By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Unfortunately for Porter its mistakes put it behind early against Donna North.
The Cowboys turned the ball over four times in the first half leading to three touchdowns for the Chiefs’ defense and Porter didn’t recover in a 46-16 loss to Donna North in the District 32-5A game on Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Donna North defensive back Oscar Salas returned two fumbles for touchdowns and intercepted a pass that was also returned for a score to give the Chiefs the advantage in the first half and that’s all they needed for their first win in District 32-5A this season.
“Our defense worked hard this week,” Donna North coach Matthew Rokovich said. “We made some big plays and when you do that stuff, when you’re intense and run to the ball … making something big happen is huge.
“Our defensive coordinator (Cesar Castillo) did a tremendous job preparing for this game … I couldn’t be happier with them.”
The Cowboys’ offense moved the ball well, but turnovers ended four drives early in the first half.
“They only ran 16 offensive plays in the first half and scored on three of our offensive mistakes,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “You can’t win a game like that. We had more turnovers than points in the first half.”
Porter’s offense continued to rack up the yards in the second half. The Cowboys’ offense got a pair of touchdowns on consecutive drives early in the fourth quarter, Ulises Guzman scored on a 7-yard run with 11:52 left and on the next possession Johnathan Gonzalez found the end zone after a 6-yard scamper with 10:39 remaining in the final quarter.
Ultimately it wasn’t enough despite gaining 497 yards of offense against the Chiefs’ defense.
Gonzalez finished with 203 yards and a score on the ground and Benjamin Ekersley had 208 yards through the air for the Cowboys.
Porter (0-6, 0-3) fell behind early when it fumbled on its first play from scrimmage and Salas scooped it up and 25 yards later was in the end zone to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead just nine seconds into the game.
The Cowboys regrouped on their next drive, but were held to a 27-yard field goal by Angel Silva to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 5:42 left in the opening quarter.
Donna North (2-4, 1-2) answered quickly as Tony Gomez ran for a 50-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-3 with 4:28 left in the first.
Less than two minutes later, Salas returned another Porter fumble for 54 yards and a score and a 22-3 advantage in the opening quarter.
Late in the second quarter, Porter drove inside the Donna North 10-yard line, but Salas intercepted it and ran 90 yards the other way for a touchdown and a 29-3 edge at the break.
The Chiefs added a pair of touchdowns in the second half, a 1-yard dive by Alex Saenz in the third quarter and a 79-yard run by Gomez in the fourth quarter. Donna North added a 31-yard field goal by Oscar Arredondo with 1:22 left to play. Gomez finished with 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the way for the Chiefs, who finished with 262 yards on the ground.
Donna North earned a much-needed win in district play.
“It’s a great feeling,” Rokovich said. “We have to win four games to make the playoffs, that’s one. Next week we come back and have a great opponent in Pace. They’re a tremendous football team and it’s going to be a war, I guarantee it.”
Porter continues to look for answers and its first win of the season. Campos was impressed the way both units played, especially in the second half, but the victory eluded them once again.
“It’s still the mystery we’re trying to figure out, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “But we’ll get through it though.”
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.