DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — Eyes = open.
PSJA Southwest sent a loud wake-up call to the rest of District 32-5A on Friday night, taking down Donna High 21-14 at Bennie La Prade Stadium.
Not only did the third-year Javelinas earn their first district win, ever, they beat the Redskins at their own game in doing so with tough running and timely defensive plays.
And it was Jesus Acosta’s 5-yard TD run with 5:01 left that was the big one, his second of the second half after the Redskins had taken a 14-7 lead with 7:54 left in the third quarter.
“We did it against Grulla and won,” Acosta said of his team’s rally. “Against La Joya Palmview, we lost but we came back. Tonight, we were saying we’re not going to let this one go that easy.
“That’s the difference this year.”
Tied at halftime at 7, the Redskins, who had not played since Sept. 5 versus Weslaco High, forced a punt, marched down the field and scored on junior quarterback Edward Dougherty’s 1-yard run, his second score of the game.
But Donna (1-2, 0-1 32-5A) did not get much from there. Southwest overwhelmed in the second half, methodically milking clock and gaining yards via its Wing-T offense and keeping the Redskins at bay defensively.
“It’s all about momentum,” Donna coach Ramiro Leal said. “They started executing, that helped them gain momentum and then they started doing the things they’re capable of doing. We never got the momentum to consistently keep on going.”
Southwest held Donna to 106 total yards in the second half after the Redskins had 172 in the first. The Javelinas’ defense did a better job in containment the final two quarters, protecting the edges more aggressively, and Donna never moved the ball like it did early on.
“Our kids didn’t slow down,” Southwest coach Jesus Reyes said. “They kept pounding the rock and Donna had a harder time getting around us.”
After amassing a meager 11 yards on six carries in the first half, Acosta, the district’s top running back, was a monster in the second, tallying 100 on 20. He finished with all of Southwest’s three touchdowns, and was determined to keep his team in position to win.
“Our seniors stood up and took control of that locker room at halftime,” Reyes said. “We’re not the program of the last couple years. They said it’s time to establish our tradition. Our seniors willed us to a win that second half.”
Dougherty finished with 137 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, but threw two interceptions, the last from Southwest’s 41-yard line with 8 seconds left as the Redskins attempted one last miracle to tie.
“We’re not where we were a couple weeks ago,” Leal said. “We regressed. This is not the team I saw against Brownsville Veterans and Weslaco. We had too many miscues and just weren’t hitting.”
But Southwest, particularly when it mattered, did, and the result is a 3-1 record, but, more importantly, 1-0 in district.
“This is what matters,” Acosta said. “All those wins we got before were basically scrimmages. Now we know how tough we are. We just gotta step it up even more.”