McALLEN — McAllen Memorial’s Marcos De La Cruz rushed for three touchdowns as the Mustangs rolled past the Brownsville Veterans Chargers 35-17 on Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Mustangs’ offense rushed for 364 yards, led by De La Cruz’s 200 yards on 17 carries. Fullback Max Alaniz-Choy added 134 yards and one score on 15 carries.
“The O-line are kind of the unsung heroes of the whole thing,” McAllen Memorial head coach Moses Patterson said. “They’ve done a great job. They’ve worked hard all year. We had some little dings here and there, but they’ve managed to work through all of that.
“The feature themselves through the running backs. The running backs do a great job. We have a lot of talent back there. But it all starts up front.”
Big plays were at a premium for the Mustangs’ offense, with four of their five touchdowns coming from more than 55 yards out, including a 71-yard bomb from quarterback JP Cortez to wideout Arian Elizondo.
Mustangs defensive back Jalen Muhammad set the tone defensively during the Chargers’ first offensive drive, delivering a massive hit on Brownsville Veterans running back Michael Montoya, jarring the ball loose and giving possession back to his team.
Led by Muhammad, McAllen Memorial stifled the Chargers’ No. 1-ranked offense, holding them to 248 total yards, 86 of which came on the Chargers’ final drive with the game well out of reach.
“Our goal was to come in here and stop them and slow them down a little bit,” Patterson said. “The message all week was that they were the number one offense in the district. We had to go out there and respond. It was a big challenge. Our defensive coordinator did a great job sending that message home and rallying around that. The kids responded and did a great job.”
With that, the Mustangs extend their win-streak to seven, holding the No. 1 spot in District 16-5A DI with two games left.
“We’re happy to be at this point, but the whole message all year has been one game at a time,” Patterson said. “That’s what we’re going to continue to do. We’re not going to overlook anybody. We’ll enjoy the win tonight. Tomorrow when we wake up, we’ll take a look at the game and start focusing on (Brownsville) Porter.”
The Mustangs (7-1, 7-0) return to action Thursday, hitting the road for a matchup against Brownsville Porter (2-5, 1-5) at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville. Meanwhile, the Chargers (5-3, 5-2) host the Donna High Redskins (2-5, 2-5) on Friday, Oct. 29, at Sams Memorial Stadium.