NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
With a dominating 44-3 win in Week 1 against PSJA Memorial, the PSJA North Raiders are already showing signs of new life.
Last year, the Raiders fell to the Wolverines 17-7 in a district game. That wouldn’t happen again.
North coach Marcus Kaufmann knew he had a strong cast of returners, but a pleasant surprise last Friday was freshman Isaac Gonzalez, who had 118 yards rushing and showed big-play ability.
“He was a kid that is learning the offense,” Kaufmann said. “We knew he was going to be something special. We didn’t realize he was gonna go score. He broke a 57-yard run, and then later in the game he gets caught at the 2-yard line on another long run. He’s gonna be a weapon for us.”
The rushing game for North seemed to be chugging along. The Raiders had 301 yards on the ground.
Senior Arturo Beltran picked up 60 receiving yards, a scoring catch and another on the ground. Kaufmann, in his second year at North, said he was also pleased to see his new quarterback Iziaah Rangel play well in his first start at the helm.
“Our kids have been working trying to get stuff done, and it was real good to have something positive happen to them, early,” Kaufmann said. “He’s (Rangel) improved every single time he goes out. As spring practices went along, every time we scrimmaged, he got better and better. If he continues to improve every week, the sky’s the limit for us.”
Rangel had 151 yards on the ground and 119 yards in the air for three passing TDs on seven completions. Jonathan Garza and Israel Olivarez were the other beneficiaries of Rangel’s arm.
This week, the Raiders take their show on the road against Harlingen South, which had a 14-0 lead at halftime but couldn’t hang on against Edinburg High in Week 1.