#RGVWeek3: Evans notches first victory as PSJA Southwest head coach, beating PSJA Memorial

STAFF REPORT

PSJA Southwest did something Friday night that the team had not done in 679 days: win a football game.

The Javelinas (1-2) downed the PSJA Memorial Wolverines (0-3) 34-21 in a battle of previously winless teams at PSJA Stadium.

“We took care of the football and didn’t give up many big plays,” PSJA Southwest coach Michael Evans said. “The kids played hard. Our option game looked good. This was our best offensive performance. We moved the ball and had a lot of success.”

Senior running back Brayan Acosta paved the way for Southwest’s offense with three touchdown runs.

The Javelinas’ victory was their first ever under Evans. In his first season leading the program, Evans coached the team to an 0-10 record last year.

The last PSJA Southwest win took place in another district game against PSJA Memorial on Nov. 4, 2016, when both teams were members of District 31-6A.

“It feels great to win against a great team and a great coaching staff that Mike Uribe has at PSJA Memorial,” Evans said. “That’s a big deal for us, to be able to compete with those guys. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

McALLEN ROWE 27, EDINBURG NORTH 6: At Edinburg, McAllen Rowe went up early and didn’t need to do much else in a big road win. The Warriors got a long run from Lorenzo Lopez to kick off the scoring. Joe Hernandez recovered a fumble that he took to the house to give the defense some points to claim as their own. Rowe even returned a punt for a score via the legs of Adrian Salinas.

LAREDO NIXON 26, ROMA 14: At Roma, Gladiators (1-2) coach Frank Villanueva saw a few improvements from his team’s performance a week ago, but they still dropped a home game to Laredo Nixon.

“We lost, but we did improve on our special teams from last week,” Villanueva said. “I think we gave up around 35 points last week based off of bad snaps on special team plays.”

La Joya High shut out Roma 49-0 in Week 2. While special teams didn’t leave coaches scratching their heads this week, the Gladiators were down a quarterback.

Junior Jonathan Rios suffered an injury during the game against the Coyotes, which bumped Esteban Barrera up the depth chart this week.

“Esteban’s a sophomore, and I think he did OK,” Villanueva said. “He did throw a pick-six that hurt us, but overall, he had a good game. He’s more of a scrambler than Jonathan, who’s more comfortable in the pocket.”

GRULLA 34, DONNA NORTH 3: At Rio Grande City, the Gators bounced back from a Week 2 loss to Raymondville. Grulla improved to 2-1, while the Chiefs fell to 0-3.

BROWNSVILLE HANNA AT WESLACO EAST, Ccd.: The game between the Golden Eagles and the Wildcats was canceled due to inclement weather creating travel issues.