FOOTBALL: Catoosa coach welcomes fourth son days after season ends
· Yahoo Sports
CATOOSA — Sal Guerrero has a feeling his newborn son is going to be a daddy's boy.
After all, little Mateo apparently made his first promise to Dad before he was even born.
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A few days before Catoosa's regular-season football finale against Daniel Webster, Guerrero woke up from a dream with a rather specific prediction: His son would arrive Tuesday.
When Guerrero shared the news with his wife, Sarah, she wanted to know how he could possibly be so certain.
"Well, he told me," Guerrero recalled telling her.
Not from the womb, he explained. From a dream.
"He said, 'Daddy, I'll see you Tuesday.'"
Whether it was a coincidence or something more, Mateo kept his appointment.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Guerreros welcomed their fourth son into the world, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 20 inches long.
And for a football coach whose family had spent months wondering whether their newest addition might arrive in the middle of a playoff game, the timing couldn't have been much better.
Just four days earlier, Catoosa had closed its season with a 60-26 victory over Daniel Webster. The Indians finished 4-6, a four-win improvement from last year's winless campaign, but missed the Class 3A playoffs after losing a three-way district tiebreaker with Vinita and Eufaula.
It was a disappointing ending to a season Guerrero believed had represented a turning point for his program, but the disappointment didn't last long before the coach had something much bigger to celebrate.
"There were a lot of emotions," Guerrero said. "Obviously, it was heartbreaking not making the playoffs. The kids worked hard, the coaches worked hard, and there was so much success this season compared to the 0-10 season. But I also knew that I wanted them to end it on a high note. And this was going to end for me on a high note."
When the Guerreros learned Sarah was pregnant in March, they quickly realized the due date could create an interesting conflict. Mateo was expected around Nov. 20, right in the middle of the high school football playoffs.
Sal, 40, and Sarah, 37, already had three sons, ages 17, 14 and 12. The pregnancy came as a surprise, and the family began preparing for the possibility of welcoming another baby during football season.
"We knew there was a chance he could come early, so we had a plan in place going into it," Guerrero said.
As the season progressed, however, doctors began suggesting Mateo might arrive sooner than expected.
Following Catoosa's game against Jones on Oct. 2, Sarah was advised not to travel too far from home. That meant missing the Indians' road game against Jay, the first game she had missed since Sal became a head coach.
After another appointment, the family learned Mateo could arrive as early as mid-October. That is when Guerrero began negotiating with his unborn son.
"I'd lie down at night and rub her belly and say, 'Look, Bub, you've got to wait until your due date because we've got some work to do,'" Guerrero said. "'We've got to finish the season, at least. Let me get through the first round, and then we can talk.'"
Sarah joined in the conversations.
As Catoosa approached its finale against Daniel Webster, the request became simpler. Just wait until after Friday.
"Does it work? I don't know," Guerrero said. "But that's what we did."
Then came the dream.
Guerrero woke up convinced Mateo would arrive the following Tuesday [Nov. 10], despite an induction being scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16.
First, however, there was one football game left to play. The Indians delivered one of their most complete performances of the season against Webster.
Afterward, Guerrero and his family went out to eat.
"I looked at her and said, 'OK, he can come now,'" Guerrero said.
Two days later, the family thought Mateo might be taking them up on the invitation.
Sunday was already an important occasion. Guerrero's mother had traveled from New Mexico, and the family's two youngest sons were being baptized at church. Sal had put a brisket on for a family lunch afterward.
But during the service, Sarah began experiencing contractions.
The couple left early and rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined she wasn't progressing enough to be admitted. They returned home.
On Monday, Sal went to work, wrapping up football responsibilities and preparing for the possibility of taking time away. Sarah, who serves as Catoosa Public Schools' human resources director, stayed home.
Early Tuesday morning, she began experiencing symptoms that suggested her water might have broken.
The couple initially hesitated to return to the hospital after Sunday's false alarm, but eventually decided to get checked. This time, the tests confirmed Mateo was on his way.
And once labor progressed, things moved quickly.
"She went from 4 to 10 [centimeters] within 30 minutes," Guerrero said. "She didn't even get the epidural."
As Sarah prepared to deliver, her husband found himself slipping into a familiar role.
"At one point, I felt myself talking to her like a player," Guerrero said. "She's like, 'I can't.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, you can. Let's do this. You've got this. Come on.' And I thought, 'Oh gosh, I'm coaching her like a coach right now.' I had to soften it up a little bit."
By 4 p.m., Mateo had arrived. Exactly when Guerrero had dreamed he would.
"The pediatrician came in and told her she gave birth to a 6-week-old," Guerrero said.
For the Guerreros, Mateo's arrival brought a new beginning after an emotional football season.
Catoosa's four victories didn't produce the playoff berth the Indians wanted, but they represented significant progress for a program that had gone 0-10 the previous year.
Guerrero pointed to the development of seniors such as Devin Johnson and Matthew Compton, whom he had coached since they were seventh-graders.
Johnson stayed with the program through its struggles and became one of its offensive leaders. Compton, who endured a difficult season at quarterback in 2025, developed into a dependable receiver.
Guerrero said the team's growth extended beyond its record.
"At one point, it just hit me all of a sudden that this is where I always wanted to be with this program," he said. "The messages I've been sending, the standards we've set, the culture shift — these kids were all bought in.
"It sucks that it doesn't show up in the win-loss record, but we know as a program that this was a successful year, even though we didn't get that end goal we wanted."
Sarah experienced those highs and lows alongside him.
Despite her pregnancy, she continued helping coordinate the team's Friday morning breakfasts and supporting the players whenever she could.
"It's her team just as much as my team," Guerrero said. "She's there at every Friday morning breakfast. She coordinates those breakfasts, and here she is, months pregnant and still getting it done because those are her boys, too.
"She feels the weight of the season as well."
Now, the family has another boy to care for.
And according to Sarah, Mateo's older brothers have already embraced their new responsibilities.
"They did a complete turnaround as soon as we told them, 'Hey, we're having a baby. You guys are going to have to step up and be the big brothers,'" she said. "They've helped in the kitchen. They've helped make meals. If I don't feel good, they bring me water. They check on me."
But nothing compared with their first meeting at the hospital.
"Seeing them when they laid eyes on him for the first time, I broke down," Sarah said. "I didn't know my heart could feel that much. Just seeing them adore their little brother was pretty amazing. I wouldn't change it for the world."
For Guerrero, becoming a father again with three teenage and preteen sons means starting over in more ways than one.
There will be diapers, sleepless nights and all the experiences he and Sarah haven't navigated in more than a decade. But after spending the past year rebuilding a football program, he doesn't mind another fresh start.
"He's boy No. 4, and we've been blessed," he said. "The older ones absolutely adore him, and it's just been amazing. Anytime you become a parent, it's an amazing feeling. But with this one, it's like, all right, you get to start over."
Guerrero laughed at the parallels between his professional and personal lives.
"Just like starting over after 0-10 or that culture shift, it's, 'Hey, start over, Dad. You've got to stay young, and we've still got work to do.'"
Next fall, Catoosa will return to the field hoping to build on its four-win improvement, and there will be a new face in the family pictures, cheering on the Indians alongside his mother and three older brothers.
For now, Guerrero is simply enjoying the latest addition to his family.
"Like I said, he's going to keep Dad young," he said.