By ROY HESS
The Brownsville Herald
The Pace Vikings are riding the momentum of a decisive victory as they advance to the coming week’s Class 5A Division I playoffs.
Pace triumphed over the Rio Grande City Rattlers 57-28 on Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium to finish as the District 16-5A Division I runner-up behind undefeated district champion Mission Veterans Memorial (9-0).
The Vikings finished the regular season with a 7-3 overall record and a 7-2 mark in district. The Rattlers closed their season at 3-7 and 3-6.
Pace next plays host to Corpus Christi Ray in bi-district at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams.
“This (win) feels pretty good,” said Pace’s Ilijah Solis, a junior wide receiver. “We’re just going to keep on pushing for next week.
“It means a lot to us that we’re playing our first playoff game at home,” Solis added. “We get to rest in our own beds (instead of going to play on the road), so playing here at Sams means a lot.
“(Even though we already had things clinched) we approached tonight’s game like any other game. We always try to win.”
Making a difference Saturday for the Vikings on Senior Night was senior running back Brandon Zapata and sophomore quarterback Jose Banda.
Zapata rushed 20 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns, all during the first half. His scoring runs came on an 11-yard burst at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter and on a 3-yard rush with 1:10 left before halftime.
During the first half, Banda scored on a 4-yard run with 5:35 showing in the first quarter and threw a pair of TD passes in the second and third quarters. The one during the second period came on a 4-yard pass to Jaylun Garcia. The one during the third quarter came on a 26-yard pass to Juan Jimenez to make it 43-7 with 4:49 to go in the period.
“Winning (decisively) like this is a big boost going into the first round of the playoffs,” Banda said. “We had a lack of communication at the beginning (and allowed an early score), but after while we got it going.”
Pace led 15-7 after one period and 36-7 at halftime. The Vikings took a 50-14 edge into the final quarter.
The Rattlers surprised the Vikings by throwing a 77-yard touchdown bomb from QB Adrian Gonzalez to Abelardo Lopez on the second play of the game for a 7-0 lead with barely one minute gone.
After giving up the early bomb, Pace turned on its offense to score eight straight times and build a 50-7 advantage, while its defense made things difficult for the Rattlers.
Banda’s first-quarter 4-yard TD run tied the score at 7. The Vikings went up for good, 9-7, by picking up a safety at the 3:57 mark of the first period. On a fourth-down punting situation, the Rattlers snapped the ball too high and it sailed out of the end zone.
Zapata scored on his 11-yard run with 2:57 remaining in the opening quarter for a 15-7 advantage.
During the second period, the Vikings added 21 points as Garcia caught his 4-yard TD pass from Banda, Daryin Jones returned a pass interception 36 yards to the end zone and Zapata scored his second TD on a 3-yard run for a 36-7 halftime cushion.
The lead increased to 50-7 during the third quarter as Jimenez caught his 26-yard TD pass from Banda and reserve running back Dylan Barron broke loose down the right sideline for a 93-yard sprint to the end zone. Barron actually wound up as the game’s leading rusher with 167 yards on just eight carries.
Rio Grande City’s Allen Garcia ran for a 48-yard TD with 35 seconds left in the third to make it 50-14.
Pressed to pass, the Rattlers’ aerial attack came alive. Gonzalez threw a 31-yard TD pass to Elias Cobos with 6:20 to play before Matthew Cuellar, another reserve running back for Pace, scored on a 14-yard run with 4:23 left for a 57-21 tally.
Gonzalez hooked up with Cobos for 27 yards on another TD pass with 1:50 to play to give the Rattlers their fourth score of the game.
Pace was coming off the previous week’s 21-14 district setback against neighboring rival Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Rio Grande City was coming off a 44-41 district victory at home against PSJA Southwest.
The Vikings are going to the playoffs in football for the second straight season. Prior to that, the last time they made it to the postseason was 2011.