By Mark Molina | The Brownsville Herald
LOS FRESNOS — After a pair of playoff runs to the third round, the Los Fresnos Falcons hope to break through to the fourth round and beyond this season.
They hope their tough non-district schedule can ready them to do just that, starting tonight when they play host to the El Paso Montwood Rams at 7:30 at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium in Los Fresnos.
Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said the morale is high for both teams coming into the matchup.
“We’ve had a great week,” he said. “Our kids are fired up and, after talking to the Montwood coaches, their kids are fired up. We saw today that Montwood is No. 2 out of 30-plus teams in El Paso this year, so it’ll be a fun task for us.”
The Rams, out of District 1-6A, return just three players from an offense that averaged 48 points per game last season.
Montwood’s offense is led by junior quarterback Jason Fernandez, who replaces older brother Andrew, who passed for 3,664 yards and 56 touchdowns as a senior. The younger Jason is expected to have a solid season and will have junior running back/receiver Chris Ramos as his top playmaker.
The Falcons will look to combat that with what they feel is their best defensive bunch in Brown’s time with the team. He’s expecting an air raid, and his group is ready.
“They probably throw 70 percent of the time, and they really want to go vertical in their passing game … they are a very dynamic offense,” Brown said. “I do think our defense is as good as it has been in a while. Our defensive backs are some pretty serious playmakers with Johnny Cadengo, Kobe Muniz and Lee Trevino. Our biggest concern is trying to rush the passer. That’s something we have to do.”
On offense, the Falcons return just four players, but the veteran trio of receiver Nico Valencia (1,197 total yards, 18 TDs in 2017), Elian Gonzalez and running back Albert Banuelos (758 yards, four TDs in 2017) will lead the way.
At quarterback, Sergio Martinez looks to be next in a line of successful quarterbacks from Los Fresnos in recent years.
Brown said Valencia and Banuelos were held out of the final scrimmage and should be fresh for Friday, and that the offensive line has made strides during the past couple of weeks.
Scheduling Montwood is fitting, as Brown coached in the El Paso area from 2001-20012 as an assistant at Chapin and Franklin.
Still, the matchup is a bit of a mystery to Brown.
“It’s such an unknown being from the El Paso area and coaching there and being down here, I just don’t know how we match up,” he said. “That’s such a hard thing to tell, but that’s what makes these games so much fun.”