McALLEN — The McAllen Rowe Warriors erased a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat crosstown rival McAllen Memorial 41-37 on Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Warriors won their fifth straight to move to 5-1 and 3-0 in District 15-5A DI. The loss sends McAllen Memorial to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in district.
McAllen Rowe quarterback Isaac Sotuyo entered the game at quarterback during the second half and ran for three touchdowns to help lift the Warriors. Athlete Nelson Ramirez returned a kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown during the first half and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sotuyo during the second to complete the comeback.
McAllen Memorial’s Max Alaniz-Choy ran for two touchdowns and teammates Sebastian Aleman and JP Garza ran for one each. Quarterback JP Cortez also threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Goodson during the first half to build a 28-14 halftime lead.
McAllen Memorial faces La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (0-6, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at La Joya ISD Pack Stadium in La Joya. Next for McAllen Rowe is PSJA North (6-0, 3-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
DISTRICT 31-6A
EDINBURG HIGH 48, MISSION HIGH 29: At Mission, sophomore quarterback Jae Santa Martia accounted for three touchdowns to lead Edinburg High to a win during their district opener.
Santa Maria scored the first two touchdowns of the game for the Bobcats, taking it in on carries of 6 and 73 yards. He added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Rivera Martinez with 44 seconds left in the third to all but seal the victory.
The Bobcats (3-3, 1-0) continue District 31-6A play Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Edinburg Economedes (1-5, 0-1) at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
DISTRICT 16-5A DI
BROWNSVILLE PACE 64, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 9: At Brownsvillle, the Vikings (3-4, 2-1) bounced back after a Week 6 loss to Harlingen South with a win over the Brownsville Lopez Lobos (0-7, 0-3) Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
”We put in a better effort today as far as getting things done,” Vikings head coach Danny Pardo said. “We got up on them quick, so it helps when you can relax a little bit in a game that you never know what you are going to get from Lopez. They are not bad; they just have not had breaks. We are glad we got the win on this one.”
The Vikings went into the half up 35-0. Pardo attributed the win to the running game and the defensive performance tonight.
“They were all over the place and came up with some good turnovers,” Pardo said. “It was good for our defense. They are going to have their hands full next week. It was good for them to end the night on a good note.”
The Vikings are in action at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium against the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers (4-2, 1-1).
DISTRICT 16-5A DII
PSJA SOUTHWEST 30, PSJA MEMORIAL 13: At Pharr, the Javelinas secured their first victory of the season by running through the rival Wolverines at PSJA Stadium.
The Javelinas start district play 1-0, while the Wolverines drop to 3-3 and 0-1 in 16-5A DII.
Southwest’s defense pitched a second-half shutout, Angel Hernandez hit Josue Lopez for a 55-yard touchdown pass and running back Edgar Villarreal broke four tackles on a 25-yard touchdown run as the Javelinas surged past the Wolverines.
“We played a tough PSJA Memorial team that is well-coached. We overcame some of our mistakes and sometimes in the past that’s what really hurt us,” PSJA Southwest head coach Abel Estrada said. “Tonight, we pulled together, overcame mistakes and played to the best of our potential and that helped us get this victory.”
PSJA Memorial has a short week ahead and will take on Sharyland High (2-4, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. PSJA Southwest moves on to face Mission Veterans (3-3, 0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission.