By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
This time, the Sharyland High Rattlers won by a comfortable margin.
The Rattlers defeated the Pace Vikings 27-13 Thursday in a non-district season opener at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The two teams met in a season opener in Mission one year ago as the Rattlers prevailed 20-17 in overtime.
Sharyland High didn’t have to go to extra time in the rematch Thursday at Sams.
“We’re pleased that we came away with the first win of the year,” Sharyland High coach Ron Adame said. “It wasn’t the prettiest win by any stretch of the imagination. We talked before the game about football being a game of momentum, and we seemed to have it in the first half, but then we kind of lost it.
“You have to give credit to Pace because the Vikings got the momentum in the third quarter,” Adame added. “It wasn’t given to them. They earned it and they took it (after we had gone up 13-0 and then the Vikings came back to tie it 13-13). At that point, the game could have swayed one way or the other.
“I’m proud of our boys for taking the momentum back in the fourth quarter and finishing up the game strong.”
Rattlers quarterback Benjamin Valdivia got things going for his team by throwing a pair of scoring passes during the second period to make it 13-0 at intermission.
Valdivia’s first scoring aerial came at the 7:33 mark of the second quarter when he tossed a 21-yard pass to Daniel Pena in the middle of the end zone on a crossing pattern. The extra point sailed wide, leaving the Rattlers ahead 6-0.
The Rattlers went up 13-0 with 2:33 remaining before the half when Valdivia found Will Patterson open in the end zone for a 5-yard completion. This time, Kali Nguma was good on the conversion for a 13-0 advantage.
Pace came back to tie it 13-13. First, Pace’s Dylan Barron scored on a 1-yard run with 10:23 left in the third quarter as the Vikings pulled to within 13-7 thanks to Christian Zapata’s extra point. The score came on Pace’s first possession of the second half.
It became 13-13 at the 7:57 mark of the final period when Pace QB Jose Banda threw a 19-yard TD pass to Jaylun Garcia. A missed extra point left the score tied.
Sharyland High put the game away with two fourth-quarter scores. Pena caught a 56-yard TD pass from Valdivia with 6:28 left and Valdivia made a spin move to get free at the line of scrimmage and sprinted 46 yards to the end zone with 1:57 remaining to make it 27-13 with Nguma’s kick.
“We had some key performances by several people, including Daniel Pena,” Adame said. “He caught two TD passes and made two interceptions.”
Pace coach Danny Pardo said his team will improve.
“We just made too many mistakes against a quality team like Sharyland,” Pardo said. “We had our chances. We’re going to get better.”
Sharyland High plays at home next Friday against McAllen Memorial, while Pace returns to Sams in two Saturdays to face Porter in a District 16-5A Division I opener.