By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s defense made quite a statement.
Led by Kevin Fischer’s three interceptions —including one that was returned 71 yards for a touchdown — the Chargers took a sizable lead during the first half and went on to defeat Rivera 46-6 in a District 32-6A game during Week 6 on Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“It feels great, I missed being on the field with my teammates,” Fischer said. “I’m glad they’re there with me to share this moment with me.”
The Chargers’ defense pressured Rivera quarterback Oscar Gonzalez throughout, sacked him six times, and held the Raiders to 173 yards.
“Kudos to the defense and coordinator Larry Vincent, and the preparation they put in,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “Nothing better when you put a plan together and it works the way you want it to work, and it did.”
After Fischer’s first interception in Rivera territory, Chargers running back Carlos Garza gave Brownsville Veterans the early 7-0 lead on a 10-yard run.
During the second quarter, Marcus Castillo found Jeremiah Meyers on an 11-yard pass play for another touchdown, and the Chargers led 15-0 after a two-point conversion.
Later in the quarter, another pick by Fischer led to another score. Brownville Veterans drove 90 yards, and Garza capped it off with a 5-yard run to give the Chargers a 22-0 lead.
“If you throw interceptions and give them field position, it’s very difficult for us to make up for it,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “We don’t have the offense to make up for those mistakes, so we’re having a little bit of trouble.”
Then Fischer did it himself, returning his third interception 71 yards for a score to give Brownsville Veterans a 29-0 lead at the break.
“Kevin is one of our captains for a reason,” Cantu said. “He’s one of those kids that never misses a day during summer conditioning, he’s there every single day. So I couldn’t be happier for the student-athlete Kevin Fischer, he’s one of our best leaders.”
Rivera finally got on the board during the third quarter. Gonzalez hit Chris Zuniga on a 26-yard passing TD, but it wasn’t enough against the stout Chargers’ defense.
“We had a few spurts on offense, but we have to have the spurts for four quarters,” Chavez said. “We’re not doing that. We’re not playing very well right now, let’s call a spade a spade.”
Humberto Trevino hit a 30-yard field goal at the end of the third to give the Chargers a 32-6 lead. And in the fourth quarter, receiver Polo Cantu caught two touchdown passes, one for 64 yards from Joshua Alaniz and another for 68 yards from Isaiah Solis to seal the victory for Brownsville Veterans.
Chavez said his team couldn’t dwell on the loss, it just needs to move forward.
“We were beating ourselves, but no doubt they’re a good football team,” he said. “We have to keep our heads up, forget about this one and work on the next one. We can’t worry about this game, we have to work on next week and see if we can put something together.”
The Chargers’ defense is gaining confidence as the season progresses.
“We feel confident, but we can’t lose focus,” Fischer said. “We have to keep going hard in practice like we’ve been doing, and the hard work will pay off.”
Cantu was happy with the win but not satisfied with another talented district opponent looming next week.
“It feels great to be 2-0,” he said. “But we know that we have some unbelievably tough opponents (coming up).”
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.