By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace earns first win
For the first time this season, Pace was able to celebrate a victory. The Vikings got off to a quick start against long-time rival Porter and used that to their advantage in holding off the Cowboys, 32-14, in a win Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium. It was needed in many ways. Pace earned the victory after coming close in recent weeks, and it was an important one as it added a positive tally in the District 32-5A standings as well. The Vikings finally played a complete game, meaning both the offense and defense were able to give one of their best outputs of the year. The Pace offense 407 yards and was nearly even passing and running the ball, led by quarterback Randy Aguilar, who threw for 194 yards and a touchdown and ran for 55 yards and another score. But the biggest thing was the lack of turnovers, something Pace had struggled with this season. The Vikings fumbled the ball twice, but neither caused any damage. Defensively, Pace was able to shut down the Porter offense; it allowed just 196 yards and two touchdowns. But the biggest stat that pops out is the turnovers it forced. Pace forced five turnovers in the game — two interceptions and three fumbles — and two of them led to scores for the Vikings’ offense, essentially the difference in the game. Pace won’t have much time to revel in the victory, however, as a tough road test at Mercedes looms Friday.
Chargers hurt themselves
Football teams know it’s hard to win when they can’t hold onto the football. That lesson was a painful reminder for Brownsville Veterans Memorial when it gave away the ball four times to Mercedes in a tight District 32-5A game that saw the Tigers take the 28-14 road victory on Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium. Mercedes ultimately scored off two of those fumbles while putting 21 points on the board in the fourth quarter to pull away. But the game’s momentum changed toward the end of the first half. The Chargers clung to a 7-0 lead and were driving toward another score after getting a first down inside the red zone at the Mercedes 19-yard line. On the next play, Brownsville Veterans fumbled the ball and a Tigers’ defender scooped it up and ran 80 yards for the game-tying score. If the Chargers had scored on that drive to go up 14-0 or even 10-0, perhaps the outcome would have been different. Instead of starting District 32-5A with a 2-0 mark, BVM is 1-1. And this week doesn’t get any easier with a game on the road at Edcouch-Elsa.
The Lopez offense is catching up
The Lopez defense continued to show its dominance with its second shutout Thursday, this ine against Donna North. The unit has allowed just eight points per game and doesn’t seem like it will stop anytime soon. But the Lobos’ offense is making strides, too, which makes this team scary midway through the season. Lopez was held to a field goal in the first quarter, but got a pair of touchdowns on the ground and a couple through the air over the final three quarters in a 31-0 road win over the Chiefs at Bennie LaPrade Stadium in Donna. The significance is that the Lobos already have a defense that seemed to be able to stop anyone. With the offense also improving, the sky is the limit for a team that is now 4-1 overall, 2-0 in district. Lopez is starting to click on offense, the passing game is catching up the to the run game and it is starting to put some points on the board on a weekly basis. The team averages nearly 30 points per game. That’s plus-22, more than three touchdowns in points differential, which looks scary for opponents down the road.
Kai Money goes crazy
St. Joseph Academy quarterback Kai Money has been fantastic this season, putting up some big numbers in his junior season. Money has led the team to a 5-1 record, its only blemish being a tough loss to Port Isabel in Week 5. So it isn’t much of a surprise to see Money take out the Bloodhounds’ frustration against their next opponent. St. Joseph ran out to a 20-0 lead and cruised from there in a 68-6 victory over Hidalgo in Week 6. Money led the way with seven touchdowns — three on the ground and four through the air. He finished with 180 yards on just 10 carries and completed 11 of 16 passes for 120 yards with one interception. Those stats came in less than three quarters. Money scored on runs of 49, 35 and 12 yards. He had three passing touchdowns to his favorite target Bernie de la Garza, one for 32 yards, one for 15 and another for 5. The other touchdown went to Andres Martinez for 13 yards. The Bloodhounds have the week off and will soon face their district opponents. If Money, who has 890 yards on the ground and 11 touchdowns and 799 yards through the air and 11 touchdowns, keeps playing this way, the team could capture a district title that they fell just short of last season.
Hanna finds motivation in loss
It’s hard to find solace in a loss, especially one in which you get shut out. Hanna lost a tough one on the road, getting blanked by Weslaco High 21-0 on Friday night in a District 32-6A game at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco. The game was scoreless until the third quarter when the Panthers finally broke through and put a touchdown on the board. The Golden Eagles’ defense only yielded two touchdowns; Weslaco High scored the other on a fumble recovery by the defense. While the Hanna offense didn’t put any points on the board against a tough Panthers defense, the Eagles’ defense played extremely well, especially in the first half. The defense was plagued with short fields to protect in the second half and couldn’t keep Weslaco out of the end zone. This was the first time all season that Hanna didn’t have a lead at some point in the game. While the Eagles took the loss, coach Mark Guess said it helped his team believe that if it can play like that against all of its tough District 32-6A opponents, the Eagles could be in the mix for a postseason berth.
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.