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Sophomore Pete Segura caught two touchdown passes, including the game-clinching score, and Edinburg Economedes defeat Edinburg North 35-28 to secure the final playoff spot in District 31-6A on Friday.
“That glass slipper fits like a glove,” Econ coach Gabe Peña said. “It was just an extreme effort on behalf of our kids. When you play a team like Edinburg North, you’re bigger, faster, and they have more numbers, but our kids played with more heart.”
The Jaguars (5-5, 3-3) advance to the postseason for the third time in four years, and will face Harlingen High in the bi-district round 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen.
“The kids played with passion, knowing they had to play 48 minutes today so that they could play 48 minutes next week,” Peña said. “They played with spirit and they never let go.”
HARLINGEN HIGH 20, HARLINGEN SOUTH 0: At Harlingen, the Cardinals ended their season with an eighth consecutive district title, their eighth straight Bird Bowl win and their eighth straight quarter without allowing an opponent to score.
Leo Tienda ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense pitched its second straight shutout to lift the Cardinals at Boggus Stadium in Bird Bowl XXIII.
“The gauntlet (of the district) has made us stronger,” Harlingen High coach Manny Gomez said. “South came out swinging and did some good things and it took us a while to get going. Once we did, we adapted and overcame. I’m proud of the effort.”
Harlingen will share the District 32-6A title with San Benito and Los Fresnos.
McALLEN MEMORIAL 67, MISSION HIGH 14: At Tom Landry Stadium in Mission, McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights scored five touchdowns to tie the Valley’s all-time career record with 112 as the Mustangs finished off an undefeated regular season.
“Those kind of years don’t happen every day,” McAllen Memorial coach Bill Littleton said of the 10-0 start. “Now we have to move on to bigger and better things.”
Memorial will host Laredo United South at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a Class 6A Division II bi-district game.
Speights finished with 14 carries for 278 yards, an average of 19.9 yards per carry. With five scores, he is just two away from the Valley’s single-season record, set by Weslaco’s Mishak Rivas in 2007.
JoJo Williams scored twice on the ground for the Mustangs, and DJ Johnson had four catches for 138 yards and a touchdown from quarterback Jonathan Sanchez.
Memorial (10-0, 6-0) is undefeated in the regular season for the third time, having accomplished the feat in 2011 and 1995.
Mission finishes the year 4-6 overall and 2-4 in district.
BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL 41, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 21: At Brownsville, the Chargers vaulted themselves back into playoffs for the first time since 2012, when they advanced two rounds.
Snapping a three-game losing streak, Brownsville Veterans (7-3, 4-3 district) received a big game from senior running back Carlos Garza. He rushed 16 times for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns with scampers up the middle on plays covering 79 and 37 yards during the first and fourth quarters, respectively.
Lopez ended its season at 1-8 overall and 1-6 in 32-6A.
LOS FRESNOS 46, BROWNSVILLE HANNA 13: At Los Fresnos, the Falcons’ Rene Ortega had three touchdown passes — including two of them to Pete Perez — and ran for another score as Los Fresnos earned a share of the District 32-6A title.
“It was a good game, the boys came out and did well,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “We started a little slow, but once we got started, it took off, we got rolling on offense.”
“It feels great (to win a share of the district title),” Finley added. “The kids work tremendously hard. I couldn’t be any more proud of this football team than any team I’ve ever coached.”
CLASS 5A
DONNA HIGH 32, EDCOUCH-ELSA 10: At Donna, the Redskins secured the District 32-5A title outright with a win.
Just as they have been all season, the Redskins were workmanlike. They ran the ball at will, the defense hardly bended and never broke, and they controlled the ball. The only difference was this particular win — their eighth in a row — resulted in a complete grasp of their first district championship since 2007.
“We wanted to come out and hit them in the mouth,” said senior Edward Dougherty, who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns. “We wanted to win that district title outright. We didn’t want to share with anybody.”
ROMA 27, VALLEY VIEW 0: At Roma, Andy Marroquin threw two touchdown passes to Elias Martinez, and Ramon Espinoza scored once on the ground, as the Gladiators secured the No. 1 seed in Division I.
Espinoza finished with 140 yards on 13 carries, and the Roma defense held Valley View to 91 yard as the Gladiators (8-2, 4-2) posted their best overall and district records in program history.
“This is a special group of kids,” Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. said. “They did a heck of a job this year staying the course. We hit a rough patch in the middle of the season, but we were able to bounce back and play steady, suffocating defense throughout the year.
“We found a niche, and we were able to have some success with it.”
As the top seed, the Gladiators will face Edcouch-Elsa in the bi-district round. The game is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission. Both coaches will finalize the details in the morning.
SHARYLAND HIGH 29, RIO GRANDE CITY 7: At Mission, Manny Campos threw two touchdown passes and scored another time on the ground as the Rattlers closed out the season with a three-game winning streak.
Blake Klein and Edgar Alanis were the recipients of those scoring strikes, and Klein added another touchdown on the ground, as the Rattlers (6-4, 4-2) finished with the No. 2 seed in Division II.
“I feel good that we were able to get the win and head into the playoffs with some momentum,” Sharyland coach Ron Adame said. “Our boys have risen to the challenge that we placed on them by closing out the year 3-0, and we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”
The Rattlers will face Mercedes in the opening round at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Richard Thompson Stadium in Mission.
MERCEDES 30, BROWNSVILLE PORTER 17: At Mercedes, the Tigers put the finishing touches on a flourish to end the regular season.
Isaac Vela scored twice, and Fabian Ledesma and Joe Garcia also found the end zone for the Tigers, who are 7-3 going into the playoffs.
“I really like where we’re at as a team,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “This team has come a long way. We weren’t supposed to be doing this well this early, but we have a team that can go in and compete and play with anybody.”
Mercedes breezed to its seventh win in its last eight games going into next week’s Class 5A, DII bi-district playoff game at Sharyland High.
PSJA HIGH 27, DONNA NORTH 9: At Pharr, the Bears finished the season on a good note in posting their first win of the season.
PSJA High finished 1-9, and Donna North finished with the same record as well. Each win for each team came during district play.
CLASS 4A
GRULLA 21, ZAPATA 14: At Zapata, the Gators won their fourth game of the season to head into the playoffs with two wins in their last three games.
Down 14-7 at halftime, Grulla scored on its first two possessions to open the second half, capped with Luis Martinez’s six-yard TD reception from Fabian Anzaldua and Miguel Flores’ ensuing 2-point conversion.
The Gators stopped the Hawks on 4th-and-2 from the Grulla 10 with 34 seconds left to seal the win.
“Last week’s loss to Kingsville was tough on everybody,” Grulla coach Abel Gonzalez III said. “Up 14-0 at the half and giving up the lead in the last seconds … for our kids to overcome that and beat a good Zapata team on the road says a lot about our character and dedication.”
Flores also scored in the first half for Grulla. Diego Mata scored on a 1-yard run to open the second half.
Grulla plays Gonzalez in its Class 4A bi-district playoff game next Friday at Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
KINGSVILLE KING 41, HIDALGO 6: At King, Hidalgo closed its season with a loss and finished the year 2-8, an improvement over last season’s 1-win result.
PORT ISABEL 21, RAYMONDVILLE 14: At Raymondville, the Tarpons played their game plan to near perfection as they ran the ball, chewed up some clock and came away with a win.
“The kids played great today and they have been playing extremely hard giving it a great effort,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times with turnovers and getting penalties at the wrong time, but they have been playing hard.
“We’re going to play Cuero and I know a lot of people there, but we wanted to finish this on a good note. We didn’t finish it last year, this time we’re going into the playoffs with a little momentum.”
With the win, Port Isabel (6-3, 3-2) assured themselves of a third-place seed in District 16-4A DII and a bi-district playoff date with Cuero. Meanwhile the Kats (4-5, 2-3) are the fourth seed and have to face Sinton in the bi-district round and for the second time this season.
CLASS 3A
COTULLA 63, MONTE ALTO 6: At Cotulla, the Blue Devils (3-7, 0-4) missed on a chance to qualify for the postseason.
CLASS 2A
LA VILLA 50, SANTA MARIA 0: At Santa Maria, the Cardinals (4-6, 3-2) clinched a postseason berth with a victory.
TAPPS
BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY 51, SAN ANTONIO ANTONIAN 27: At Brownsville, the Bloodhounds did their part against San Antonio Antonian to possibly clinch a share of a district title. SJA was down early, but scored 24 unanswered points in the first half and used the advantage to defeat the Apaches in a TAPPS Division I, District 2 game at Canales Field in Brownsville.
St. Joseph quarterback Kai Money finished with 174 yard rushing and three touchdowns and threw for 248 yard and two more scores as the Bloodhounds’ offense racked up 517 yards against the Apaches defense.