ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Rivera Raiders dodged two bullets at the end to prevail over the Los Fresnos Falcons 21-20 in District 32-6A action Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Trailing by one point, the Falcons marched down the field as time ticked off the clock and missed a 40-yard field goal with eight seconds left. A running into the kicker penalty on the Raiders gave the Falcons another field-goal chance from 35 yards with three seconds remaining.
Both attempts failed, giving the Raiders an emotional victory.
Rivera, which earlier this season snapped a 20-game losing streak, improved to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in district.
Los Fresnos, coming off last week’s 24-3 victory at home over Harlingen South, slipped to 2-5 and 1-1.
First-year Rivera coach Beto Leal was ecstatic.
“The credit belongs to our players, their parents, our coaches and our administration,” Leal said. “Everyone believed. All the hard work these kids are putting in is paying off. Everyone believed, and that’s the great part.
“The players are telling me this is Rivera’s first district win in four years,” Leal added. “That makes me even happier for them. This win belongs to eveyone at Rivera.”
After a scoreless opening quarter, the Raiders tallied a pair of touchdowns to lead 14-7 at halftime.
Ramiro Vega went into the end zone from 7 yards out off left tackle to give Rivera a 7-0 lead at the 5:31 mark of the second period after Kevin Zarrazagas’ extra point.
Los Fresnos evened the score at 7 when a wide-open Nico Valencia caught a 32-yard scoring pass on a deep pattern down the middle from quarterback Adrian Longoria with 3:50 left before intermission. Job Esquivel added the extra point.
It became 14-7 for Rivera with 1:54 to go before the break when Hugo Ugalde caught a 57-yard TD pass from quarterback Chito Perez. Zarrazagas added the extra point.
After Rivera went ahead 14-7 before halftime, Valencia returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a TD right before the half. However, a block in the back call on the Falcons wiped out the score and returned the ball into Los Fresnos territory.
Los Fresnos later tied the game at 14 when Chris Resendiz scored on a 2-yard run with 8:18 showing in the third quarter. Esquivel was good on the conversion.
Rivera went ahead again at the 3:33 mark of the third quarter when Perez scrambled 29 yards to the end zone and Zarrazagas’ kick made it 21-14.
That turn of events set the stage for the Falcons’ Miles McWhorter to score on a 4-yard run around right end with 6:13 to go, but the extra point failed, leaving Los Fresnos down 21-20.
It wound up being a down-to-the-wire victory that Rivera fans will remember for a long time.
District action continues for both teams next Friday. Los Fresnos is at home against Harlingen High, while Rivera is at Harlingen South.