DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
It didn’t need it, but there is extra flair to the latest chapter of the Weslaco High-Donna High storybook.
For the first time since 2011, Fox Sports Southwest is in the Valley for its Dairy Queen Big Game of the Week, which is Friday’s 82nd edition of the Panthers-Redskins rivalry at 7 at Bennie La Prade Stadium. The game will lead Fox Sports Southwest’s comprehensive high school football programming that begins at 7 tonight and includes six consecutive hours of live updates and highlights from games across the state.
For the local teams involved, that means more pep rallies, more meetings, more everything for coaches Tony Villarreal, of Weslaco, and Ramiro Leal, of Donna.
“You always have a difficult Friday night game as it is,” Villarreal said. “You have a pep rally and the dynamics of a regular game, but the DQ state game takes over the situation. They want to know your schedules, when you get off the field each day, and they’re in it in every facet.
“They talk to the cheerleaders, the principal, there’s meals at Dairy Queen. As a coach, you kind of give up and they just take over.”
Villarreal should know. He was involved the last time Fox Sports Southwest brought its DQ Game of the Week to the Valley, when his Panthers faced off against San Benito four years ago.
“You see these games on Fox and it’s neat,” Villarreal said. “Now I understand what it takes. You have everyone being interviewed, an extra pep rally or two. They have all kinds of stuff. It’s very thorough.”
And intense. On Wednesday, for instance, Leal had meetings with the Donna ISD superintendent and police chief, planning pregame and halftime festivities. He’s been in so many meetings, Leal said, that his assistant coaches have run practice for much of the week.
“It’s like we’re in the fourth round of the playoffs,” Leal said. “That’s how much hype there is. This is amplified 10-fold. But, among us a team, there’s no discussion about Fox Sports Southwest or all the hoopla. I tell them it’s just one game. This is not going to make us or break us. It’s about having a big picture mentality.”
Off the field, it’s madness. On it, it’s a rowdy mess of history.
Weslaco High vs. Donna High is arguably the best rivalry in the Valley. The tussle between the neighboring cities dates back to the 1920s, with the Redskins holding a 46-31-4 all-time edge.
The Panthers, however, have won the last two meetings. Leal said that’s a series first for Donna, which went 27 years without losing consecutive meetings to Weslaco.
“They’re very sound all the way across and they have the depth,” said Leal, in his third year at the helm of Donna. “They rotate in a ton of kids, and we’re finally starting to see the hurt with the split of the two schools (with Donna North). It’s no excuse, but that’s the way it is. We don’t want to get in a long game. Keep it tight and control the ball. They have a lot of kids and a lot of talent. It will come down to execution and ball control.”
Villarreal, in his 11th year at Weslaco, said his team is healthy, and that is a nice change from this time last year. Leal said his team is also healthy, aside from senior running back Paul Guerra, who will be held out a second straight week because of a back injury, but only for precautionary measures.
The Panthers are coming off a 28-24 win at Harlingen South and the Redskins are coming off a 49-42 defeat at Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Leal would like to see better attention to detail defensively, and Villarreal wants more consistency sustaining drives offensively.
“To put all your eggs in one basket and act like it’s life or death, it’s not,” Villarreal said. “Win or lose, we just have to be ready to play again next week. It’s a long season and it’s not just about one game. Old-timers will kill me for saying that, but that’s the way it is. I deal with reality.”
NOTES: Donna, Mission and PSJA independent school districts are partnering together for Childhood Cancer Awareness month, a campaign engineered by Maritza Esqueda, co-founder of the local nonprofit Faith, Family, and Friends Foundation. Every Friday this month, all teams will sport a gold wrist band during games to recognize childhood cancer awareness. Tonight, Donna will honor Jesse Mena, a young man who lost his battle with cancer at 10 years old earlier this year. Any Weslaco or Donna cancer survivor, or individual who has lost a kid to cancer, will be recognized prior to tonight’s game between Weslaco High and Donna High in Donna.