By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The losing streak is over.
Lopez came back during the second half to end a 17-game losing streak that goes back to 2013 with a 34-15 defeat of Rivera in their District 32-6A game Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“When you’ve fallen short as long as we have and have as good as kids as we got, they’re going to celebrate what it finally feels like to win,” Lopez coach Jason Starkey said. “I’m really proud of my coaches, proud of my kids, grateful to my administration for all their support through all the tough times. I give the glory to God and my faith. A lot of the ebbs and flows of being a coach in the sport of football, we’ve experienced it all. I’m so happy for my kids and for our campus, it’s just a good win.”
The Lobos scored 20 unanswered points during the second half to net their first win of the season.
Lopez got on the board first after its defense forced a Rivera fumble, and Alexis Olalde returned it 34 yards for the touchdown an a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Lopez’s defense came up with an interception on Rivera’s next drive, but it cost them. The Raiders’ defense took advantage and tackled the Lopez running back in the end zone for a safety.
Rivera’s defense continued to put points on the board when Gerson Acero took an interception back 15 yards to give the Raiders a 8-7 lead.
During the second quarter, Lopez retook the lead when Saul Mendoza found Jose Echavarria on a 58-yard touchdown pass for a 14-8 lead.
Rivera answered before halftime, as Angel Tolentino hit Chris Zuniga on a 21-yard scoring strike to give the Raiders a 15-14 lead at the break.
But that was it for Rivera.
“We had the momentum because we were ahead, but we hurt ourselves,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “We had too many turnovers. We had mistakes that put us in bad field position, and we can’t overcome it right now.”
After halftime, Lopez scored midway through the third quarter to take the lead for good. Mendoza found a seam and sprinted for an 89-yard touchdown to give the Lobos a 21-15 lead.
Then Lopez’s defense took over, forcing a fumble on a punt return and making the Raiders take chances.
“In the second half, our defense played extremely well,” Starkey said. “I’m very proud of the job they did in the turnover margin, and shutting down the running attack of the Raiders and forced them to be one-dimensional.
“The defense kept us in the game, and the offense got some things going.”
The Lopez defense forced four turnovers, three fumbles —one that was returned for a touchdown — and an interception.
The Lobos’ offense took advantage of good field position, and Mendoza added a 1-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter. Later, he found Echavarria on a 12-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory for Lopez.
Chavez is still trying to figure how to get his team in the win column.
“We’re having a hard time right now,” he said. “But I don’t want to point fingers because we all make mistakes, and we have to correct those mistakes and see if we can get better. We have four games left, and we have to keep the boys together. Hopefully we can get some good out of the season.”
Starkey gave credit to Chavez and Rivera for making it a tough game throughout.
“I know Coach Chavez lost a lot of their kids last year and they have a lot of injuries, but they played their hearts out,” he said. “Its an honor to coach against a man like Coach Chavez, who I look up to and have a massive amount of respect for. If I’ve learned anything from him and I’ve learned a lot, it doesn’t matter if you start 0-5 you can always finish with pride, and that’s what we tried to do tonight.
“The monkey’s off our back, now we can play free and focused and hopefully get another (win).”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.