The high school football season always seems to go by fast, and believe it or not, the halfway point of the regular season has already arrived.
Week 6 of the season begins at 7 p.m. Thursday for Metro-area teams as Brownsville Veterans Memorial (4-0, 1-0 district) takes on Rivera (0-4, 0-1) in a District 32-6A contest at Sams Memorial Stadium.
District 32-6A action continues for Metro-area ballclubs at 7:30 p.m. Friday as San Benito (3-1, 1-0) visits Los Fresnos (4-0, 1-0) for The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week, and Lopez (0-3, 0-1) plays at Harlingen South (0-3, 0-1).
District 32-5A games for local teams at 7:30 p.m. Friday find Edcouch-Elsa (3-1, 1-0) at Sams taking on Porter (3-1, 1-0) and Pace (0-3, 0-1) at Donna High (2-2, 1-0).
On Saturday at 7 p.m., Hanna (2-2, 0-1) plays host to Harlingen High (3-1, 1-0) at Sams for a 32-6A game.
Metro-area teams with open dates this week are Port Isabel (3-1) and St. Joseph Academy (4-1).
Having reached the midpoint of the regular season, here are five observations regarding what has stood out so far locally:
1. A BETTER SHOWING
Yes, Rivera, Lopez and Pace are still looking for their first wins, but considering how well the majority of Metro-area ballclubs are doing, it appears to be a pretty good year overall for football in the Brownsville area, possibly one of the best showings, at least to this point, in recent memory. Aside from the Raiders, Lobos and Vikings, Hanna has an even mark at 2-2, while everyone else is above .500 with district play just beginning.
Leading the way in the area are Brownsville Veterans and Los Fresnos, each with a 4-0 overall record.
The Chargers are coming off last week’s 35-28 down-to-the-wire victory over Harlingen South in their 32-6A opener.
“I’ve learned that as long as there’s time on the clock, our team believes it has a chance to win,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “We’ve been behind in three of our four games and we were tied late in the other, but we’ve found a way to win. This ability to deal with adversity hopefully will serve us well as we approach many challenging district opponents.”
Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley has learned some things about his team as well at this point of the season.
“Every team is different, and this team is very different than what I am used to,” Finley said. “So far, our guys have worked very hard and fought through adversity very well. We have one heck of a district that will force us to continue with both of those themes. We have to continue to improve every week or you get left behind.”
2. YEAR OF THE QUARTERBACK
The Metro area appears to be blessed with several standout QBs this season. They’re putting the ball in the air, and also running it, with success.
Among them are Hanna’s Andy Lopez, Los Fresnos’ Rene Ortega, Brownsville Veterans’ Marcus Castillo and SJA’s Kai Money.
Lopez and Ortega are close together as the leading passers in 32-6A. Lopez, a three-year starter for the Golden Eagles, has completed 53 of 103 aerial attempts for 863 yards and seven touchdowns with three interceptions to rank first in district yardage-wise.
“We’re fortunate to have Andy as our quarterback,” Hanna coach Rene Medrano said. “He’s quite a leader for us. I think other teams have to prepare differently for us because of him. He’s up to it, and he’s done a great job.
“How successful we are (as a team) depends quite a bit on how successful he is, and he realizes that,” Medrano added. “And if you ask Andy, it’s all about the team’s success, not his own success. We’re just glad to have him.”
Ortega has completed 59 of 96 passes for 859 yards with 13 TDs and three interceptions. He also has rushed for 264 yards and three scores while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
Castillo and Money are quite the double threats as signal callers.
Castillo leads 32-6A in rushing with 760 yards and 10 TDs, and he has passed for 559 yards and nine scores. He averages 8.8 yards per rush.
Money has rushed for 681 yards and 11 TDs, and passed for 661 yards with 13 TDs and no interceptions. Money, a sophomore, has rushed for 100 or more yards in three games and averages 10.0 yards per carry.
3. PORTER ON THE RISE
One of the Metro-area’s feel-good stories during the opening half of the season has been the improvement of the Porter Cowboys, who would seem to have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs for the first time since 2008. The only other time Porter qualified for the playoffs in football was 2003.
The Cowboys began their 32-5A schedule last week with a 52-44 four-overtime triumph on the road against Donna North.
“At the beginning of the season, I think you could say we had experience, and now we have maturity,” said Tom Campos, the Cowboys’ third-year coach. “We’ve had adverse things happen, obviously the four-overtime game (is one of them), and we’ve overcome them.
“Last year and the year before, we weren’t that type of team,” he added. “(Back then) if we got a 10-yard holding penalty on a first down, we’d probably have gone three and out and punted. Now we have the resiliency that when things go wrong, we’re going to rebound.”
When the Cowboys defeated Lopez 21-16 on Sept. 5 at Sams in the annual “Battle of Southmost” game, Lobos coach Jason Starkey said he was impressed with the job Campos is doing at Porter.
“I give a lot of credit to Coach Campos,” Starkey said. “I think he’s done an extraordinary job of turning around a (football) program that is in a similar situation as ours. We’re both in soccer communities where football is not the mainstream (sport). I tip my hat to him and his staff for overcoming the challenges that we both face, and really changing the (athletic) culture back to where Porter used to be. I’m trying to do the same thing at Lopez.”
The Porter players are buying into their coaching staff’s ideals for what the football team can become.
“Winning a four-overtime game opened our eyes that we can be the team to do it,” said Cowboys running back Jorge Gutierrez, who leads 32-5A in rushing and scoring with 865 yards and 12 TDs. “Offense and defense, we certainly have more confidence overall. I’ve always known this team has a lot of potential. It just takes working hard for it to blossom out, and that’s what we’re seeing now.”
4. BLOODHOUNDS FOR REAL
Through five contests, SJA is averaging 56 points per game. Considering the fast-paced, wide-open offense the Bloodhounds run, it was always somewhat expected they’d score points, maybe not that many. Now SJA’s defense is starting to come around, too, as it was an important factor in the Bloodhounds’ 42-27 victory against Port Isabel last week.
The Bloodhounds, winners of four games in a row, focused on containing the Tarpons’ ground game and they came up with two fourth-down stops and almost made a third.
“It’s huge (the way the defense has been playing),” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “We’re chasing the football (more) and showing some aggressive play. Those two (fourth-down) stops set the tone for the game.
“We’re a plus-24 in takeaways, and it’s been a spark to our team,” Villarreal added. “The way the defense has been playing, it’ll make a world of difference (once TAPPS district play begins next week).”
The Bloodhounds open TAPPS competition at San Antonio Christian on Oct. 9.
5. P.I. IS STILL P.I.
Although Port Isabel suffered its first loss of the season in last Friday’s non-district game at SJA, the Tarpons would appear to remain on course for a playoff spot in District 16-4A Division II once district play starts for them at home Oct. 9 against Progreso.
The Tarpons are still the Tarpons, and that’s actually a good and a bad thing, it would seem at this point. With Omar Silva becoming the preferred starter at QB, the Port Isabel offense appears to be solidifying and revolving around the mobile junior, who is a threat to run as well as throw the ball.
The negative aspect to the things on offense involving the Tarpons is they continue, as in recent seasons, to find ways to beat themselves with too many penalties and turnovers. There were double-digit procedure penalties in the game against SJA, which certainly didn’t help their chances.
“St. Joe deserved to win that game because they outplayed us,” Tarpons coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “They didn’t turn the ball over and they didn’t jump offsides like we did. It comes down to doing what you’re taught to do. Mistakes catch up with you, and we need to fix those things before district starts.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.