McALLEN — McAllen Rowe quarterback Lance Salinas and receiver Nelson Ramirez connected for four touchdowns en route to a 52-15 win over Rio Grande City in District 15-5A DI action Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Warriors (6-2, 4-1) remain in the driver’s seat to clinch one of 15-5A DI’s four playoff spots, while the Rattlers dropped to 3-5 and 1-4 in district.
“He (Salinas) knows he can trust me and I know I can trust him, so that connection and that chemistry is very strong,” Ramirez said.
Salinas finished with the four touchdowns to Ramirez and punched one in on the ground. Chris Zavala carried the load with two rushing touchdowns and timely receiving out of the Warriors’ backfield.
“They played well and I think overall our offense was able to distribute the ball and run the ball with Chris Zavala and our O-line. It starts with them up front to get the offense going and that opens up the passing game,” Rowe head coach Bobby Flores said. “Nelson is hard to cover and we had some running forced them to kind of put some man coverage on him which helps us because he’s very tough, fast and quick, so he was able to get free on those routes and Lance was able to read and hit him.”
The Rowe defense forced five turnovers as Alejandro Navejar recovered two fumbles, Lukas Alvaro recovered one and Rene Pinella came away with one fumble recovery and an interception.
“We just had to believe in the process and we were trying to comeback from a big loss. We believed in fighting til the end and fighting for four quarters,” Navejar said.
Rio Grande City’s Alexis Chapa scored both of the Rattlers touchdowns during the first half.
Next for the Warriors is a rivalry game with serious playoff implications against McAllen High (3-4, 2-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Rattlers move on to face McAllen Memorial (2-5, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joe R. Sanchez Stadium in Rio Grande City.