EDINBURG — Sharyland High put in a dominant performance against Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial all over the pitch Tuesday evening at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
The Rattlers’ 5-0 area championship victory sets up a meeting with Brownsville Porter in a regional quarterfinal either Thursday or Friday.
“The guys showed up again,” Sharyland High head coach Jorge Guerra said. “We have been taking it one game at a time. They played really well today … it was an intense game, they were very physical and fast players, good thing we got the win.”
The Rattlers quelled any chance of a comeback attempt by the Eagles during the second minute of the second half. Sharyland High midfielder Edward Morales beat the keeper with a left-footed volley. The cross was set up perfectly for the midfielder after his late run in the box.
Rattlers striker Alan Guerrero compounded the Eagles’ woes midway through the second half to make it 5-0. Guerrero was the benefactor of a line-splitting ball by playmaker Juan Treviño. The striker kept his composure to beat the keeper.
“We know what we have to do,” Treviño said. “We are taking this one game at a time with good performances each game, with the same confidence and intensity.”
Guerrero’s composure was also on display during the final minutes of the first half. The senior was again played in behind the lines, but had a lot of work to do with the oncoming keeper closing down. Guerrero opted to round the keeper and finished by sliding his shot off the back post as an Eagles defender tried to clear the ball off the line.
Treviño was a master in distribution all evening. The junior smashed in a diving header to put his side up 2-0 and played a beautiful left-footed pass between the Eagles’ right back and center back to find winger Kevin Zepeda.
Zepeda steered the cross into the far post with a header from an extremely tight angle to start the scoring midway through the first half.
“(Zepeda) is always making that diagonal run,” Treviño said. “I just know he is going to be in the right spot. I just try and pick him out because I know he is going to finish it.”
Treviño said the Rattlers had been practicing headers because of the vulnerability the Eagles had in the air.
Brownsville Porter-Sharyland High features two teams that were in the regional tournament in 2022. Dripping Springs defeated both in the regional tournament — the Rattlers in the fourth round and the Cowboys in the fifth — to advance to the state tournament.
A spot in the regional tournament is going to be on the line at the end of the week.
“Both teams are very strong teams,” Guerra said. “In the Valley, Porter is always a powerhouse, so it should be an intense game. Hopefully, we get the win.”