CORPUS CHRISTI — McAllen High punter Max Alvarez did not need to drop back to pass from his punting spot as he reared back to find Christian Echazarreta streaking down the sideline behind San Antonio Southside’s defense for a 41-yard touchdown.
The second-quarter touchdown gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead and the momentum needed to beat the Cardinals 21-0 in a Class 5A DI area-round meeting Friday night at Calallen’s Wildcat Stadium in Corpus Christi.
“(The fake punt) got us going tonight,” McAllen High head coach Patrick Shelby said. “It is the playoffs. You have to take chances here and there, and we took one there at the beginning of the game and we executed it. I think that is what kind of sparked us and got us going from the beginning.”
The Bulldogs put the game away deep in the fourth quarter. Junior running back Jayden Herrera picked up his second rushing touchdown of the night when he broke tackles to find the end zone from 14 yards.
Southside struggled during the second half to generate much offense besides a few tough runs that were aided by scrums. The Cardinals had a chance to score points early in the fourth quarter, but elected not to kick a field goal deep in McHi territory.
Even with a field goal, the Cardinals still would have been down two scores, and it stayed that way as they turned the ball over on downs to keep the score 14-0.
“The kids played good tonight,” Shelby said. “It was not as clean as we wanted it to be, but our defense really stepped up tonight, they made things happen. Coach Lock is a great coach, his staff does a great job, and we know what they did this school year. I am proud of our kids for staying focused throughout the week and having good practices. They put it together tonight.”
McHi went into halftime up 14-0 after benefiting from great field position following a fumble. Herrera found the end zone from 13 yards to pad the Bulldogs’ lead.
Southside had some success running the ball during the first half and broke some tackles, but kicking field goals was challenging with the strong wind. The Bulldogs’ defense buckled down when it needed to and pounced on two fumbles to keep the Cardinals off the board.
The Bulldogs (7-5) take on Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial (10-2) at 2 p.m. Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in the third round of the playoffs.