McALLEN — Possession was not translating into points for the McAllen High Bulldogs for the first half of Friday’s showdown with the Edinburg North Cougars, which ultimately ended with the Bulldogs 29-13 winners to improve to 2-0 on the season.

An early drive had them in the red zone for four consecutive plays before ultimately turning it over to the Cougars.

The Bulldogs came out playing consistently from the start. Quarterback Robert Amador was relentless, and with five minutes left his aims were answered when a sling pass to wide receiver Felipe Magana resulted in the first touchdown of the night. Despite recovering the kick off, the Bulldogs did not make it further than 25 yards before punting it back to the Cougars.

The Cougars finally saw the other side of the 50 just before the first quarter wound down. And kicker Christopher Villarreal became the Cougar’s leading scorer, deftly completing two field goals, to make it a one-point game before half.

Both teams managed an electric opening drive in the second half. A few minutes in and the Cougars were coordinating for yet another field goal attempt when they had to shuffle their lineup after a string of timeouts. Quarterback Michael Rodriguez ultimately found wide receiver Sergio Quintanilla in the end zone.

Quintanilla, draped with coverage, plucked the ball out of harms way just before stumbling out of bounds, giving the Cougars a temporary lead.

That’s when McAllen High head coach Patrick Shelby stepped in, making key personnel changes that would ultimately secure a Bulldog win.

“We had a few opportunities in the first half that we didn’t take advantage of,” Shelby said. “We needed to do some extra stuff … they were putting more pressure up the middle.”

The extra stuff was quarterback Hunter Curl. He led his offense to two more touchdowns with Magana and Troy Martinez and a two-point conversion from Eduardo Castillo before Curl himself scrambled into the end zone for the final touchdown, solidifying the 29-13 victory.

For Curl it was simple.

“The win was a team effort and it was awesome,” he said, and scoring “was a cool experience. Fun.”

Curl would also have the ball for the final play of the night, kneeling with 13 seconds left as his teammates began to jump in jubilation. It was, after all, a team effort.

Even though Shelby has only a two game winning streak — his first two games as a head coach — his presence is already obvious in his players. From the discipline on the field to their interactions off the pitch, the Bulldogs are undeniably coming together.

“They’re starting to understand the importance of unity,” Shelby said, “and they are committed to it. You can tell these guys love one another and play hard for one another. That’s what helps these guys in these hard games.”

McAllen plays at home at 7 p.m. Thursday. Edinburg North plays at McAllen Rowe at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13.