By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Rivera’s troubles continued against a tough Weslaco High squad.
A stout Panthers’ defense held the host Raiders’ offense in check and Weslaco’s offense used a fast ground game to take an early lead and roll in a 45-0 shutout of Rivera in the District 32-6A game Saturday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“We have to finish the season, but we’re having a hard time right now as everyone can see,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “Our boys are going to keep trying, but it’s a situation where we just have to keep working.”
Rivera (1-6, 0-4) fell behind early in the opening quarter. The Raiders punted on their first possession and Weslaco capitalized on a 55-yard punt return by Michael Martin to give the Panthers a 7-0 edge with 10:24 left in the first quarter.
After another Rivera punt, Martin scored again a few plays later on a 61-yard run to give the Panthers a 14-0 cushion with 7:07 left in the first.
The Raiders’ offense struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt nine times during the game. Rivera also threw an interception in the first half.
Weslaco High (4-3, 2-2) took advantage of Rivera’s struggles, scoring three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Matt De Santiago ran for a 90-yard score, quarterback Marco Leal hit Mark Lara on a 54-yard catch-and-run for another touchdown and Izaiah Ramos found the end zone on a 1-yard run with 1:48 left in the half to give the visitors a 35-0 advantage at the half.
“We came in with a set game plan and tried to spread the wealth among the fullbacks, tailbacks and the quarterback,” Weslaco High coach Tony Villarreal said. “We just tried to keep them off-balanced. (Rivera’s defense) does a good job, they have a good coordinator. We tried to establish a rhythm, a tempo with four or five yards at a time.”
Weslaco added a 1-yard touchdown by Alex Lara in the third quarter and Hernan Rojas kicked a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the Panthers.
The Rivera defense forced a pair of fumbles in the first half and David Pena got an interception to start the third quarter for the Raiders. But the unit struggled to contain the Panthers running game and it finished with 421 yards of total offense, including 358 on the ground.
De Santiago finished with 150 yards, Martin had 65, Alex Lara had 58 and Ramos added 53 and each scored a touchdown to lead the rushing attack for Weslaco High.
The Panthers’ defense held the Raiders to just 32 yards rushing, finished with three sacks and Justin Coronado added an interception in the first half for Weslaco High.
“We hang our hat on our defense,” Villarreal said of his defensive unit’s shutdown of the Raiders’ offense. “We tell our kids to work to get better every week and we’re starting to do that.”
Rivera continues to struggle on both sides of the ball in a stacked District 32-6A. But the Raiders are starting to plan for a better 2017 season.
“We’re not very good right now, but we have to stick it out,” Chavez said. “We have to keep working with the younger guys and get prepared for next year. This is a tough district and we’re not there yet, but we’ll get there. We’ll get better.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.