BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
Due to the latest round of UIL realignment in effect this fall, several Valley rivalries were bumped to Week 1 from their typical spots in the middle or late in the season. Mission Veterans-Mission High, Donna High-Donna North and Rio Grande City-Roma are among the crosstown, cross district or cross county battles that got the call-up to Week 1.
The difficulty of each Week 1 rivalry game is gauging just how much stock should be put in any given result. Players are already jacked for the first game of the season. Adding the rivalry element makes the game irresistible and a playground for abnormal things to take place.
The Roma Gladiators, who went 1-9 last season, not only forced overtime but won 32-31 over Rio Grande City, a team that finished a game out of a potential playoff spot in 2017.
“It was a beautiful game. Unfortunately, someone has to lose,” Rio Grande City coach Aaron Garcia said. “It was like a boxing match. They punched us, we punched back, and it went back and forth like that. We lost by one point, but one point doesn’t define us.”
The Rattlers offense, which brought back eight starters from 2017, got off to a rocky start offensively with only three points on the scoreboard through halftime.
This week, Rio Grande City faces La Joya Palmview in the Rattlers’ home opener and the first game of District 16-5A Division I play at 7:30 Friday night. Garcia has some familiarity with La Joya Palmview football after coaching against the Lobos as La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s head coach from 2008-11.
“We have to get our first district win, because this one counts,” Garcia said. “I think that’s the goal of every team in our district from here on out. We’re not dwelling on Roma. Our focus is on Palmview.”