DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — PSJA High won a critical game Friday night at PSJA Stadium, stifling PSJA Southwest 27-0 to avoid going 0-2 in District 32-5A. In doing so, the Bears may have finally found an answer to their quarterback woes.
Senior Troy Flores started under center for the first time this season and stayed there until a close game turned into a blowout late. It was a difference from previous games when coach Steve Marroquin started Andrew Castaneda and played as many as four quarterbacks, including Flores, early during games.
Friday, however, Marroquin stuck with Flores and it paid off. Flores carried the ball 18 times for 86 yards and completed 8 of 12 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.
More importantly, Flores directed an offense that did not turn the ball over and did not commit untimely penalties. The exclamation point came with 2:08 left in the third quarter, when Flores scrambled, danced and burst his way through a broken play for a hard-earned 10-yard run.
The Bears averaged 222.2 yards entering Friday’s game. They piled up 306 against the Javelinas while scoring the most points in a game they have all season.
“Everyone came together,” Flores said. “We all did a good job together, and that was the difference. I just went out there and felt like I did whatever it took to win.”
Marroquin could not have been more pleased as his team moved to 3-2 overall, 1-1 in 32-5A.
“We looked at our team and I just felt like we needed a spark,” Marroquin said. “Every time Troy had stepped onto the field previously, he played well. He’s a senior, a two-year letterman and he’s a leader.
“He was like, ‘Coach, just let me go. Give me a chance.’”
While not the passer that Castaneda is, Flores is a better runner, and that made it tough for Southwest.
The Javelinas were forced to account for Flores as a running threat, while also keeping an eye on running back Andrew De La Cerda (103 yards, 2 TDs) and others.
PSJA High looked like the team it is capable of being. The Bears moved the ball, chewed up clock, and the defense capitalized on being fresh most of the night.
The Bears ran 61 plays to the Javelinas’ 41.
“The offensive line needs to play better,” said Southwest coach Jesus Reyes, whose team fell to 3-2, 1-1. “We came off the ball one step too slow tonight.”
Southwest, coming off its first-ever district win last week at Donna, got nothing going. Statistically, the Bears claim the top defense in the district, and they played like it against the league’s best offense.
The Javelinas were held to 97 total yards, 247 under their season average.
“That coaching staff over there used to be our coaches, so we know them and they know us,” PSJA High linebacker Christian Martinez said. “It’s a new rivalry and we were ready. We knew they’d keep going outside and hitting us inside. We were prepared.”
ACOSTA HELD DOWN
Southwest junior Jesus Acosta, the district’s top running back, was kept in check by the Bears’ defense.
Acosta managed 35 yards on seven carries before leaving with 8:43 left in the game after being shaken up on a play. Reyes said Acosta was hit in the back and had the wind knocked out of him, but he should be fine.
BREAKDOWNS
Mistakes cost Southwest all night.
From false starts to a slew of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the Javelinas were backpedaling most of the evening.
Southwest was whistled 10 times for 95 yards as it barely had more offensive total yards than penalty yards.
“Lack of composure,” Reyes said. “It looked like we didn’t know how to play under pressure. It got tight, it got emotional and we didn’t handle it very well.”
UP NEXT
PSJA High hosts Brownsville Pace at 7 p.m. next Thursday. Pace fell 26-7 to Donna High on Thursday and is 0-2 in district.
PSJA Southwest ventures to Brownsville to play Porter on Thursday. Porter fell to Edcouch-Elsa 38-7 on Friday to fall to 1-1 in 32-5A.