GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen High entered Saturday expecting a competitive game with Laredo Alexander, only to be sliced apart on defense and stifled on offense from the opening kick.
Alexander ran up a 49-point lead in less than three quarters, beating McAllen High 49-21 in a Class 6A Division II bi-district game at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“I definitely thought it would be a closer game,” McHi running back Josh McGowen said. “I didn’t think they would come out and take the lead like that. It was all shocking and such a surprise on us.”
McAllen High’s young defense was carved up from the opening drive by the speed and athleticism of Alexander’s spread attack.
Alexander scored touchdowns on seven of its first eight drives, finding the end zone on everything from screen passes, to deep bombs, to misdirection runs, to draw plays. Alexander pushed the lead to 49-0 and amassed more than 400 yards of offense before the starters were pulled with about 2:30 to play during the third quarter.
“We were running the defense we needed to stop them,” linebacker Cody Rodriguez said. “We just didn’t execute.”
On defense, Alexander relentlessly swarmed to the ball, thrashing McAllen High’s offensive line and stopping play after play in the backfield.
Josh McGowen, the driving force for McHi’s offense all season, amassed 0 yards on his first 18 carries, being stopped for a loss seven times.
“That was definitely frustrating,” McGowen said. “It’s all of our faults. It’s not just the line’s fault, it’s a team thing. It just goes back to executing the plays, but I was definitely upset.”
McGowen started to find his footing once the game was well out of reach, finishing the night with 26 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
In doing so, he pushed his season total to 1,892 yards, setting a new McHi single-season record. The previous mark was 1,853 yards, posted by Mike De La Fuente in 2002.
“That definitely means a lot,” McGowen said. “I came in and I worked hard to get (the record), but honestly it doesn’t mean as much to me as it would have if I won.”
A senior in his first season with McHi, McGowen also set the school’s single-season records with 23 rushing touchdowns, 27 total touchdowns, and 166 total points.
Coach Kevin Brewer said he knew McGowen was close to the yardage record as the game went on.
“We could’ve been trying to throw the ball around to get back in it score wise, but we wanted to stay with the run and stay with Josh and let him get that,” Brewer said. “He’s been nothing but a huge, huge, huge part of our success this year, so I’m very glad that he was able to get that. That’s awesome.”
McAllen High’s loss capped a difficult bi-district weekend for District 30-6A.
Only McAllen Memorial, by far the district’s top team, was able to squeak out a 27-24 win Friday against Laredo United South. McHi, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and La Joya Palmview — which lost 58-30 in Del Rio on Saturday — were all blown out by an average margin of 35.3 points.
After starting the season 2-4, McHi won three of its final four games to earn the No. 2 spot in the district standings. The team ends the year 5-6 overall.
“I’m really proud of the way these kids finished the season, finishing strong in district, getting in, and being the top seed (in Division II),” Brewer said. “I’m extremely proud of these kids. They could’ve folded their tents in a long time ago, but that’s not the way they are. That’s just not in their DNA.”