HENRY MILLER | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Progreso forward Matthew Perez took a swing at the ball lying at his feet and missed. He regained his composure, swung again watched it hit the back of the net.
That goal was enough to propel the Red Ants to a 1-0 victory over Liberty Hill in the Class 4A Region IV final at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium. For the third straight year, Progreso is advancing to the state championship tournament in Georgetown. The team is in search of its first state title.
The Red Ants are scheduled to play Wednesday, with their opponent to be announced by the UIL on Sunday.
“The third time is the charm, they keep telling me,” Progreso coach Margarito Jimenez Jr. said. “We are going to go up there and represent the Valley and the Progreso community as well as we can.”
Progreso lost to Palestine 1-0 (4-3 in a penalty-kick shootout) in the state championship game in 2016 and fell to Bridgeport 2-0 in the semifinals last season.
The Red Ants have swept through five playoff games this year by a combined margin of 14-1. In Friday’s regional semifinal against Taylor, Progreso advanced 2-1 via penalty-kick shootout.
“It’s all because of these kids,” Jimenez said about the third straight trip to state. “They are resilient — yesterday was an example of that. Even though they were down in overtime, they kept saying that they were coming back. And it wasn’t in a panic — just confident. That’s how this program is.”
Hugo Guajardo’s pass with 25:45 remaining in the second half found Perez’s feet in the penalty box.
“I missed it the first time,” said Perez, a junior forward who scored his 31st goal of the season. “Then I had to look around to find it. As soon as I did, I swung again.”
The game’s lone goal came four minutes after Liberty Hill midfielder Colton Walter was issued a red card for physical play.
Just like in Friday’s victory, Progreso dominated most of Saturday’s game with field position, ball control and shots on goal. Liberty Hill kept most of its players on the defensive side, knowing that the high-powered Red Ants could score at a moment’s notice. But the visiting Panthers were also looking to counter with long balls, hoping to free up star forward Jaron Frye.
“We knew he was a big weapon. We knew if we left him alone, he would hurt us. He’s fast and strong and can score, so we decided to keep two on him,” Jimenez said. “If he got away from one, the other would be there.”
One of the players assigned to mark Frye was freshman Michael Vasquez, who would walk around, behind, or alongside Frye with his hands behind his back as if to say, “I’m not touching him.” The two talked to each other throughout the match.
When Frye turned to take off downfield after a long pass, Vasquez was there to slam the door shut.
“Coach told me to stay with him and don’t let him get a chance or get away,” Vasquez said. “He was very fast, but we stayed with him. We didn’t want him to go after a long ball.”
With 1:40 remaining in the game, however, Frye got a step past Vasquez, sprinted up the left sideline and started breaking toward the goal. Vasquez stayed tight, and the two ended up entangled, but with their arms straight down by their sides. Vasquez was issued a yellow card for the hold.
“I wasn’t going to let him score,” Vasquez said. “He would’ve had a chance then.”
The game flowed more than Progreso’s previous matchup, against Taylor. In that game, the Ducks stuffed the defensive side of the field, especially in the middle, forcing the Red Ants to keep the ball on the outside. Liberty Hill let Progreso’s offense have a little more freedom, knowing that the Panthers had senior Parker Sargent, one of the best keepers in the state, as a last line of defense.
But the Red Ants did have chances. Miguel Puentes hit the crossbar with a shot midway through the first period, and two corner kicks that went to the far side of the goal ended up with open looks and missed attempts, all before Perez scored for the second straight game to secure the win.