BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
It’s easy to look at PSJA Memorial‘s record and assume the team is not putting up much of a fight each week.
The Wolverines are 0-5 with four of those losses coming against District 16-5A Division I opponents. The last two, however, weren’t wire-to-wire blowouts.
PSJA Memorial traveled east to face Brownsville Veterans in Week 4. The Wolverines were within 10 points of the Chargers entering the fourth quarter.
A similar event took place in Week 5 when they hosted Brownsville Pace. They were tied with the Vikings at halftime and the Wolverines were down 28-24 heading into the final quarter – against one of the last two undefeated teams in its district.
“We had to move up some kids to starting positions because of injuries and they did a tremendous job,” PSJA Memorial coach Michael Uribe said. “I have to compliment our kids for giving us the fight that they had. It’s all part of football. I’m proud of the staff and I’m proud of the kids, but we’re still striving to turn the program into a winning program. We need to keep taking steps forward to get into the winning column.”
The Wolverines have counted on senior running back Joaquin Sanchez to supply much of the offense after he ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2017. Uribe, however, appears to have found a suitable supplement to Sanchez in the form of senior wide receiver Tavis Sain.
In PSJA Memorial’s last three games combined, Sain has run for 250 yards and five touchdowns while also catching his first touchdown of the season last week.
“He’s been an added dimension and given us a tremendous lift to our offense,” Uribe said of Sain. “Tavis last played football during his freshman year. I remember our first week of practice and he was having some trouble catching the football. Now I joke with him, ‘Where did those sure hands come from?’ He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s making improvements every day.”
Coaches aren’t in control of who, when and where they play district opponents, but it’s worth noting the Wolverines have had an especially difficult time in September. Three of PSJA Memorial’s first four district opponents — Mission Veterans, Brownsville Veterans and Brownsville Pace — were playoff teams in 2017.
Only one of their five remaining games will come against clubs that made the playoffs last season.
“We did have a hard time in September, but that’s not an excuse,” Uribe said. “We are at a point now where we have to take things a week at a time. We have to find ways to improve and take advantage of our strengths.”