s not fancy, which is a good thing.
“He’s one cut and downhill,” Caruso said. “He doesn’t dance. He doesn’t waste time. There’s no wasted motion with him. On fourth and one, he’s going to go downhill to try and get that yard. There’s not going to be any dancing around. He’s tough, he’s a football player and a wrestler, he’s a tough kid.”
Rubio noted that being a wrestler helps make him “athletic and strong” on the football field. He also needs to be conditioned, as he will get plenty of time at linebacker this year after playing there sparingly as a junior.
Although he was able to wrestle last winter, Rubio spent the off-season still strengthening his ankle and working on his speed. Despite having the ability to get yards on his own, he knows the key to his statistics and Steinert’s success lies with the young offensive line.
“If we want to win, our o-line has to come together, and I think we have potential,” he said prior to the regular season. “We need to start jelling, get the team chemistry together and our o-line is what we need to work on. They’re young, but they’re doing all right.”
When it comes to setting goals, the only number Rubio worries about is victories.
“I just want to be perfect on every play,” he said. “I don’t worry about stats. I just put it out there on every play. I’m happy every game because I give my all. If I don’t give my all, then I’m not satisfied.”
