By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN – It is winter, but it felt like fall Saturday night inside Boggus Stadium as some of the best football players from the East and West sides of the Rio Grande Valley squared off in the RGVCA all-star game.
The East all-stars were victorious 21-17.
“It was a lot of fun to come out and get to coach again,” Harlingen South and East coach Israel Gonzalez said. “The caliber of talent that the athletes on this field (had) was fun tonight. Both sides had a tremendous amount of talent, and both coaching staffs did a great job of putting on an exciting game for all the communities. We are grateful and blessed to be out here tonight.”
Said McAllen High and West coach Patrick Shelby, “It was a great opportunity. My staff and I would like to thank the coaches association for giving us this opportunity. We were telling the kids about relationships. If not for this game, they would not be able to build these relationships. I am so happy for these guys to have the opportunity to play another game.”
Usually in an all-star game, it is common for offenses to struggle because players and coaches only have a couple of days of practice together.
The first half of the RGVCA all-star game was no exception.
Both offenses struggled to generate much offensively, but credit to the defenses, both sides wrapped up well and some hard hits delighted the crowd.
The East had a decent opportunity to score after the West scuffed a punt, giving the East great field position on the West’s 25-yard line.
But the West clamped down on fourth down, and both teams went into the half scoreless.
It was the West that got on the board first with a field goal after a great drive led by Edinburg High Bobcats quarterback Rolando Abrego.
The East responded with a great drive of its own, capped off with a 22-yard touchdown run from Harlingen South’s Jeremiah Rivera, giving East the 7-3 lead.
Harlingen South’s Levi Ince forced a fumble during the fourth quarter that gave East great field position at the West’s 4-yard-line.
Mercedes quarterback Michael Cisneros found San Benito’s Jermaine Corbin for the 2-yard touchdown.
The West was close to getting back in the game and was knocking on the door when a bad quarterback-running back exchange was knocked out and fell perfectly to the Harlingen High Cardinals’ Christian Luna. He scooped it up and scored for a 94-yard touchdown.
The West’s Dylan Velasquez gave his team a touchdown with a great catch in the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The Mission Veterans Memorial receiver beat his man on fourth down.
The West got on the scoreboard again after McAllen Memorial‘s Marcos De La Cruz burned his man for a 45-yard catch and score.