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championship team. Nathaniel had over 300 yards as a wide receiver.
All five boys have left their mark as star athletes at Robertson High School.
James III, who turned 27 on Oct. 24, was the star running back on the 2013 state champion Robertson football team and rushed for 1,700 yards. He also wrestled for four years and played basketball his senior year alongside Sebastian, a sophomore that year.
Sebastian’s passion besides horses is basketball. A guard, he averaged between 25 and 28 points a game in 2016, when he was named to the Class A All-State team. The Cardinals made it to the semifinals of the State Tournament before losing to crosstown rival West Las Vegas at The Pit.
“If Sebastian just had horses and basketball for the rest of his life, he’d be OK,” says James.
Sebastian also was a solid football player, playing quarterback and wide receiver. Matthew, who is on track to be the
family’s first college graduate, was so good an athlete in high school that he’s become somewhat of an icon around Las Vegas and San Miguel County.
“Around town it’s Matthew, Matthew, Matthew,” says James III. “I think he’s the best athlete in the family and I was pretty good.”
The humble, soft-spoken, polite to a fault 19-year-old Matthew is a freshman
at New Mexico Highlands University on
a basketball scholarship. Last year he led Robertson to state championships in football and basketball and was named the Class 3A Player-of-The-Year in both sports.
He scored 42 touchdowns and averaged 210 yards a game in total offense as the team’s quarterback. In basketball, he was the shooting guard and averaged 26.5 points a game. In a game against Moriarty, he scored 55 points, including 10 of 13 three-point shots. His teammates on both the football and basketball teams were freshmen Jesse James and Nathaniel.
Matthew hopes to major in business at New Mexico Highlands with perhaps a minor in horse racing.
“I’ll always be a part of it,” he says of racing, “but I want to branch off. I want to own a business and hopefully make enough money to buy horses.”
The twins are distinct beyond their physical numbers. They were born a minute apart in an El Paso hospital the morning of Sept. 19, 2006. Jesse James arrived first and as the older twin has always been protective of Nathaniel.
“He’s intense,” says his dad. “He doesn’t like anyone to mess with Nathaniel.”
His older brother James thinks Jesse James’ personality is a reflection of his name.
“It fits him to a tee,” says James. “He makes himself known. He’s emotional in everything he does.”
It was J.J. who named Jesse James. He says it had nothing to do with the wild west villain. He simply liked the way it sounded. He initially had wanted that name for Matthew, but Antoinette nixed it.
When they found out they had struck out again on a girl and had twin boys on the way, she told J.J., “Ok, now you can have your Jesse James.”
Nathaniel is pretty much the opposite.
“Nathaniel is real quiet. He’s smart and does well in school,” said J.J. “But he can be ill-tempered, malacacha,” says J.J., using the Spanish word to describe someone that’s ornery.
All five display the same competitive genes, no matter the sports season, no matter the reason. For example, during this year’s Homecoming Week celebration, Jesse James ran for sophomore class Duke and won. His campaign left nothing to chance.
“I put up posters all over the place and handed out pizza,” says Jesse.
The rivalry between Robertson and crosstown West Las Vegas has always been intense and the fact that the Gonzales boys went to Robertson instead of J.J.’s alma mater (WLV) isn’t lost on some West alums and fans. During this year’s Robertson homecoming parade, J.J. drove one of the trucks pulling a float.
In the crowd watching was WLV graduate and lifelong fan Jessie Gallegos.
When he spotted J.J., Gallegos, yelled: “It’s your fault J.J. If you had sent your boys to West the Dons would have three or four more championships.”
With James III and Sebastian assuming more of the training workload, J.J. has the luxury of spending more time at home in Las Vegas. That way he’s able to watch the twins play football in the fall and basketball in the winter and spring. Even when he was still riding, J.J. rarely missed one of his sons’ athletic events. It’s a commitment he learned from his parents.
“My parents missed one basketball game when I was playing in high school and that was because of the weather. They had closed the road between Vegas to Raton,” says J.J.
Antoinette says family unity is a constant part of their lives.
“It’s a sense of pride because we are a very tight knit family” she said. “The two older boys will do whatever they can to make it back home for one the big games or whatever is happening with the younger brothers. There’s nothing more comforting than knowing we’re that tight.”
Oh, and that little girl that J.J. wanted so badly 16 years ago?
When jockey Ricky Ramirez and his wife Alejandra’s second child was born nine years ago, they asked J.J. and Antoinette if they would baptize the little girl. They named the baby Samantha and she and J.J. are big buddies. So much so that the screen saver on Samantha’s I-Pad is a picture of J.J.
“She loves her nino (Godfather),” says J.J. with a big smile.
Sometimes, prayers get answered a little late.
34 New Mexico Horse Breeder
J.J. & Antoinette with god-daughter Samantha.