DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Donna High’s offense has run roughshod over opposing defenses the last two games, averaging 56 points and boasting three players in each contest with more than 100 yards rushing.
It will need every ounce of firepower Friday at Edcouch-Elsa. Despite a three-game winning streak, the Redskins (5-4, 4-2 District 32-5A) are still fighting for their playoff lives, needing a win at Benny Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium to punch their ticket to the postseason.
“It’s another playoff game,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said. “We’ve treated the last few games like that. We have to finish. If we don’t, there’s no next week.”
The Redskins will have some more help.
Junior quarterback Amonte Bowen, who broke his collarbone during the team’s last scrimmage in August and has been sidelined since, was cleared to return to contact play on Tuesday and will play tonight. Edward Dougherty is still the No. 1 quarterback, but Bowen will see reps at wide receiver, tight end and maybe spot quarterback.
“We’ll try and use him,” said Leal, who added Bowen will not be on a snap count. “He’s eager and the team wants him to play. He’s a good athlete, a good runner. He was having a great preseason. His presence in the huddle means a lot and the kids rally around him.”
Bowen, who is bigger than Dougherty but not as quick, joins an offense that is dominating, leading the district in total rushing yards despite playing one less game. The Redskins have rushed for more than 500 yards in each of the last two games.
Leal credits that to an offensive line that is finally coming around, allowing Donna High to use tailbacks as ballcarriers and not as extra blockers. That’s allowed more opportunities for tailbacks Paul Guerra and Mike Tamez, who are able to relieve some of the load off Dougherty. Dougherty was averaging 23 carries early in the season, but is now averaging 18.
“When we weren’t clicking earlier, we chose to use a back as an extra blocker to try to get some sort of rhythm,” Leal said. “But we’re clicking now. The O-line is making things go and that’s just opening things up.”
Edcouch-Elsa (6-3, 5-1) has yet to play a complete game, playing great in spurts and playing poorly in others. The M.O. is to accomplish that before heading to Sharyland High for next week’s anticipated bi-district tussle.
“We want to put everything together,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “I told the guys we’ve been doing some great things, but we’ve been doing it in two quarters. Imagine when we put it all together.”
Marichalar said the inconsistency was because of inexperience, but that is no longer an excuse.
“I think in nine games we can say they’ve experienced almost every possible scenario,” Marichalar said. “Now it’s a matter of being mentally ready for that moment. We have to seize that moment. I want to see more of our kids making plays and overcoming situations.”
As for the Redskins, Marichalar’s defense is second-best in the district against the run. Something’s got to give. But he expects an atmosphere that will be beneficial to his young team before the real deal starts up next week.
“It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere,” Marichalar said. “It will be good to get that feeling early. We can’t focus on next week. We have to focus on a tough, talented, Donna team.
“When you talk to the old-timers here, that was the rival game. It wasn’t Mercedes. There’s talk in town of how big of a deal this is for us, not just them.”