By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Lopez started slow, but regained momentum during its scrimmage against La Feria.
The Lobos allowed a touchdown early in the controlled portion, but tied it with a touchdown and later scored another to take it 2-1. In live action, the Lobos controlled the ball with their running game and the offense scored two touchdowns on the way to a 17-7 victory over the Lions on Thursday night at Lopez.
“We didn’t execute last week,” Lopez coach Jason Starkey said. “These kids got better in the execution phase and that’s why you saw the progress in the running game.”
The Lobos used the momentum from the controlled session and looked sharp in two quarters of live action.
After the Lopez defense forced a three-and-out of La Feria’s offense, the Lobos went 70 yards, half of that on a pass play to Johnny Ibarra on the third play of the drive. Lopez finished it going back to Ibarra with a 10-yard pass for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
The Lobos defense was stout and didn’t allow a first down to La Feria during six straight possessions at one point.
“I’m very impressed with our defense,” Starkey said. “(Coach) Hugo Ramirez stepped up. He’s been a defensive coach for 17 years and this group rallied behind him … I’ve never seen them play with as much freedom and fun as I’ve seen in the last couple weeks.”
The Lions’ offense was operating at a slower pace and didn’t run like it usually does.
“Offensively we struggled (Thursday), I think it’s because we started in huddle. We’re up tempo, no huddle,” La Feria coach Oscar Salinas said. “They did a good job of stunting on us, using multiple defenses.”
While La Feria struggled on offense, Lopez took advantage with its running game, led by Hugo Salas and Ivan Olivo.
Both gobbled up the yardage on the ground, moving the Lobos’ offense down the field.
The Lobos added another touchdown in the second quarter of live action, after a few big runs by both Salas and Olivo set it up. Lopez found the end zone after a 3-yard run by Salas to take a 14-0 lead.
The Lions would get one back, mixing runs and pass and finally finding the end zone after a 21-yard catch and run to cut the deficit in half.
On the next possession, Lopez got down within the 5-yard line, but the Lions’ defense held strong leading to a 20-yard field goal for the Lobos just seconds before the end of live action to seal the victory.
In the controlled portion, La Feria got the board early with an 8-yard pass for a touchdown.
Lopez came back and tied it with a 7-yard run by Cesar Davila for a touchdown and two possessions later scored on a 6-yard pass play to Ibarra to take the 2-1 lead and it would hold on in the controlled portion of the scrimmage.
La Feria used the scrimmage to help find depth, especially after losing a lot of defensive players.
“It was good for us to go against a power offense, so this will help us a lot,” Salinas said. “We need to find the kids on defense. The best 11 pieces together on defense, then we’ll be pretty good.”
For Lopez, the scrimmage gave them confidence, but their defense will get a test from run-heavy Port Isabel next week.
“It’s going to be a knock down, drag out fight next week,” Starkey said. “Coach Stumbaugh is an amazing coach that always has those Port Isabel kids ready to run the football. I’d like to think I’m a decent coach that’s going to have this team ready to run the football.
“I’m excited, I felt like we took the new step forward (Thursday). … I think we can make a wave this year.”
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.