BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — McAllen Rowe versus Mercedes has morphed from a convenient non-district arrangement to a regular part of both teams’ yearly schedules.
The Tigers and Warriors have met each year since the 2014 season. Entering Friday’s game, McAllen Rowe had won twice (2015, 2016), and Mercedes had earned two victories themselves (2014, 2017).
After a disappointing 28-7 loss to Weslaco High last week in Rowe’s home opener, sophomore Lorenzo Lopez returned the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown, and his team never looked back. The Warriors controlled the game in their 47-19 triumph at Tiger Stadium.
“We know Mercedes is rich in tradition, and (coach) Roger Adame Jr. and his coaches do a great job, so we knew we’d be going into a battle,” McAllen Rowe coach Bobby Flores said. “We told the kids that we had to execute in all phases of the game. It just so happened that we were talking about special teams this week, and we took the kick return back, which was awesome. We still have got to get better in other areas.”
The Warriors (1-1) had the young Mercedes defense off balance all night, running the ball 48 times for 274 yards and three rushing touchdowns. But junior quarterback Jonas Ortiz was given all kinds of time to throw by the McAllen Rowe offensive line, completing 15 of 23 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
“We didn’t let last week’s game (against Weslaco High) affect us,” Ortiz said. “We took it, and we brushed it off. We came into this game with the mentality that we were 0-0 again. I’ve got to give it to my O-line, man. They do everything for me. They lead this team. They are the ones who give us the foundation to win games.”
Senior captain Noe Ramirez was all over the field on Friday night. He played running back, wide receiver and defensive back for the Warriors. Ramirez scored McAllen Rowe’s first offensive touchdown on a 4-yard scamper in the first quarter. He then caught a 44-yard touchdown from Ortiz on a fourth-and-10 midway through the second quarter. He also intercepted Mercedes (1-1) quarterback Israel Alegria to start the second half.
“I did summer track, so that was a big reason for my better conditioning tonight,” Ramirez said. “The coaches told me, ‘I know you’re going both ways, but you have to always be ready,’ and I was there. Coach (Flores) told me to just get a touchdown, and that’s what we did.”
Adame Jr. started Alegria versus McAllen Rowe after relegating him to the second half of the team’s Week 1 victory at Edinburg North. But the Mercedes offense was stymied outside of Alegria’s 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Leeroy Garcia on the Tigers’ first possession of the game.
“It’s tough to start off the game giving up a kickoff return,” Adame said. “We were behind last week, and we felt like we can play our way back into it. We just made mistakes and by then. It was tough to catch up to them.”