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Mercedes jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead on Brownsville Pace in each team’s District 32-5A opener Friday night before settling for a 27-21 win at Tiger Stadium in Mercedes.
Pace (1-3, 0-1 32-5A) adjusted defensively in the second half, but never could surmount the whole it dug itself in the first when Mercedes (3-1, 1-0) put up 238 total yards.
“We preach starting fast, but we also preach finishing,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “It’s just something we know we can fix. We can move the ball. I’m not concerned. We can put up points when we need to.”
In all, Pace managed 162 total yards as Mercedes was able to get to quarterback Alex Cisneros all night.
MCALLEN 48, MISSION HIGH 7: At Mission, the Bulldogs opened District 30-6A with a big win to improve to 3-2 overall.
“I was real pleased,” McHi coach Kevin Brewer said. “We didn’t play four quarters of football last week and so that was our big emphasis all week, playing a complete ball game. And I thought we did that in all three phases.”
The Bulldogs threw for two touchdowns, but the run game is what led them to victory.
“We like to run the football,” Brewer said. “As long as we can stay consistent moving the chains, that allows us to have some success offensively.
The Eagles fell to 1-4, 0-1 in district
ROMA 7, RIO GRANDE CITY 6: At Roma, the Gladiators rallied to earn the win after RGC took an early 6-0 lead. Aldo Ramirez scored on a 7-yard reception from Robert Garza for the winning score.
“Our defense played lights out,” Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. said. “They did what they’ve been doing. They were physical and our special teams played great.”
Roma improved to 3-1-1 overall, 1-0 in District 31-5A. RGC fell to 1-4, 0-1.
MCALLEN MEMORIAL 21, LA JOYA HIGH 17: At La Joya, the Mustangs rallied after La Joya took an early 10-0 lead.
“La Joya came out and played a really good football game,” Memorial coach Bill Littleton said. “They did a great job against us. We overcame adversity and found a way to get a win.”
Junior running back Trevor Speights once again paced the Mustangs with 315 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. In all, Memorial totaled 393 yards to La Joya’s 269.
“It was a good total team effort,” Littleton said. “We sacked the quarterback four or five times. We played solid on defense all night. We started bad; they had a 68-yard touchdown the second or third play of the ball game. After that, we played pretty well from then on out.
Memorial improved to 4-1 overall, 1-0 in District 30-6A. La Joya fell to 1-4, 0-1.
MCALLEN ROWE 28, LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 21: At McAllen, the Warriors outscored the Huskies 14-7 in the second half to take home the win.
Rowe improved to 2-3 overall after three straight losses and is now 1-0 in 30-6A. Juarez-Lincoln remained winless at 0-5.
“The most important thing is we got the win,” Rowe coach Paul Reyes said. “It was an overall good game. Two teams starting a new season, both fighting for wins. We did some good things that got us that victory.
“We had a couple of opportunities to put some other points on the board and we had a touchdown called back. We got inside the 5 and had a couple of penalties that pushed us back and kept us out of the end zone.”
Jose Chavez had two rushing touchdowns to lead Rowe. Quarterback Hector Bosquez added another.
HARLINGEN HIGH 17, BROWNSVILLE RIVERA 10: At Brownsville, strong defense carried the Cardinals, who won their district opener and improved to 2-2.
The most notable play on the defensive side, was the winning touchdown that was scored with just under seven minutes remaining in the game by Felix Reyna. He intercepted Rivera quarterback Danny Elizondo for the second time of the night and scored on a 40-yard return.
LA FERIA 41, PROGRESO 9: At Progreso, the Lions improved to 4-1 overall and the Red Ants fell to 1-4.
SANTA ROSA 25, HIDALGO 19 (OT): At Hidalgo, Santa Rosa improved to 3-2 while the Pirates suffered a heartbreak loss and fell to 1-4.
RIO HONDO 40, GRULLA 0: At Rio Hondo, the Bobcats romped to improve to 4-1. The Gators remained winless at 0-5.
BRUNI 40, LA VILLA 13: At La Villa, the Cardinals suffered their fourth straight defeat to fall to 1-3. Bruni improved to 4-1.
CRYSTAL CITY 41, MONTE ALTO 7: At Monte Alto, the Blue Devils could not extend their winning streak to two as they fell to 1-3.
Crystal City improved to 2-3.
PORT ISABEL 44, BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH 21: After jumping to an early lead, Port Isabel had to comeback from a halftime deficit to win.
The Tarpons rushed for 505 yards on 43 carries and scored five touchdowns — 276 yards and four scores in the second half — against a worn down Bloodhounds defense. But it looked bleak at times in the first half for Port Isabel.
“We weren’t controlling the line of scrimmage (in the first half), they were,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “We told the kids (at halftime) they want it more than you want it. We didn’t need to panic, we were only down by four.”