By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
WESLACO — It’s now on to the state playoffs for the Los Fresnos Falcons.
The Falcons completed their regular-season schedule with a 29-2 District 32-6A victory over the Weslaco High Panthers on Friday at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
Los Fresnos (7-3 overall, 5-2 district) now plays District 31-6A’s Edinburg High (6-4, 5-2) in the Class 6A Division I bi-district playoffs next week.
The Falcons were ahead 14-0 by the end of the first quarter and led 29-2 at the intermission as there was no scoring during the second half that was played with a steady drizzle falling.
Los Fresnos received another strong performance from quarterback Charles Chapa, who threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score.
Chapa fired a swing pass to the left side to running back Alberto Banuelos, who after making the reception took off for the end zone to complete a 19-yard pass-and-run play on Los Fresnos’ first possession of the game. Adrian Torres’ kick with 9:09 showing in the opening period made it 7-0 for the Falcons.
The Falcons upped their lead to 14-0 on the last play of the first quarter when running back Johnny Cadengo broke loose for a 45-yard rushing TD. Torres again added the extra point.
The score became 20-0 for the Falcons at the 9:48 mark of the second quarter when Los Fresnos’ Nico Valencia beat the Panthers’ secondary and caught a deep ball from Chapa. He raced into the end zone to complete a 77-yard scoring play.
Valencia was wide open and had dropped a pass from Chapa on the same route just three plays earlier.
The Falcons’ successful two-point conversion following Valencia’s TD grab made it 22-0.
Exactly two minutes later, with 7:48 on the clock, Chapa went up the middle on a keeper and went virtually untouched as he sprinted 42 yards to the end zone. Torres’ kick increased the lead to 29-0.
A Los Fresnos running back was tackled in the end zone for a 1-yard loss and a safety as the Panthers narrowed the score to 29-2 with 2:19 remaining in the first half.
The teams combined to miss three field goals in the game — two by Los Fresnos and one by Weslaco High.
The best drive of the night for the Panthers came in the final minutes of the game when they completed a 41-yard deep pass for a first down at the Falcons’ 10-yard line. From there, what followed were three pass incompletions and a lost fumble that saw the Falcons regain possession without allowing any more points to the home team.
The Panthers (3-6, 2-5) completed their first season under new head coach Michael Salinas, who came over from Edinburg Vela.
It was a tough night for Weslaco High on Friday as the Panthers committed six turnovers — four interceptions and two lost fumbles.
After the game, a newspaper reporter from The Brownsville Herald displaying a valid press credential and seeking comments from the two teams’ players and coaches was denied access to the field by Weslaco ISD security personnel.