BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
A season after finishing 1-5 and being an afterthought in District 30-6A, Mission High coach Mario Peña believes his team can compete for a playoff spot.
When Peña looks around the district, he sees one top dog and a bunch of teams on par with the Eagles.
“The team that I feel is above everybody else is McAllen Memorial,” Peña said. “Thereafter, I kind of feel that it comes down to who shows up to play on Friday night and who doesn’t turn the ball over.”
Last week, those critical turnovers cost the Eagles a 1-0 start. Mission High took a 26-14 lead into the fourth quarter against McAllen High before giving up 22 straight points to close the game.
The Eagles fumbled and threw an interception during the fourth quarter, and Peña said Mission was also penalized after driving to the 1-yard line. Reviewing the film, Peña and his staff couldn’t find the infraction.
“We actually hurt ourselves more than (the Bulldogs) did,” Peña said. “Those are things that happen in football, and you have to move forward right now. You have to regroup.”
For Mission High, the bright side was outgaining McAllen High 452 to 215. Peña said the Eagles’ strong point has been the offensive line. Returning starters Jose De Leon and Christian Navejar are joined by newcomers Sebastian
Sanchez and Gabriel Ortiz. Oscar Rodriguez is also back after missing time due to injury last season.
“We are going to rely on our offensive line,” Peña said. “At this point, I think that we’re going to ground and pound. That opens up our passing.”
ROWE’S REBOUNDS
McAllen Rowe coach Paul Reyes isn’t sure how he wants to combat his team’s trend of slow starts.
“Maybe I need to give my halftime speech at the beginning of the game,” Reyes joked.
Whatever the cause and whatever the solution, it’s something Rowe is looking to address heading into the second week of the district season.
The Warriors have been behind at halftime of every game this year. Rowe trailed Edcouch-Elsa 14-0, Mercedes 13-12, Laredo United 44-6 and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 19-7.
“I don’t know if it’s overly hyped, or nerves, or I don’t know. I really can’t give an answer,” Reyes said. “We’ve shown how we can play. We just have to be able to start a little bit better.”
The Warriors have typically bounced back well during the second half, outscoring opponents 95-40. That uptick in play has lifted the Warriors to 2-2, with wins against Mercedes and Juarez-Lincoln.
Reyes said he’s mentioned the trend to the players, but that he’s avoiding harping on it too much.
Halftime adjustments have rarely been a factor. Instead, the Warriors have simply played better down the stretch of games.
“We don’t want to make it a big issue and let these kids overly think about it,” Reyes said. “We just have to take advantage of every series.”
TIME TO REST
For two quarters last week, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln coach Tommy Garcia saw his team dominate McAllen Rowe, taking a 19-7 lead into the break. Then, injuries started to pile up. Quarterback Obed Fernandez went down with a pulled muscle. Running back Adonis Barillas tweaked his knee. A starting linebacker was lost to concussion. Center Daniel Gonzalez left with a high ankle sprain.
“It was like boom, boom, boom,” Garcia said. “It just snowballed.”
With Fernandez severely limited and his regular backup out with a concussion, the Huskies had to turn to their third option, Isai Galvan.
Running only a limited selection of plays, Juarez-Lincoln’s offense mustered just six points in the second half as Rowe stormed back for a 42-25 win.
“I think it would’ve been a totally different story if Obed was healthy,” Garcia said.
On Saturday, the Huskies had about 12 players in the training room. Thankfully for Juarez-Lincoln, the team is off this week, giving Garcia time to rest injured players and get potential fill-ins ready for new roles, if necessary.
“(The bye) couldn’t have come at a better time,” Garcia said.