DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Donna High has accomplished something the last two games that coach Ramiro Leal has never seen in his 26 years at the school.
In wins over Brownsville Porter and Donna North, three Redskins players each rushed for more than 100 yards.
Against Porter, Mike Tamez (16 carries, 146 yards, 2 TDs), Paul Guerra (16-113-1) and Edward Dougherty (14-118-3) each crossed the triple-digit rushing mark. Last week against North, Tamez (19-186-2) and Guerra (10-174-3) were joined by Edson Alvarado (8-107-1) in doing so.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Leal said. “I can’t remember anything like that happening. We’ve had some great rushers here at Donna, but not anything like that.”
Leal said he is not doing anything different offensively. The schemes are the same. He hasn’t moved players around. He credits the growth of an offensive line with just two seniors as the most significant reason.
“It’s just better execution,” Leal said. “We’re really clicking right now.”
Though they’ve played one fewer game than the rest of 32-5A because of a cancellation of their Week 3 game, the Redskins (5-3, 4-2 32-5A) lead the league in total rushing yards with 2,114, good for 264.3 yards per game.
SOUTHWEST SETS RECORDS
For the first time in its three years of varsity football, PSJA Southwest has a 1,000-yard season passer and rusher.
Senior quarterback Carlos Portales has thrown for 1,128 yards. Prior to this season, Portales had never thrown for more than 700 yards in a season. Junior running back Jesus Acosta has compiled 1,208 yards. Before this season, Southwest had never had an 800-yard rusher.
Southwest always hung its hat on running the ball thanks to its Wing-T offense. But Portales’ progress has been instrumental in giving the Javelinas balance.
“He’s making quicker reads, quicker throws,” Southwest coach Jesus Reyes said. “He’s making the right decisions. Overall, the confidence is there. It hasn’t always been there.”
It’s no coincidence that Portales’ and Acosta’s success have helped produce a banner year for the Javelinas. Southwest (5-4, 3-3 32-5A) had never won more than two games in a season before this one.
“We’re getting to the level we want to get to,” Reyes said. “This is beginning to become a program. The first couple of years here, football was like recreation. This is more of a team now, more of a community.”
But as the season winds down, the question is if the Javs have enough of those kids.
Coming off consecutive losses to Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes, Southwest has seen its lack of depth rear its ugly head. The Javs carry only 33 varsity players.
That has cost them late in those games. Southwest lost by 12 to E-E and by 14 to Mercedes.
“It has taken its toll,” Reyes said. “We just have to overcome. We need more kids, and hopefully when you start building something like we have, more kids will come.”
PLAYOFFS
Mercedes (6-0) and Edcouch-Elsa (5-1) have punched their ticket to the playoffs. But there is still work to be done to clear the 32-5A postseason picture.
Donna High sits third in district at 4-2. PSJA High and PSJA Southwest is each a game behind at 3-3. The Redskins and Bears get in with wins Friday night; Donna against Edcouch-Elsa and PSJA High against Donna North.
Southwest gets in with a win over Brownsville Pace and a Donna High loss. Should that happen, there would be a three-way tie for the last two spots. PSJA High gets in off positive points, and Southwest gets in over Donna because the Javs beat the Redskins 21-14 last month.
Mercedes clinches the district title outright with a win over Brownsville Porter on Friday. The Tigers play either Roma or Valley View in the first round of the Class 5A, Division II playoffs. Roma and Valley View play Friday.
Edcouch-Elsa is locked into a Class 5A, DII first-round bout with Sharyland High. E-E coach Joe Marichalar and Sharyland coach Ron Adame will flip this morning to determine where and when the game will be played.