By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace was down but stormed back late against Donna North.
After a huge goal line stand by the Vikings’ defense at the 1-yard line, the offense took advantage. Quarterback Randy Aguilar hit receiver Gabriel Zapata on a 78-yard pass play for a touchdown to take the lead with 7:01 in the fourth quarter and Pace held on for a 36-29 victory over the Chiefs in a District 32-5A game on Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“The defense helped us out a lot, it motivated us,” Gabriel Zapata said of that defensive effort before the game-winning drive. “We stayed focused (on offense). I just did what I could do and got the job done.”
Gabriel Zapata finished with five catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns from Aguilar, who finished with 286 yards on 16 completions and all three touchdowns to his junior receiver to help lift Pace (2-5, 2-2) to the district win.
“We know getting (Gabriel) touches is important,” Pace coach Bill Deen said. “Gabriel is a pretty good athlete, a very coachable young man. He listens and understood the game plan and what we were trying to accomplish. He got after it.”
Pace started the third quarter with a 1-point deficit, but quickly got a 2-yard touchdown run by Brandon Zapata to take the 28-22 edge with 9:41 left in the third.
The Vikings’ defense forced the Chiefs to punt on their first drive of the second half, but Pace fumbled the punt return giving the ball back to Donna North. The Chiefs (2-5, 1-3) took advantage with a 20-yard touchdown run by Tony Gomez to give Donna North a 29-28 advantage.
Pace fumbled on its next drive and it didn’t look good for the home team as the Chiefs took over with on their own 38-yard line.
Donna North drove it all the way to the Pace 1-yard line and were stopped by the Vikings’ defense on fourth down changing momentum. The offense didn’t worry and picked up a pair of first downs before hitting the big play to take the lead and seal the second win in district.
“They just made a couple more plays than we did,” Donna North coach Matthew Rokovich said. “We were getting ready to score and their defense came up big and stopped us. The momentum changes and they end up scoring and they won the game.
“That’s how it goes sometimes.”
The Vikings were down by two scores early on in the opening quarter as Donna High quickly took the lead. The Chiefs needed just two plays and quarterback Alex Saenz put them up 7-0 with a 1-yard run with 11:15 left in the first.
After an interception by Donna North’s Oscar Salas on the Vikings first drive, the Chiefs took advantage and Gomez ran into the end zone after a 1-yard gain and gave his team a 14-0 lead with 6:27 left in the quarter. Gomez finished with 162 yards on the ground and two touchdowns for Donna North.
Pace wasn’t daunted and scored on back-to-back drives to tie the game at 14. Aguilar hit Gabriel Zapata on a 36-yard catch and run for a touchdown with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
After a Donna North fumble, Aguilar found Gabriel Zapata again, this one a 41-yard strike for a score to tie it up with 9:34 left in the second quarter.
After the teams traded punts, Donna North took a 22-14 edge after Angel Lopez ran it in from 22 yards and the Chiefs converted the 2-point play with a Saenz run with 4:39 left in the half.
Pace answered with 39 seconds left before halftime with a touchdown by Brandon Zapata after an 8-yard run, but trailed 22-21.
Brandon Zapata finished with 109 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings.
Donna North had control and the momentum throughout the game until they were stopped at the goal line midway through the fourth quarter.
“It’s disappointing when you don’t win, but that was two good football teams playing each other,” Rokovich said. “My hats off to Coach Deen and his group. They made the big plays at the end. We’re going to come back and fight harder, and get ready for the next one.”
For Pace, when the offense is clicking, its tough to beat.
“The kids really stepped up and played well,” Deen said. “They overcame some adversity, some turnovers and those hurt us. (Donna North is) a good football team and they played hard.
“It worked out for us. We have to keep rolling now.”
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.