By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers picked up their second District 16-5A Division I victory in a row with a 35-21 triumph over the the Rio Grande City Rattlers on Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The Chargers, coming off last week’s 44-24 district win against PSJA Memorial at Sams, improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the Rattlers slipped to 1-4 and 1-3.
The Chargers’ decisive victory came on an overcast, rainy night.
It was another big showing for Chargers running back Mauricio Garza. He ran 17 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns.
Also highlighting the scoring for Brownsville Veterans were quarterback Liam Longoria and wide receiver Elijah Masten. They hooked up on TD passes of 34 and 5 yards in the first half. Masten added an 11-yard wide-receiver-around TD run to the right side in the third quarter.
“It feels great that we all stepped up as a team to get this win,” said Carlos Galindo, a senior two-way player at inside receiver and cornerback for Brownsville Veterans. “We had to play smashmouth football against these guys by getting in their face and running right at them. We also completed some good passes, and we had some good blocking, so this win was fun.”
A 10-yard run by Garza and a 34-yard TD catch by Masten made it 14-0 during the opening period. A 74-yard TD bomb from Rattlers QB Adrian Gonzalez to a wide open Julio Nunez at the 3:59 mark of the first quarter pulled the visitors to within 14-7 of the lead.
Garza broke loose on a 30-yard scoring run with 9:45 showing in the second period for a 21-7 lead by the Chargers. It became 28-7 with 2:40 to go before intermission as Masten caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Longoria.
Masten scored on his 11-yard scamper to the end zone with 6:07 to go in the third period to make it 35-7.
“We got off to a good start,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “We had a game plan that our players executed really well. It was important to get off to a good start because we knew Rio Grande City’s passing game was eventually going to get on a roll.
“It’s important for us to get this win,” Cantu added. “In this district with 10 teams, every victory is absolutely huge. We’re sitting 3-1 (in district) right now, and next week (against Porter) is just as big. We’re trying to do everything we can to get into the postseason.”
The Rattlers cranked up their passing game and marched up and down the field during the final quarter before scoring a pair of rushing TDs to make the final score 35-21.
The Rattlers made it 35-14 on a 9-yard burst up the middle by Gonzalez, who was subbing at QB for the injured starter. Gonzalez’s score came with 4:30 to play. A 1-yard TD run by reserve running back Jonathan Huerta with 51 seconds left gave the Rattlers their third TD.
Rio Grande City was coming off last week’s 48-7 setback against district leader Mission Veterans. Prior to that game, the Rattlers prevailed 26-21 over Lopez on Sept. 15 at Sams.
Brownsville Veterans suffered its only district loss, 45-24, at Mission Veterans on Sept. 15. The Chargers opened district with a 32-12 triumph against Lopez on Sept. 7 at Sams.
The Chargers and Rattlers didn’t play each other last season because they were in different districts.
District competition continues next week for both teams. As the visiting team, Brownsville Veterans takes on Porter next Friday at Sams, while the Rattlers will be at home the same night against PSJA Memorial.