MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

To get all of her roster involved, Los Fresnos coach Rebecca Valdez experimented with her lineup early in the team’s matchup with the Brownsville Rivera Lady Raiders.

The move paid off, as the Lady Falcons had four players score in double digits and 10 players score during their 76-33 rout of the Lady Raiders on Tuesday night at Rivera.

Valdez was happy with not only getting the victory but being able to rebound after last Friday night’s loss to Harlingen South, and getting into a good mindset with District 32-6A heavy Harlingen High up next.

“I think it was a great team win, and I think we can continue this momentum the rest of the way,” Valdez said. “We need to keep that whole-team-unit-bond thing going. I think this is some good momentum we started. We have Harlingen High (on) Friday night, which is always a good game, so I think this is great, positive momentum through the team concept.”

Los Fresnos (15-12, 1-1) did not insert its usual lineup until the 5:16 mark of the second quarter, leading 23-17. It mounted a 17-4 run, led by 11 points from Ari Gallardo, to blow the game wide open and make it 42-21 at the break.

During that stretch, Rivera (0-2 in district) managed just one field goal before the half and four the rest of the way.

“We have a young team with two sophomores and two freshmen on the court,” Rivera coach Omar Leal said. “They are very inexperienced at the moment, but they picked up against a very good team in Los Fresnos. They played their hearts out. They gained a lot of experience today, and that’s what varsity basketball is all about. We’re going to learn from our mistakes, and we’re going to move on.”

Los Fresnos’ Olivia Parra led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Gallardo, Sarahi Jones and Clarissa Esquivel with 13 each.

Rivera’s Alondra Guzman netted a team-high 13 points.

The Lady Raiders received a pair of early buckets from Guzman midway through the first quarter as she helped her team to an early 9-7 lead, but the Lady Falcons took control for good with a 13-4 run in which five different players scored to end the first quarter.

Guzman put in a layup to make it 23-17 before Parra answered with a bucket on the other end to start the big run. Moments later, Gallardo checked in, sank a runner and the rout was on.

Rivera recorded just one more field goal with 1:45 to go before halftime, and that was its last until the 3:05 mark of the third quarter. A Maranda Garza layup cut Los Fresnos’ lead to 57-23.

Los Fresnos outscored Rivera 34-12 during the second half.

“We just have to continue to get better,” Valdez said, “Defensively, we’re still a little bit lazy, but I’m proud of the effort. Offensively, we just made layups, so I’m happy that we’re actually hitting where we need to hit.”

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The Hanna Golden Eagles dug themselves into two different holes against the visiting Mission High Eagles, and while they dug out of one, the other proved insurmountable.

Hanna managed to dig out of a double-digit deficit, but Eddie Rivero and Mission High mounted a late third-quarter run that put them ahead for good in a 54-42 victory Friday night at Hanna.

After Hanna’s Jared Zarate capped a 10-2 run with a bucket to give his team a 32-31 lead with 2:35 to play in the third quarter and erase a 15-point first-half deficit, Mission High answered with a 9-0 run to end the period.

“We dig ourselves in holes, and we’re too young right now,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “We’re not seasoned enough to fight our way after so many times being down from 9-0 runs, 10-0 runs. I’m really proud of this group for fighting through that first half and coming down to take the lead in the second half. They fought hard.”

Rivero led the run with a pair of 3-point buckets, including his second buzzer-beater of the game to put Mission High (9-9) up 40-32 heading to the fourth.

Hanna (10-10) kept chipping away and even got the lead down to two at one point, but was held to just three field goals by the Mission High defense during the fourth quarter.

“We just started playing our defensive game,” Mission High coach Rico Martinez said. “We’re very athletic, we’re very tough defensively and we finally started playing like that. We hadn’t the last couple of games. Little by little, our defensive strategy is starting to come around. The kids are playing hard every game, and we’re getting better and better. That’s all we can ever ask for.”

Rivero led all scorers with 21 points and five treys. Teammate Rey Garcia posted 10 points with a strong night in the post.

Hanna was led by Sabian Arceneaux, who netted a team-high 11 points. Zarate followed with nine.

Mission High had success playing inside out early as Garcia and Jahel Salinas combined for eight of the team’s first-quarter points.

That opened the doors for Rivero and Tajh Jones to knock down three shots from downtown in the midst of a 21-4 run during the first half that put Mission High up 23-8 with 3:33 to play until halftime.

“(Mission High’s) bigs really gave us some trouble,” Lucio said. “Second-chance points really killed us, and they were on fire — they knocked down shots with hands in their face. There’s nothing more you can do about that.”

Hanna answered with a 9-0 run that was led by a pair of Nic Ramirez buckets and a 3 from Isaiah Talamantez to cut the lead to 23-17 with 1:39 to play.

Five points on two Rivero buckets on back-to-back possessions put Mission High back up 28-17, and it went into the break leading 28-19.

Hanna opened the second half with a Zarate trey that sparked a 10-2 run that ultimately gave them their first lead, 31-30, for all of 19 seconds before a Garcia layup gave Mission High the lead right back for good.

“Little challenges like that make us a better team,” Martinez said. “We’ve been fighting some adversity lately, and they have found ways to overcome it, play together and finish off the ‘W.’ That’s all you can ask for.”

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The Rio Hondo Bobcats are into the area round of the playoffs for the third straight season, and just like the two prior seasons, they face a daunting task against a regional power.

Last year, the Bobcats lost 56-0 to the eventual Class 4A-DII state champion Cuero Gobblers and in 2017, they were routed 71-44 by Geronimo Navarro Panthers, the same team they will face in tonight’s area round matchup, slated for 7:30 p.m. at Buc Stadium in Corpus Christi.

The Bobcats are looking to block out the underdog talk and focus on the Xs and Os this week, which focuses primarily on stopping Navarro’s Slot-T rushing attack.

“This week’s practices have gone great,” Rio Hondo coach Rocky James said. “We’ve been very spirited, but it has been very difficult to mimic (Navarro’s) offense — it’s difficult to emulate in practice. I think our kids did the best job they could at emulating it and we prepared the best we could prepare, and we have to let the chips fall where they may.”

There will be no surprises for Rio Hondo (6-4) tonight as Navarro (11-0) will run the ball after completing just nine passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns all season, but rushing for 4,500 yards and 54 scores.

The Navarro attack is led by senior running back Euler De Leon, who has rushed for 1, 621 yards and 23 touchdowns on the season, followed by Moise Sims (89-842, nine TDs) and Johnny Alegria (62-711, seven TDs).

That will be a tough test for a Bobcats offense that recovered eight fumbles, recorded 20.5 sacks and 109 tackles for loss.

Despite a heavy ground attack, James and company are prepared for Navarro to score in bunches, as it averages more than 42 points and 428 yards per game.

“When we lost to (Navarro), we lost 71-44, so they are able to put up points really fast even in that type of offense,” James said. “I know it’s crazy, but it’s a very difficult offense when you don’t face it too often. We have played a team that runs a little bit of that offense, so we’re looking forward to this matchup.”

Rio Hondo comes into tonight on a three-game winning streak and is averaging 43 points per game in wins over Progreso (56-14), Port Isabel (27-15) and last week’s 48-6 bi-district win over Orange Grove.

The Bobcats’ attack focuses on its young players, starting with junior quarterback Matthew Trevino, who has passed for 1,149 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 269 yards and three more scores.

Around Trevino are some solid options such as sophomore rusher Ethan Jeradiah (115-829, nine TDs), sophomore receiver Ismael Rodriguez (22-418, three TDs) and junior wideout Efrain Lopez (29-447, two TDs).

While the Bobcats don’t pack seniors with huge numbers like the 2017 team, which featured a 3,000-yard passer in Tyler Bush and a 1,600-yard receiver in Erik Pizzaro, James believes in his younger squad

“We had a really high-powered offense (in 2017),” James said. “But it was really not a lot of guys that you would consider offensive weapons. This year, I have a lot of guys that I would consider offensive weapons, they’re just younger guys. We’re a lot younger than when we played (Navarro) in 2017, but these guys that are seniors right now are able to talk talk to the younger guys and explain the way this game is going to go.”

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

High school basketball and the holidays usually mean it’s tournament time.

For the small town of San Perlita, it marks one of the biggest times of the annual sports season as it kicks off the 10th annual Letterman’s Club tournament this morning at San Perlita High School.

“This is really the focal point during this time because we are the entertainment,” San Perlita girls basketball coach Marco Munguia said. “Basketball is the big show here in San Perlita. It brings in pretty much the whole community and people from our surrounding communities as well.”

When the first tournament tipped off in 2010, one year after the new San Perlita gymnasium was opened, the field was comprised of just five teams for both the boys and girls and was played round-robin style.

Today’s tournament is slated to have 12 teams in each division separated into four pools, three different championship brackets and features 48 games across three days, culminating with the championship games Saturday.

“Over the last couple of years, our tournament has really grown,” San Perlita boys basketball coach Nataniel Garza said. “It means a lot to our community. Our members here take a lot of passion from our tournament. There’s just a lot of pride in this small town. We have a lot of help that makes this tournament run.

“Everybody is willing to help, and everybody wants to help. It really brings the community together, and they’re not only here for our kids, they’re here to see basketball.”

On the boys side, Pool A is comprised of hosting San Perlita, Edinburg IDEA Quest and Macedonia, and Pool B features Bishop, Monte Alto and Roma. Pool C will include Lasara, UIL newcomers Brownsville Jubilee and Weslaco IDEA, and Pool D is occupied by Valley View, Brownsville IDEA Frontier and defending champion Port Isabel.

Garza said his young Trojans, who are fresh off a 76-62 loss Tuesday night at PSJA Memorial, will benefit from a challenging field.

“I think it’s good that we get games early in the season,” he said. “We had a game (Tuesday), and our youth really showed. I think for us, it’s good to get an early tournament going in the season so we can kind of get the experience early on, and hopefully it’ll pay off when we get to district time. We’re not only getting games, but playing some really tough teams as well. It’s a very tough field, and it’s always great competition.

For the girls, joining San Perlita in Pool A are Premont and IDEA Quest, and Pool B will feature La Villa, Raymondville and Riviera. In Pool C are Donna IDEA, Grulla and Lasara, and IDEA Frontier, San Isidro and Weslaco IDEA will occupy Pool D. Roma, which won the girls Gold Bracket last season, opted out of this year’s tournament.

Still, the field, like the boys side, is tough and will be a big challenge for a Lady Trojans team that has had very little practice time at full strength to start the season.

“From my team, I’m just looking for growth from last week to this week,” Munguia said. “Our girls made that long playoff run, going three rounds deep in volleyball. As a result, we’ve only got in maybe one full week of complete basketball practice. We went over to La Feria on Saturday and lost by eight, 50-42. I was pleased with our performance, but we just had 2 1/2 days of practice. So my biggest thing is going to be growth from last week to this week for my girls.”

The tournament will kickoff at 9 a.m. with a pair of Metro-area boys teams in Port Isabel and IDEA Frontier squaring off in Gym 1, and Macedonia takes on IDEA Quest in Gym 2.

Girls games begin at 10:15 a.m. in Gym 1 when La Villa takes on Raymondville.

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The Port Isabel Tarpons are in the playoffs once again and set to take on the Sinton Pirates in Class 4A Division II bi-district playoffs.

Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. tonight at Corpus Christi’s Buc Stadium.

The Tarpons enter tonight’s matchup as the No. 3 seed out of District 16-4A Division II, while the Pirates come in as the No. 2 seed out of 15-4A DII.

Tonight’s winner will face either 14-4A DII’s Devine or 13-4A DII’s Llano in the area round.

Port Isabel (3-6) comes into the matchup on a down note, losing its last two games to Raymondville and Rio Hondo by a combined score of 90-22.

Sinton (5-5) has won four straight games after losing its district opener to champion Rockport-Fulton and is averaging 43 points per game during the past month.

Port Isabel will lean on its running game as it has all season, starting with Brayan Medina.

Medina finished the regular season with 1,095 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in just eight games this season. As a team, the Tarpons have posted 1, 888 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground.

Junior quarterback Joey Krieghbaum has had a strong district season and finished the regular season with 1,176 yards passing and another 216 rushing to go with 20 total touchdowns.

Moving the ball might prove tough for the Tarpons as the Pirates have recorded 19 interceptions and recovered 10 fumbles this season.

Port Isabel’s defense, meanwhile, has recorded six interceptions and recovered two fumbles.

Sinton’s attack focuses on the quarterback-running back combo of Rene and Rylan Galvan.

Under center, Rene Galvan has similar numbers to Krieghbaum, passing for 1,055 yards and rushing for 431 more with 21 total touchdowns.

Rylan Galvan leads the ground game for the Pirates, rushing for 1,042 yards and 13 touchdowns.

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

The Pace Vikings spent a lot of this season growing up, especially on the defensive side of the ball thanks to a tough District 16-5A Division I.

Now, Vikings will face their toughest challenge yet when they take on the undefeated Corpus Christi Miller Buccaneers in a Class 5A bi-district matchup slated for 7:30 p.m. tonight at Corpus Christi’s Buc Stadium.

The Vikings are the underdogs, but coach Danny Pardo said his team’s demeanor this week doesn’t tell that story.

“ Like I’ve said before, we’re still young, but we’re not inexperienced anymore,” Pardo said. “These kids have been in a lot of games. And I don’t know if they’re too young to realize what they are going against, but they’re pretty upbeat. We had a great practice Tuesday and (Wednesday) we polished up and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

What awaits the Vikings is a Bucs offense that has scored in bunches and with relative ease, averaging slightly more than 57 points per game and 552 yards per game.

Leading the charge for Miller is junior quarterback Andrew Body, who has thrown for 3,127 yards and 37 touchdowns with just one interception while completing 67 percent of his passes.

Top targets for Body are senior receivers Ralph Rodriguez (49-834, 14 TDs), Cassius Clay (51-853, 7 TDs) and junior Adraean Loyd (934 yards, 7 TDs). In the backfield, sophomore McCullion Williams has rushed for 1,119 yards and 13 touchdowns, so Pace’s defense, which has racked up 19 sacks and nine turnovers this season, will have a tall task in front of them.

“ There’s a reason why they’re No. 1 (in their district),” Pardo said. “They’re pretty good and talent-wise, they’re big, they’re calm and fast. They’re well-coached and we’re going to have our hands full. We have to try to take advantage of some little things that we can find that could possibly work against them. Our kids are used to that all season long, but they’ll fight and see what happens.”

Pace will look to combat the high-scoring Bucs with their running game, led by senior Dylan Barron and quarterback Jose Banda.

Barron rushed for 1, 057 yards in 12 touchdowns during the regular season and has scored at least one touchdown in nine of the ten games.

Banda has proved valuable on the grown and through the air, passing for 1, 498 yards and rushing for 546 more with 13 total scores.

“ We want to make this game go as fast as we can and control the ball as much as we can,” Pardo said. “That’s kind of been our philosophy, to control the game as much as we can and keep our defense off the field as much as possible. We will definitely try to do what we have done the last couple of weeks, which is run Dylan (Barron) as much as we can with Matthew Cuellar and Banda running as well. We’ll throw when we have to here and there and see if we can keep the ball from (Miller) as much as we can.”

MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS— With the Los Fresnos Falcons’ ground game heating up, the San Benito Greyhounds managed just one stop in the second half.

It was the most important of the night.

With the Falcons driving inside the red zone, down by four and just more than one minute to play, the Greyhounds came up with a stop on fourth-and-4, forcing a turnover on downs and securing a 34-30 win in the teams’ District 32-6A regular-season finale Friday night at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.

The win gives San Benito the first seed in District 32-6A Division I, setting up a bi-district matchup with Edinburg North. Los Fresnos will take the second seed and face Weslaco High.

After San Benito running back Kyler Castilleja put San Benito on top 34-30 with his third rushing touchdown of the night from 4 yards out, the Falcons launched a 10-play drive with less than five minutes remaining.

“We have a mantra — 12 rounds,” San Benito coach Dan Gomez said. “Just like in boxing, be ready for 12 rounds, and be ready for the 10th, 11th, 12th rounds, the championship rounds. Our kids battled 12 rounds tonight.”

The Falcons drove to the Greyhounds’ 13 and even converted a fourth-and-15 in the process on a halfback pass from Miles McWhorter to Chris Resendiz, but a toss play on their second fourth down to Nico Valencia went nowhere and ended the game.

“Hat’s off to San Benito, they stopped us when they needed to,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “We came up with some big plays to continue that drive, but what a ballgame. It’s bad that someone had to lose that game, but (San Benito) is a heck of a team. I’m very proud of the way our guys fought. They never quit. I’m proud to be the coach at Los Fresnos High School.”

The game had four lead changes during the final 15 minutes.

Castilleja had a big night for the Greyhounds, scoring three rushing touchdowns as well as a receiving score.

Los Fresnos’ Chirs Resendiz rushed for 162 yards and three scores.

After the ’Hounds had a chip-shot field goal blocked midway through the first quarter, the defense forced and recovered a Los Fresnos fumble. San Benito cashed in with a 2-yard Castilleja score three plays later to make it 7-0.

After Los Fresnos tied it on the ensuing possession with an 11-play drive and a 2-yard run by quarterback Adrian Longoria, Silva hit Juan Constante for a 72-yard score to put the ’Hounds up 14-7 early in the second quarter.

The Falcons drove inside the San Benito 10, but a sack pushed them back and they settled for a Marco Moreno field goal to make it 14-10.

Castilleja scored on a 7-yard run later in the quarter, and San Benito took a 21-10 lead into the break.

Resendiz punched in scores on the Falcons’ next two drives to take a 23-21 lead late in the third quarter before San Benito quarterback Smiley Silva hit Castilleja for a 23-yard catch-and-run to give the Greyhounds the lead back, 28-23.

Resendiz gave Los Fresnos a 30-28 lead with more than seven minutes to play on a 9-yard run before Castilleja scored his final touchdown of the night to seal the deal.

MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

Heading into Week 10, it is looking more probable that a District 16-5A Division I team with a winning record will be on the outside looking in when the postseason begins.

Two of those teams are the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers and the Pace Vikings, who will square off tonight in the Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week, slated for a 7:30 p.m. start at Sams Memorial Stadium.

The matchup is a pivotal one as the Chargers (6-2, 5-2) and Vikings (5-3, 5-2) are tied for fourth place in the standings with two games to go.

Veterans comes in on a roll since losing 36-13 at Rio Grande City, reeling off three games in a row.

“That was a difficult loss and ever since then, we really have played better football,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “It took a lot of soul searching, reflection and unselfish attitude. It’s sad that when this is all said and done, that out of our district, all 10 teams are solid, but there are five really good ones and one will stay out of the mix. We don’t want to be that one.”

Pace, which has struggled a bit as of late and has dropped two of their last three, began the season with a young team, but head coach Danny Pardo said his squad has done enough this season expect nothing but a push to the postseason.

“We have enough games under our belt already,” he said. “We may be young, but we’re not inexperienced anymore. These kids are playing at a high level now and they’re doing a lot better. We’ll see if we can match up with what (Veterans) has.” They have good receivers and real good running back. “They are something that gives us problems. We’ll see what happens; we’ll put our speed out there and see what happens.”

The Pace defense against the Veterans offense will highlight this matchup as the Vikings defense has allowed 321 yards per game (numbers through seven games) and will face a Chargers offense averaging 350 yards and 33 points per game.

The Chargers are led by a speedy offense, starting with quarterback Liam Longoria (1,317 passing, 433 yards rushing, 17 total TDs) and receivers Elijah Masten (30-461, 4 TDs) and running back/receiver Mauricio Garza (392 yards receiving, 184 yards rushing, 9 TDs).

“We respect Pace tremendously; they play fast on defense,” Cantu said. “They aren’t the biggest defense size-wise, but it doesn’t matter. Their hearts are huge and we know that. Offensively, we just have to try and take advantage of that. They’ll take chances and seven guys at you and hopefully, we’ll have the answers.”

Pace’s offense has picked up their production as of late and that’s thanks in large part to quarterback Jose Banda and running back Dylan Barron.

Barron has run well this season and has recorded 803 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Meanwhile, Banda has passed for 1,160 yards for six touchdowns to go with for 423 yards rushing and four scores.

“Offensively, I think if we can keep from making mistakes and killing ourselves, we’ll be alright,” Pardo said. “I think last year we wanted to do some things that we weren’t able to, but I think we match a little better this year as far as offensively.”

What a difference a year makes.

After the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds blew out the Grulla Gators by 29 points in last season’s opener, they could not get out of their own way this time around.

Grulla put the pressure on St. Joe senior quarterback Kai Money on defense and controlled the ball on offense as they rolled to a 38-22 Week 1 victory Friday night at Canales field.

“To face a team like St. Joe Week 1 is always tough,” Grulla head coach Abel Gonzalez III said. “Kai Money is one of the best quarterbacks in the Valley and he was a huge, huge test for us last year — he killed us. We had to adjust to their tempo and a year gets us ready for that.

“We didn’t just want to let him sit back there and be comfortable … we felt one of our strengths would be our defensive line.”

Money, despite constant pressure and being sacked four times, managed to move the Bloodhound offense, but it was three first-half turnovers in Grulla territory that halted potential scoring drives.

“You can’t turn over a ball against a good football team and that’s just a reality of football,” St. Joseph head coach Tino Villarreal said. “When you look at the turnover margin, the team with the most turnovers is going to lose that game. That was us tonight. I thought our offense could get rolling when it wants to get rolling, but tonight we had a couple of hiccups there.”

The Gators looked sharp from the start, taking the game’s opening drive 75 yards in 7 plays, capped off with a 32-yard touchdown from quarterback Dillen Salinas to receiver Miguel Flores.

A 2-point conversion made it 8-0 less than four minutes into the game.

The Bloodhounds drove to the Grulla 48-yard line on their second possession and looked to keep going after Money found receiver Pablo Zolezzi for a first down.

But Zolezzi would fumble soon after and Grulla’s Joe Ramos recovered at the Gator 32.

That set up another long Grulla drive, this one ending with and Ebenezer Cantu touchdown on a 3-yard run eight plays later to make it 16-0.

“We wanted to sustain long drives and we wanted to keep (St. Joseph’s) offense off the field,” Gonzalez III, “We took advantage of some turnovers they had in the first half to help us get that early lead.”

St. Joe’s woes continued as it fumbled inside the Grulla 10 and Money threw an interception in Grulla territory. The Gators would take their 16-0 lead into the half.

“It really didn’t affect me that much knowing we’re going into the half and Grulla only scored twice,” Villarreal said. “That’s not that big of a deal when we had three opportunities to score and we came up empty handed with turnovers. We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We had everything we wanted handed to us, but we can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Money bounced back in the second half, finding Zolezzi on a 36-yard deep strike down the left sideline to cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive to make it 16-8.

The Bloodhounds would turn the ball over on downs and punt on their next two drives, while Grulla scored on its first two of the second half.

Grulla’s second drive was extended on a St. Joseph muffed punt, which led to Salinas’ second touchdown pass of the night, finding Flores all alone for an easy 18-yard touchdown to make it 30-8.

The duo hooked up for a third touchdown, this one a 52-yard catch-and-run early in the fourth to make it 38-8.

Money and the Bloodhounds took advantage of sloppy Gator play in the fourth quarter and scored twice in the second half but still trailed 38-22.

Salinas finished with 147 yards and three touchdowns on an 8-for-10 passing night and racked up 129 yards on the ground. Flores hauled in six passes for 125 yards and three scores. Cantu had two rushing touchdowns for Grulla.

Money threw for 178 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on 13-of-22 passing.

When it comes to the debate of the best quarterback of Brownsville football, the question likely will come down to just two names.

On one side is Desi Najera of the legendary two-loss 1969 Brownsville High Eagles who were arguably the best Brownsville team in city history.

On the other end is the quarterback some knew as Billy “The Kid” Garza from the 2003 Porter Cowboys, which came out of nowhere to become one the Valley’s best offensive squads that season.

The question of Najera’s speed and pure athleticism versus Garza’s well-rounded game and size likely won’t be settled since getting both teams on the field for a hypothetical quarterback duel is not in the cards.

But some believe even that wouldn’t solve anything.

“Desi was good in his time and Billy was good in his time,” said Jim Helms, Porter’s football coach in 2003. “It’s like some running backs were great 20 years ago and if they could play today would still be good. I think Desi would be good if he played today and Billy would be good if he played back then.

“It’s hard to compare them, but they were still great players.”

But Brownsville will continue to debate.

Fourteen years after leading the Cowboys, Garza wears the green of the Pace Vikings as an assistant football coach. He still hears the comparisons, but won’t give his own take on the debate.

It’s a humble approach but it’s also due to Garza not having the means to form a true opinion on the matter since most of what he knows about Najera is community hearsay.

“Obviously, I didn’t see him play or know much about the history of exactly what he did, but I’ve heard a lot of things through my dad and people who grew up when he was around,” Garza said. “It’s always cool to be compared to or talked about in that way of who’s better. It doesn’t mean all that much to me, but it’s cool that people get to talk about it.”

Ironically, Garza said his students at Pace likely view him in almost the same way he views Najera.

“They just see me as a coach,” Garza said. “I think they hear from people, family, friends and those in the community what they tell them about me. So as far as them knowing about me, they don’t — they just see me as coach Garza.”

BECOMING BILLY THE KID

Garza’s road going from standout player to coach was one filled with fun, success and uncertainty.

At his peak, Garza was known for his size as a quarterback, standing at 6-feet, 1-inch, and weighing in around 230 pounds. But when he first began playing pee wee football in Brownsville, his size almost kept him from playing under center altogether.

“I started playing when I was eight, turning nine, and I didn’t play quarterback. I was the backup quarterback because I think I was too small,” Garza said. “I was an 8-year-old playing with 9- and 10-year-olds so I was a little shorter. I sat out the next year, but when I was 10, turning 11, I joined the team again and have been playing quarterback since then, so I have been doing it for a while.”

Eventually, Garza grew into a pure athlete, playing several sports over the next few years as he and his father, William Garza, often spent time working on different areas from tossing the football to swinging a bat.

“We were always doing drills and practicing. If it was football, we’d go out into the front yard and we’d be throwing passes,” Garza said. “If it was basketball, he’d take me to Oliviera Park and have me play and with baseball, it was batting practice. It was always just kind of work on your skill and when I competed in these (sports), I did well.”

Through middle school and into high school Garza would excel as a guard in basketball, a pitcher, third baseman and shortstop in baseball and a quarterback on the gridiron.

But with all the talent, Garza never once thought about turning his talent into a chance at playing at a higher level.

In hindsight, he believes he should have considered it, especially when it came to football.

“Did I know it was going to turn into a college scholarship? I don’t know if I did until it was kind of happening,” Garza said. “Things like arm strength, quickness and all that stuff are things that I know now and I can see how I was marketable, but when I was going through it, I wasn’t as aware as I probably should’ve been. I feel like I could’ve gone to play any sport after high school, but football was probably the most promising.”

As Garza entered Porter High School in 2000, he found success almost immediately by winning an undefeated district title with a freshman squad that would ultimately be the foundation for the 2003 playoff team.

But before that, Garza and his teammates endured two varsity seasons in which the Cowboys were a combined 4-15.

And up to that point, Porter had never won more than four games in a season, resulting in low expectations for the program going forward.

“Despite what we did our freshman year, we didn’t win our sophomore and junior years,” Garza said. “And then we got into this ‘Oh, we’re Porter’ mentality.”

Then, Helms fell into Porter’s lap in the spring of 2003 after leaving an assistant coaching job at the University of Illinois to come to the Valley for family reasons.

In gearing up for that season, Helms knew he had some players.

“I saw we had quality receivers, some excellent offensive lineman and it all fell together,” Helms said. “They were all good players and defensively it all came together.”

That year Porter had weapons like running back Mike Salazar, who would post more than 1,000 total yards, and receiver Stephen Garcia, who was an All-Valley pick that season with 78 receptions and 1,277 receiving yards, to go along with a talented corps of playmakers.

But Garza had to be the cornerstone to make it all work

“After coaching college, I knew he was a talent — you can see that right away,” Helms said. “You always have to start with the quarterback. He had a pure throwing motion and you didn’t have to coach him up on throwing the football; he realized the mechanics of throwing and he was big, strong and faster than people gave him credit for. He had all the making of a good quarterback. You knew he was going to do what he does best and that’s throw the football.”

While Helms expected Porter to find success in the fall of 2003, Garza and the Cowboys took a while to become believers, despite being able to move the ball during scrimmages prior to the season and a rare 17-14, Week 0 win over Rivera thanks to kicker Emmanuel Gutierrez’s last-minute game-winning field goal.

By halftime of Week 1 against Mission, Porter’s players began to realize their potential, especially after Helms walked into the locker room upset with Cowboys’ first half performance.

“We were up 14-0 at half and it’s like, ‘We’re Porter, we’re feeling confident, this is awesome. Porter should not be beating Mission right now,’” Garza said. “We were feeling pretty good about ourselves and then I remember coach Helms walked into the locker room and he wasn’t as pleased as we were. That was the moment a lot of us — from a player’s standpoint — we just flipped the switch and thought that this isn’t a fluke. Coach Helms thinks that there is something there and we’re talented enough to be better.

“I think it was just getting us to believe that we were capable.”

Porter would roll past Mission 42-7, setting the Cowboys up for a showdown with the Donna Redskins.

The hype of the game brought enough fans to Sam’s Stadium to sell out the venue from end to end. It would be worth it and live up to the hype as another late field goal by Gutierrez would move Porter past Donna 37-35.

The 3-0 start brought excitement and confidence to the Cowboys and enthusiasm to the Brownsville community.

“Given the history at Porter, it was completely different,” Garza said. “We went from having nobody in the stands to being sold out every week. It was a cool experience to go to through. Porter had been good at other sports, but something about football brings this culture to your school. And if you’re successful in football, it bleeds over to other things.”

Porter continued to roll and Garza shined, leading the Cowboy offense to outscore district opponents 286-108 over the next six games.

Against Harlingen South, Garza tossed seven touchdowns and racked up 404 passing yards in a 58-27 win. Against Mercedes, he threw for another 428 yards in a 59-10 win.

The Cowboys would roll to an 8-0 mark before falling short of a perfect campaign and a District 32-4A title. In the regular-season finale, Porter fell to Edcouch Elsa 35-28 in overtime. In the postseason, the Cowboys rolled through PSJA 45-8 in the bi-district round before losing to Gregory-Portland in the area round.

“It was good for those kids because they put a lot into it and it ended up being a good year for them,” Helms said. “That Gregory Portland game, we ran into a good football team, but we played with them. It was a tight ball game and I think we competed well … it was just one of those that didn’t turn out right.”

The Cowboys ended the 2003 season 9-2 and that season still stands as the program’s best to date.

Garza finished the year throwing for 3,185 yards and 38 touchdowns in 11 games and would be named the District 32-4A MVP, the All-Valley Offensive Player of the Year and a Class 4A All-State quarterback.

A NEW LEVEL

Following the breakout season, Garza began receiving looks from division I programs. Since it was after the season, seldom did Garza have scouts around watching over him, adding pressure.

“There were a couple of days where coaches would come to practice and watch me,” Garza said. “A lot of stuff happened at the end of the year. A lot of kids get recruited their sophomore and junior year and I didn’t start until my senior year. I think coach Helms, and he never told me this, might have shielded me from a lot of that.

“I did hear that he had started sending my tapes out to different schools, so a lot of the recruiting just happened after the year.”

Helms went to bat for Garza, which wasn’t a tough sell as he talked about his quarterback’s character and drive as much as his natural mechanics.

“I don’t think Billy was thinking about going to a DI program or anything, I think he enjoyed his senior year and enjoyed playing — he’s a competitor,” Helms said. “That’s what I told his college coaches, ‘Not only is he an incredible talent, he’s a competitor.’”

Garza fielded offers from the University of Houston, Ole Miss and the University of Illinois, but ultimately settled on joining the Fighting Illini by Christmas time in 2003.

After finishing out a memorable senior year, Garza entered a new world of football when he reported to Champaign, Illinois, that summer.

As practices began, he found out quickly that the college game was a different animal as he no longer was one of the biggest players on the field.

Garza felt somewhat unprepared to handle it all at first.

“I really didn’t know too much about my athletic ability, nor did I know too much about how colleges work, but I knew I was good enough to get recruited there so I wanted to do as well as I could while I was there,” Garza said. “I remember walking in and taking some snaps under center, going through my drop back and it just looked like there were five trees in front of me that I had to kind of see through. I was used to seeing over my line and now I had to kind of see through them.”

Garza would adjust to the culture shock and was red-shirted his freshman year, but his chances at hitting the field for the Illini took a hit in 2005.

Then coach Ron Turner, who recruited Garza, would be fired and replaced by Ron Zook his new staff.

Garza, however, believed he could stick around and show what he could do, but ultimately lost out to system quarterbacks.

Tim Brasic would lead the Illini under center in 2005 and Isiah “Juice” Williams would come along to take over in 2006 and 2007, leaving Garza out of the picture.

“Those guys would be able to run the offense well and they were good, but I felt that they fit the system that we were running well,” Garza said. “I feel that I could’ve done it, but if it was a different system tailored to my skill set, it may have been possible (for me to play). Coaches recruit their guys to start for them and that’s what happened.

“I should’ve transferred right away, but I wanted to stick it out and I wanted to be there. I also didn’t want to forfeit what I had done academically”

Garza wasn’t complaining because by 2007, the Illini turned things around as they marched their way to the Rose Bowl behind a solid Illini squad led by Williams and future NFL running back Rashard Mendenhall.

“It was a good time and my last year there we beat Ohio State, went to the Rose Bowl to play USC and saw people that we see play on TV now,” Garza said. “It was a cool thing to say that I was able to do.”

A REBIRTH

Garza planned to be done with football and graduate from Illinois in the summer of 2008, but with some eligibility left, Division II schools came calling.

The Texas A&M Kingsville Javelinas, under the direction of then-second-year head coach Bo Atterberry, would eventually lasso Billy “The Kid” in hopes of not only giving the a 3-8 program a shot in the arm, but maybe revitalize Garza’s playing career as well.

Being on the sidelines for four years, however, made Garza question whether he could still compete.

“I remember coming into Kingsville asking if I was any good and if I could compete and if I‘m capable,” Garza said. “Coach Atterberry said that there was nothing guaranteed, they had a guy do well last year and we’ll see how it went through camp. I said that was fair and I came in and I did well.”

He showed he could still sling the ball around in camp and Atterberry had little doubt about Garza’s ability to lead an offense. Atterberry recalls that being one of the turning points for the program.

“At that point, he was still involved and was able to practice (at Illinois) and he dang sure didn’t lose that arm because when he came to us, he had every throw in the book,” Atterberry recalled. “He was elusive in the pocket, could make guys miss and had a quiet strength about him as well — he led by example. I got asked before what I felt the biggest difference was going from three wins to seven wins and Billy was the first guy that came to mind to be quite honest. I tell people that he decided to transfer so we were fortunate to have him.”

Garza took the field for the Javelinas in Week 1 against North Dakota of the Football Championship Subdivision, but left the game with an injury after racking up just 95 yards on 9 of 22 passing.

The Javelinas lost 40-14, but it would be a minor hiccup.

Garza returned to the field the next week to throw a pair of touchdowns to help lead TAMUK to a 44-14 win over East Central (Oklahoma).

Garza quickly got his feet under him over the final nine games, finishing the season with 2,787 yards, 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, fueling the Javelinas to a 7-4 record in 2008.

Despite falling short of the DII playoffs, Garza was just glad to have a chance to showcase his talents.

“It was fun. I enjoyed playing, I enjoyed being out there playing for Kingsville,” Garza said. “I spent four years just practicing at Illinois and I learned a lot watching the starters play. So getting to use some of the stuff I had learned scheme-wise was fun.”

It looked like Garza had reached the end of the road in football pads, but a DII rule stating that an athlete has 10 semesters to fulfill four seasons of eligibility, as opposed to the DI rule which gives athletes five years to play four seasons, changed that.

With Garza’s red shirt 2004 season at Illinois, he had recorded just nine semesters after playing in the Fall of 2008.

In the spring of 2009, Garza became a part-time student and did not participate in any team activity, including workouts in order to be eligible for the 2009 season.

In 2009, however, the Javelinas had the tools to capture a Lone Star Conference title, but Garza would not be the team’s centerpiece as TAMUK boasted one of the nation’s top defenses and several DI transfers. They also brought in Fred “Hollywood” Winborn, a talented running back transfer out of California College of The Canyons, who would explode mid-season and finish with 1,295 yards and 17 touchdowns.

But Garza was fine with that despite a solid 2008 campaign, and his attitude made all the difference.

“Billy had really good numbers and was capable of a lot of things,” Atterberry said. “I think the way he put the team first is what is most important. You don’t make the playoffs in DII without a bunch of special young men and without guys who put their differences aside and have respect for each other to achieve that one common goal.

“Most really good leaders and competitors are going to take the winning over stats anyway and that’s who Billy is — he was a good fit for us at the time.”

TAMUK went 9-2 and were tri-champions of the Lone Star Conference along with the Tarleton State Texans and the Abilene Christian Wildcats. They also made the DII playoffs after claiming the fourth seed in Super Region 4.

That set up a conference rematch with co-LSC champion and No. 5 seed Tarleton in the opening round of the playoffs at Javelina Stadium.

The winner would go on to play top-seeded Central Washington, but the stakes would be the last thing remembered from that game, which turned into an instant classic.

Garza gave the Javelinas a 46-43 lead with under a minute to go on a 1-yard touchdown run, but Tarleton State converted on a fourth and 15 on the ensuing possession on a prayer throw by Texan quarterback Scott Grantham.

Then, it all took a turn as Texan kicker Garrett Lindholm booted an NCAA-record 64-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

Now trailing 49-46 in the first overtime, the Javelinas passed on a potential game-winning opportunity when faced with a fourth and 1 on the 2-yard line. Despite Winborn already having more than 200 yards in the game, Atterbery opted to send the game into a second overtime with a field goal.

TAMUK opened the second OT feeding Winborn the ball on four of five plays, resulting in an easy 2-yard score and a 56-49 lead.

It would be for naught, however, as the Texans scored on a fourth and 5 on a scramble run by Grantham from 20-yards out for a touchdown to pull within a point. Moments later Grantham ended the Javelinas’ season in heartbreaking fashion, running in a 2-point conversion for a 57-56 double-overtime win.

“We were in position to win with about 40 seconds left and we’re already thinking we’re going to win, we were going to travel and (Lindholm) kicks a 60-something-yard field goal and it was like ‘Are you kidding me?’” Garza said. “It was weird because we played during the day instead of at night. But with all that it was the most exciting and tense game that I have ever been a part of. It was fun because of that, but what wasn’t fun was the fact that we had beat Tarleton my first year and earlier that season.

“I thought we had their number, but for some reason, they came out on top.”

Garza finished the season with 2,711 yards and 17 touchdowns through the air, was an All-LSC South honorable mention and most importantly, the one thing that had previously eluded him: A conference championship.

“I used to see coach Jaime Martinez — our offensive line coach — walk around with his ring and I told myself ‘Man, that’s such a pretty ring, I want something like that,’” Garza said. “So to have a ring with the Javelina logo all decked out is just cool. It’s great to be able to wear it and say that we brought a conference championship to Kingsville is just a great thing to be able to say.”

LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL

After the season, Garza attended a pro day with NFL scouts in Houston but nothing would materialize from the tryouts.

Garza returned to Brownsville and attended a semester at UTB in 2010 to finish off course work. During that time he also volunteered for the Hanna football program as an unpaid assistant

In 2011-12 Garza went on and had a brief stint with the RGV Magic semi-pro indoor football team in McAllen, but even though he would enjoy playing, Garza opted to make a change.

“That time was a maturing process for me,” Garza said. “I was just riding the wave. In my time in McAllen, I became a Christian during that time, but it was a lot of not wanting to take on responsibility. I was playing arena ball but I knew if I wanted to get married and have a family I had to do something that I can pay for this stuff. I started working at the middle school in McAllen to have two incomes in my second year.”

Garza would eventually find himself at Pace in the fall of 2012 as the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach under then-first-year head coach Bill Deen.

Garza married his current wife Elise in 2013. The two have a son, William David Garza, and live in Brownsville.

Garza is still at Pace and helps with the offense as an assistant under head coach Danny Pardo and also coaches freshman basketball, where he hopes to mold character athletes.

“I’ve always had a heart for Brownsville,” Garza said. “High school is an important time in people’s lives and to have the opportunity to speak into kids’ lives not only from an athletic standpoint, but also trying to build their character … that’s important to remember because at some point the game is going to end.”