Quarterback Andy Marroquin scored on a 1-yard run to secure Roma’s 18-7 win against Sharyland High at Gladiator Arena in Roma.
“It’s big for us,” Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. said. “At the end of the day, the kids believed in themselves and they did everything they could.
“It’s a good win for our program, and we’ve got to continue to try to keep winning games to march into the playoffs.”
Jorge Garcia went 3-for-3 on field goals and also added a point-after attempt, and Rene Ramirez recorded a safety, as Roma (6-2, 2-2) snapped a two-game skid despite playing without Ramon Espinoza, the District 31-5A leader in rushing.
“Any time it could’ve gone south for us, but the kids kept playing,” Habecker said.
Sharyland High dropped to 3-4 overall, 1-2 in district.
EDINBURG VELA 48, VALLEY VIEW 19: At Tiger Stadium in Pharr, the SaberCats remained undefeated on the season.
Robert Guerra scored on a run to open the game. Quarterback Fabian Pedraza found Michael Arguelles for another TD. And then Ryan Rodriguez found the end zone after intercepting Valley View to help the SaberCats take a 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and 31-7 at halftime.
Valley View dropped to 0-7 overall, 0-3 in district.
PSJA SOUTHWEST 40, DONNA NORTH 0: At Donna, Southwest got a big win in shutting down Donna North.
The Javelinas improved to 2-2 in District 32-5A and had control from start to finish. Donna North fell to 0-4 in district and is still in search of its first varsity football win in year two as a program.
DONNA HIGH 63, PSJA HIGH 0: At Pharr, the Redskins had no trouble dispatching the young Bears and improved to 4-0 in District 32-5A to remain the league’s only undefeated team.
PSJA High fell to 0-7, 0-4 in district, and Donna High improved to 5-2 overall.
BROWNSVILLE PORTER 28, BROWNSVILLE PACE 21: At Sams Stadium in Brownsville, the Cowboys and Vikings battled back and forth through the first half and finally Porter took over after the break to defeat Pace 28-21 in District 32-5A on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Porter scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half and held off a late comeback by the Vikings. The Cowboys rushed for 306 yards against their crosstown rivals.
“We went into halftime, made adjustments, we told the kids, ‘we execute this we’re going to win the football game,’” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “I told them if we get a stop on defense, we’re going to drive the field and score. Everything we talked about at halftime, every adjustment, the kids executed it perfectly.”
The win puts Porter (5-2, 3-1) in a three-way tie for second place in the standings and in good shape to earn a possible postseason berth with three games left to play.
CLASS 6A
MISSION HIGH 35, LA JOYA HIGH 14: At La Joya ISD Stadium, the Eagles came back fresh and inspired off a bye week, knocking off the Coyotes to earn their first District 30-6A win.
“We finally played a complete game,” Mission High coach Mario Peña said. “One thing that I had mentioned to them, kind of echoing what Charlie Strong had said to UT, was we’re not a bad team. We’re just hurting ourselves. If we stop doing that, we can play with any team in our district.”
Sophomore Rudy Treviño stepped in at quarterback and threw a touchdown pass to the man he replaced, William Arias. Juan Salazar scored two rushing touchdowns, Eugenio Rosales scored once on the ground, and Jesus Vera returned an interception for a touchdown.
On defense, Mission held La Joya to about 40 rushing yards.
“The kids were very resilient,” Peña said. “I kept preaching that they needed to believe and not give up and good things will happen. If you just play hard, the win will take care of itself.”
Mission High improves to 3-4 and 1-2 in District 30-6A. La Joya High drops to 3-5, 2-2.
LA JOYA PALMVIEW 55, McALLEN ROWE 31: At McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, the Lobos bounced back from last week’s loss to La Joya High, pulling away in the second half to take down the Warriors.
“We had to get back on track,” coach Margarito Requenez said. “Last week was kind of a downfall. They moved our homecoming, and it disrupted our whole program. Our kids weren’t focused last week, and we didn’t play to the capacity we were able to. We just had to regroup and refocus, and that’s what we did.”
Pamlview led 27-17 during the third quarter, then started to pull away when Damian Quintanilla recovered Rowe’s onside kick attempt and returned it for a touchdown.
Abel Torres and Misael Guerra also had big games on the ground, Requenez said. On defense, Luis Sanchez made numerous tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown.
HARLINGEN HIGH 25, LOS FRESNOS 18: At Boggus Stadium in Harlingen, Cardinals linebacker Charlie Moreno intercepted Falcons quarterback Rene Ortega on a third-and-long pass with 8.6 seconds to play to secure the win.
Los Fresnos gave Harlingen touble early with big plays, but the Cardinals defense rose to the occasion when it mattered most.
The Cardinals (5-2, 3-1) forced turnovers and took advantage of stops on offense as the Cardinals avoided back-to-back district losses.
“The kids responded to the occasion. It was a tough loss last week and the players put it behind them and came out and battled,” Harlingen coach Manny Gomez said. “We competed against a great football team tonight; it was just a fun evening.”
The win gave Los Fresnos (6-1, 3-1) its first loss of the season.
SAN BENITO 40, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS 21: At Bobby Morrow Stadium in San Benito, the Greyhounds remained in the thick of the District 32-6A race with a win against the Chargers.
The Greyhounds (5-2, 3-1 district) trailed 14-7 after one quarter but came back to lead 24-14 at intermission en route to their decisive victory. The Greyhounds took a 27-14 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“I think we got closer to putting together all three phases of the game and seeing what we want to see (from our team) tonight,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “This was a very good Brownsville Veterans Memorial team, and our players worked really hard for this win.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight, and that’s the reason our backs, including our quarterback, were able to do so well,” Gomez added. “No one works harder than they do. And now, it’s back to the grind Saturday as we prepare for what’s ahead.”
San Benito quarterback J.R. Gaitan led the way for his team as he broke loose three times on long touchdown runs of 41, 67 and 66 yards while throwing a 6-yard TD pass to Edward Alvarez for his team’s initial score on its opening possession. Just those three scoring runs alone gave Gaitan 174 yards on the ground.
CLASS 4A
RIO HONDO 20, PORT ISABEL 7: At Bobcat Stadium in Rio Hondo, defense took center stage as Port Isabel’s Sea Wall defense allowed just 26 yards in the first half while Rio Hondo’s district-leading defense caused four turnovers.
“When you play PI they are going to run down the clock and they are going to pound the ball,” said Bobcats head coach Rocky James. “(Defensively) we couldn’t get off the field in the first half. In the second, we were able to give the offense more reps and it was hard to get any rhythm.
“Scoring on the opening drive in the second half really set the tone for us and I was glad we were able to come out with the victory. We lead the Valley in defense, so I knew we were going to come to play, but they drove the ball on us, though, and they did a tremendous job tonight.”
The victory gave the Bobcats (5-1, 2-0) a two-game win streak against the Tarpons (4-2, 1-1) and an all-time 18-16 series lead.
CLASS 2A
LA VILLA 24, CORPUS CHRISTI LONDON 14: At Cardinal Stadium in La Villa, the Cardinals put the clamps on a Pirates offense that has averaged 44.6 points per contest all season.
La Villa (3-4, 2-0) became the first opponent this year to score on London (5-1, 1-1), taking an 8-7 lead at halftime. Ramiro Cantu scored twice and Macario Perez added another as the Cardinals won their second straight game.
“We played some damn good defense,” coach Shawn Alvarez said. “I think our kids really put everybody else before themselves tonight, and it showed.
“The boys really came through. I’m definitely proud of them.”