MISSION — Sharyland High head coach Craig Krell talked to his team about controlling their emotions going into Friday’s contest against intracity rival Sharyland Pioneer.
Before his team could take the field, rain and lightning led to the postponement of the matchup, with the Snakeskin Classic being moved to Saturday morning.
The Rattlers’ emotions were on full display during the opening half, drawing several flags for personal foul infractions. The penalties proved costly, keeping two Diamondbacks drives alive and leading to 10 points.
“A couple of weeks ago when we play (Mission) Vets, penalties were one of those things that hurt us, too,” Krell said. “We told our kids that this is an emotional sport, but we can’t let them overrun us and cost us. We talked about it at halftime. That’s how we gave up points and it also kept us from getting some points. We told them to be emotional and play hard, but don’t let them control you.”
The Rattlers settled their emotions during the second half, committing only two penalties and erupting for 24 points en route to a dominating 38-10 victory over the Diamondbacks in the eighth Snakeskin Classic at Richard Thompson Stadium.
The Rattlers’ second-half surge was led by a bruising run game, rushing for 132 yards during the final period. The Rattlers finished with 230 yards on the ground, anchored by juniors Alan Guerrero and Alek Gonzalez, who combined for 186 yards and four touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Orly Lopez delivered an efficient performance during his first action since suffering an injury during the Rattlers’ Week 2 loss to Brownsville Hanna, completing 13-of-17 passes for 146 yards before being pulled early during the fourth quarter with the game in hand.
Defensively, the Rattlers stifled the Diamondbacks’ offense, limiting them to 261 total yards, including holding the Diamondbacks’ top playmaker, Joseph Graham Jr., to 38 total yards.
With the Rattlers keying in on Graham, Sharyland Pioneer quarterback Angelo Bazan looked in the direction of sophomore wideout Leo Espinoza, who finished the contest with a game-high five receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown.
“We wanted to make sure he (Graham) didn’t get the edge,” Krell said. “When you have a kid like him that is as fast and talented as he is, if he gets the edge he’s going to be gone. I think we did a good job of keeping the perimeter and making sure he didn’t get to the edge. We wanted to make sure that when they were throwing the ball, we had a linebacker getting hands on him and disrupting him and throw them off-balance a bit.”
The Rattlers’ defense finished with three forced turnovers, including a 67-yard pick-six by junior do-it-all athlete Alan Gonzalez to put the exclamation point on a 21-point third quarter.
Sharyland High kicker Kali Nguma nailed a 45-yard field goal during the fourth quarter to put the final nail in the coffin, as the Rattlers snapped a two-game losing streak to the Diamondbacks.
The win also improves the Rattlers to 4-1 in district play, keeping them firmly in the hunt for a share of the District 16-5A DII title.
“This is always a big game for us,” Krell said. “We go one game at a time, but this is one game on the calendar that has a star by it. It’s a special one for both teams. It’s one that we always want to come away with.
“On one side, we already faced the teams that are on the top of our district. But we still have three teams to go. We need to make sure we’re focused and not lose concentration on what’s ahead of us. Whether we get a share of the title or not, that’s out of our hands. But what we can control is one game at a time.”
Next for the Rattlers (5-2, 4-1) is an away contest against PSJA Memorial (1-6, 1-4) on Friday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks (4-3, 3-2) look to bounce back from consecutive losses, hosting the PSJA Southwest Javelinas (0-7, 0-5) on Friday at Richard Thompson Stadium.