GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial needed only one workout last offseason to settle on a team motto for 2016: “Continue the journey.”
For two years, the Mustangs had been nothing short of dominant in district play, going undefeated against 30-6A competition. The 2016 team was determined to make it three in a row, even as the perception of the program took a hit following the graduation of the Valley’s all-time leading rusher, Trevor Speights.
Through two non-district losses and a few early injuries, senior linebacker Jaryd Lara said the Mustangs refused to be deterred.
“We knew we had to come back and get on track, so when we get into district, we just roll. I think we did a pretty good job of that,” Lara said. “I’m so proud of my team. We not only spoke it, but we proved it out there on the field every game.”
Memorial clinched a third straight outright District 30-6A title on Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, easily cruising to a 59-7 win against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
The win moves the Mustangs to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in district, safely ahead of the four teams tied for second place at 2-2.
“It’s always special any time you can win one,” Memorial coach Bill Littleton said. “If you win two, or win three, it’s real special. These kids did a great job. A lot of people thought we wouldn’t be very good this year coming into the season, but I think our kids have proved them wrong. We’re playing pretty good football right now.”
Memorial had Thursday’s game well in hand by halftime, taking a 38-0 lead into the break. The Mustangs outgained the Huskies 387-82 during the first 24 minutes, getting two touchdowns from Campbell Speights and one each from JoJo Williams and Emilio Mendez. Memorial also scored through the air, as quarterback Angel Almaguer found Sean Skaugen for a 34-yard strike.
Speights, the district’s leading rusher, finished with a career-best 191 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 10 carries.
“I wanted the gold ball,” Speights said. “And I know we all wanted the gold ball. So I was going to put my heart into this one. If any game, it was this one.”
Mendez finished with 135 yards and a score, Williams had 61 yards and a touchdown, and Skaugen had 80 yards rushing with a TD. He also hauled in two passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
All that production came against a Juarez-Lincoln defense that had been statistically the best in District 30-6A entering the week, having held opponents to an average of 263 yards per game, including a district-best 148.4 per game on the ground. Memorial finished with 571 total yards and 499 rushing — the type of outlandish figures that have become commonplace in recent seasons.
“It’s tough,” Littleton said of sustaining Memorial’s level of success. “You’re always a marked man when you’re doing that. We take a lot of pride in it. We call it tradition, and we just keep on building on that tradition.”
Putting district opponents away early has become the norm for Memorial, which hasn’t lost a district game since Oct. 25, 2013, a streak of 19 consecutive wins.
This year’s five wins have come by an average margin of 37.4 points. The Mustangs average margin of victory in district in 2015 was 47.2 points, and in 2014 Memorial won by an average of 28.5 points per district game. Not since a 21-17 win against La Joya High on Sept. 26, 2014, has a district opponent come within 10 points of Memorial.
“Before every district game, we come in here and we remind all the guys that it’s not just us playing on the field, it’s the past Mustangs,” Lara said. “We’re playing for them. We’re playing for that streak to continue. Because the Mustang spirit never dies.”
As always, Memorial’s biggest test will come in the playoffs, where the Mustangs have just one win in the past four seasons.
Each year, Littleton enters the fall with the goal of producing the best season in Memorial’s history. The Mustangs have never advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs.
“Our quarterback, Angel, he says nothing less than three,” Speights said. “He wants to go three rounds. That’s what we want to do. We want to make history.”