DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

Because of 16 returning starters and a program that has garnered serious momentum the last couple of years, Roma was a sexy preseason pick to win District 31-5A this year.

That could still happen, but heading into Week 6, the Gladiators are in a precarious situation having lost three consecutive games and still searching for their first district win.

But not all hope is lost. Roma’s early district schedule is top-heavy. The Gladiators lost 28-20 to Laredo Nixon to open district play, and then fell 20-16 at Mission Veterans Memorial and, last week, 24-21 to Rio Grande City.

Those three opponents have a combined overall record of 13-2 and a combined district record of 8-1. It doesn’t get easier. This week, Roma travels to Mission to play Sharyland High, which is 2-0 in district.

Still, coach Max Habecker Jr. is far from pessimistic, particularly with the last three losses coming by an average of 5 points.

“We have to just create more plays, in all facets of the game,” Habecker said. “Whether it’s on offense or getting a turnover or creating something on special teams. We’re literally one play away from winning those games.”

With Roma’s defensive-minded, ball-control style, there is little margin for error, especially against quality teams. Against Laredo Nixon, the Gladiators were buried in an early 21-0 hole in the second quarter before a late rally failed. Against Mission Veterans Memorial, a turnover in the red zone led to the go-ahead winning touchdown for the Patriots late in the second half.

Last week against Rio Grande City, a bad snap on a punt and a blocked punt in the fourth quarter led to the final 10 points for the Rattlers, who rallied from a 21-14 deficit to pull out the win.

“We just have to get over the hump,” Habecker said. “We just have to move on. We’re playing good football. We just have to play better in crucial moments.”

HURTING AND OUT

With just seven returning starters, including two on offense, Donna High coach Ramiro Leal knew this would be a rebuilding season for the defending District 32-5A champs.

But he didn’t imagine anything like this.

The Redskins are 1-3 and have lost three consecutive games, including last week’s district opener to Mercedes. They have not scored since a Sept. 1 loss to PSJA North.

The primary culprit for the rough times, however, is not inexperience or youth, as might have been expected.

Donna High has lost three tailbacks for the season — Jacob Mata (broken foot), Guillermo Garcia (broken leg) and Carlos Bowen (broken hand). The Redskins possibly lost another one during last Friday’s game against Mercedes, when Edson Alvarado suffered a knee injury. That’s brutal for an offense that works exclusively out of the I-formation.

Leal had a safety and a linebacker playing tailback last week against Mercedes. In all, there are 13 players out with injury.

“Not to make excuses, but it’s been tough,” Leal said. “We’re regressing instead of progressing, but it’s not because of effort. The kids still show up every day and want to get better. It’s just a lack of depth and a lack of physical ability.”

Leal has had trouble structuring practices since so many defensive players are now playing offense. Last season, Leal said the Redskins’ varsity team carried 60 players. It carried 39 coming into this season. Right now, it has 33 healthy players.

Leal said he is using the circumstance as a character-building lesson for his young team.

“There’s not going to be a quick fix, and hopefully the better games are still to come,” Leal said. “We just have to keep plugging away. It’s easy to just quit. As long as we’re competing as hard as we can, that’s all we can ask. This is like a lesson in life. We’re going to finish and whatever happens, happens.”

A BROTHERHOOD

Starting quarterback Zach Gomez is expected back on the field this week for Mercedes after missing the last 1 ½ games with a shoulder injury.

But in the meantime, junior backup quarterback Marc Ledesma has filled in admirably, leading the Tigers to their first win of the season last week against Donna High. And with him calling the shots, his brother and teammate Matt Ledesma, a junior receiver, has flourished.

Matt had his best game of the season last week against Donna, catching seven passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. The previous game against Weslaco High, when Marc relieved Zach in the second half, Matt caught two passes for 15 yards.

Prior to that Weslaco game, Matt had not caught a pass in two games.

“His brother playing quarterback, it adds even more drive to go out there and perform,” coach Roger Adame Jr. said of Matt. “They’ve just got that connection you can’t teach. They’ve played catch together since they were little, played together since the youth leagues. It was evident Friday night.”

Matt and Marc won district titles in seventh grade, eighth grade and on JV last season. Having Marc as quarterback allowed Matt a comfort zone as he found his rhythm on the perimeter.

Now when Gomez returns, he will have another weapon, booming with confidence, to use at his disposal.

“Matt is a tremendous athlete,” Adame said. “He goes up for every ball and competes for it. He challenges for it. He’s a fast kid, with great speed, and he loves the ball thrown his way. He’s a competitor.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — On 4th-and-17 from Pioneer’s 30-yard line with 5:02 left in the second quarter, Friday’s District 31-5A showdown took a turn Laredo Nixon’s way.

The Mustangs, trailing by 7, were going to kick a field goal. But a bad formation and unexpected Pioneer timeout awarded a change in the game-plan, and instead quarterback Danny Ledesma found Gabriel Sanchez for a touchdown and tie game.

From there, Nixon took over. The Mustangs scored the final 21 points of the game to earn a methodical 24-10 win over Pioneer at Thompson Stadium.

“We had soft coverage, but our cornerback got turned behind a bit and just couldn’t find the ball. It just hung there in the wind,” Pioneer coach Jason Wheeler said of Nixon’s fourth-down score. “It was a big play. It gave them momentum, and we had played them pretty tough.”

The Mustangs improved to 5-0, 3-0 in District 31-5A. The overall win total ties last season’s total. The Diamondbacks dropped to 2-2, 1-1.

Up until that fourth-down play, two of Ledesma’s three pass attempts had fallen into Pioneer hands.

“It was huge. Huge,” Nixon coach Tommy Ramirez said. “We were going to kick a field goal, but I wanted to line up (in a “swinging gate” formation), and we didn’t line up right. But then they called a timeout, and we talked about it and the kids thought we could get it.

“As a head coach, those are the decisions that define us at the end of the night, but it’s really about the boys having our back in those types of decisions.”

A 10-3 Pioneer lead late in the second quarter turned into a 17-10 Nixon advantage at halftime. In the second half, the Mustangs dominated time of possession, thanks to a persistent slot-T offense and several ballcarriers that wore down Pioneer’s defense and kept the chains moving.

Nixon used seven ballcarriers. Emil Oliva Guerra had 93 yards on 21 carries. Eric Ybarra had 89 yards on 19 carries. Esteban Guerra had 69 yards on eight totes.

In the second half, Ramirez introduced two more running backs into the backfield rotation. All were effective.

Pioneer had just four offensive series in the second half, one fewer than the first.

“We got tired,” Wheeler said. “Their offense will wear you down. We got gassed.”

The Diamondbacks weren’t really out of it until sophomore quarterback Jacob Rosales threw an interception, his first of the season, from Nixon’s 28-yard line with the seconds winding down in the third quarter and Pioneer trailing 17-10.

Less than four minutes later, Branden Gutierrez rumbled in from 2 yards out to put Nixon up by two touchdowns.

“We moved the ball well, but we had a bad throw, a missed read,” Wheeler said. “Our young quarterback gets his first interception of the year on a big play that limited our control of the ball in the second half.”

In their two offensive series of the fourth quarter, the Diamondbacks punted and fumbled a nice fake punt pass reception from Alec Garcia that could have put them in the end zone, if not near the goal line.

“Holding that team to just 10 points is incredible,” Ramirez said.

The Mustangs now have big district wins over Roma and Laredo Nixon.

“We didn’t expect this, but we are very pleased,” Ramirez said. “At the start of this season, we wanted to pick up where we left off last year in the bi-district playoff game against Victoria West (a 56-10 loss). We played them in the Alamodome and that was a signature game for us.

“We wanted to take it from there and try and get better this season, and so far I feel it’s worked out pretty well for us.”

The Diamondbacks won the turnover battle, held the Mustangs below their season average of 298 rushing yards per game (280) and committed fewer penalties than Nixon.

But Nixon’s defense was the real deal. Pioneer, averaging 36.7 points on 404.7 yards per game coming in, compiled just 312 total yards, 148 in the second half.

“We can still accomplish our goals,” Wheeler said. “The kids fought. I like the effort. It’s football. We weren’t going to put all our marbles in this game, even if it was big for us as far as getting respect. It’s not a deal-breaker.

“It’s too early for that. We have to keep grinding.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

Heading into last week’s non-district finale against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, quarterback Marco Aguinaga had accounted for 81 percent of Edcouch-Elsa’s rushing yardage. Aguinaga had 324 of the team’s 400 rushing yards during the first two games.

So when the Yellowjackets rushed for 242 yards in their 47-14 win over the Huskies on Thursday — with three rushers besting Aguinaga’s total of 26 yards — coach Joe Marichalar was pleased to find more contributors to the run game.

“We talked about finding that running back that’s a great asset to have next to Marco,” Marichalar said. “That will make people back off Marco. That just means the offense gets better.”

“That” running back appears to be Jorge Gomez, who rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries against the Huskies. Aside from Aguinaga, Gomez has had success carrying the ball.

In three games this season, Gomez, who Marichalar said has great vision, great patience and is a good runner, has 177 yards on 17 carries.

Christian Contreras and Joel Cardoza are also in the backfield mix, though they have not received as many opportunities as Gomez. All three players are just as effective blockers as runners, and that is crucial to the Yellowjackets’ spread offense.

“The running back we want is an all-around kid,” Marichalar said. “He’ll be doing quite a bit of blocking in our offense. We want to throw the ball, so they have to learn how to block and how to do it efficiently before any type of running gets thrown their way.”

Edcouch-Elsa defensive lineman Seth Garcia, a 2015 all-state selection, is day-to-day in recovering from an ankle injury and is close to returning to full-time action. Garcia has yet to play this season.

STRUGGLING EARLY

Offensively, slow starts have not been unusual for Rio Grande City this season, and they caught up with the Rattlers last week.

For the third time in four games, the Rattlers’ offense sputtered against Laredo Martin, falling behind by 4 at halftime and 10 in the second half before the Rattlers lost 20-16. It was Rio Grande City’s first defeat this season.

Friday’s slow start can be credited to blown chances. In the second half, especially, the Rattlers dropped crucial passes; an open receiver was missed late during the fourth quarter for a score that could have put Rio Grande City ahead.

Coach Aaron Garcia admitted starting quicker is a point of emphasis, but couldn’t attribute it to anything in particular.

“It’s about continuing to build on our confidence,” Garcia said. “(Quarterback) Jason (Perez) had a pretty good game and I like his poise. It wasn’t a bad game by any means. We just missed opportunities, and they capitalized. It happens.

“It hurts because a win would’ve put us in a really good position in the district. But by no means are we out of it.”

TO BE DETERMINED

Mercedes quarterback Zach Gomez is expected to be a game-time decision for Friday’s district opener against Donna High after he sprained his shoulder during the first half of the Tigers’ Week 3 loss against Weslaco High.

The injury is to Gomez’s non-throwing arm. Initially, Gomez was said to be out two weeks from when the injury occurred, which would put him right up against game-time Friday.

Coach Roger Adame Jr. said Gomez’s recovery is ahead of schedule, however, and Gomez’s strength and conditioning have been keys to that progress. Gomez will be re-evaluated Friday.

In the meantime, the Tigers will turn to Mark Ledesma, who has completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions in relief of Gomez this year. Gomez has only played six quarters of football — the season opener against Calallen and the first half against Weslaco High.

“Mark’s got leadership ability and a drive and focus,” Adame said. “He’s got the quarterback mentality and kids respond well with him. Mark’s got good speed and is athletic and he’s got good arm strength, too. He’s very similar to Zach, aside from the varsity experience.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — With his team trailing by 2 at halftime of Friday’s District 31-5A showdown against Roma, Mission Veterans Memorial coach David Gilpin issued a challenge to his defense.

The Patriots had heard all season about concerns those outside the program had about a defense with just one returning starter and seemingly a lot to prove.

“I asked them, at what point do they get tired of the media saying that the only way we’ll win is if our defense steps up?” Gilpin said. “I asked them, at what point do they not take that challenge personally and step up?”

The Patriots answered. Resoundingly.

Mission Vets held Roma scoreless during the second half and pulled away with a 20-16 win at Tom Landry Stadium. The Patriots won their third straight game and improved to 2-0 in 31-5A, while the preseason district favorite Gladiators dropped to 0-2 in district.

After surrendering 250 yards, 161 on the ground, in the first half, Mission Vets (3-1) held Roma (2-2) to 100 in the second. The run-oriented Gladiators averaged 5.8 yards per carry in building a 16-14 halftime lead, but averaged 4.5 per rush in the second half.

“Coach talked about our defense at halftime and it got to us,” senior inside linebacker Juan Barradas said. “He kept emphasizing that we need to do something about what people were saying about our defense. I feel we shut a lot of people up.”

The Patriots only needed Jacob Guerrero’s 9-yard touchdown reception with 21 seconds left in the third quarter to win the game. The score capitalized on a turnover, Roma’s only giveaway of the night.

Roma’s five second-half possessions read: lost fumble, punt, punt, punt, turnover on downs.

In the first half, Roma scored on three of five possessions.

“We just came out with an intensity we didn’t have in the first half,” said Mission Vets senior Roman De Leon, who played receiver, safety and returned kicks. “It was all heart. There were no adjustments or schemes. We executed better than we did in the first half. We just all played harder and played as one and got the job done.”

Roma moved the ball well offensively all night. But a couple of penalties killed opportunities in the red zone. However, its one mistake, a fumble by running back Brian Garcia on Mission Vets’ 7-yard line, eventually led to Guerrero’s score.

“We had opportunities,” Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. said. “We hurt ourselves during key drives with penalties during the second half and right before halftime. We just can’t make mistakes. We had one turnover and it cost us the game.”

Roma was successful sustaining clock-chewing drives in the first half. It wasn’t in the second half, and that was the difference.

With 1:44 left on its own 20-yard line and trailing 20-16, Roma had one last chance to put together a game-winning drive. But quarterback Andy Marroquin threw four consecutive incompletions and Mission Vets walked away a winner.

“Adjustments? There was nothing to adjust to,” Gilpin said. “From the first snap, our coaches did a good job putting our kids in good position. However, their kids ran over our kids in the first half. We had kids in position to make plays in the first half that they didn’t make. We had to make tackles.

“Our defensive kids got off the field in the second half. It’s as simple as that. We just had to finish, make tackles and not get knocked off the ball.”

Damian Villarreal had 104 yards on 13 carries to lead Roma, but only five of those yards came after halftime. Garcia finished with 89 yards on 22 carries, and Marroquin had 46 yards on 10 carries and was responsible for Roma’s only two touchdowns.

All of the Patriots’ scores came via the arm of senior Diego Hernandez. Hernandez completed 24 of 39 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns went to Buda Gonzalez, who hauled in seven passes for 148 yards.

But Friday was the defense’s night.

Since falling at Harlingen High in Week 1, the Patriots have wins over Mission High, Laredo Martin and now Roma. And in a crucial game of its district season, Mission Vets rode its much-maligned defense, not its electric offense, to a win.

“There’s no excuses anymore,” Gilpin said. “I don’t care about youth, inexperience or having just one starter back. We’ve played four football games, two district games. We’ve played the then-No. 1 team in the Valley, the preseason favorite in our district, we’ve played a rivalry game. We’ve taken it from all different angles right now and we’re OK with it.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — Because of Mission Veterans Memorial’s preference for the pass, high-yardage running backs are hard to come by.

But the Patriots may have one this season in Johnny Martinez. The small, shifty back burnt Laredo Martin last week for 125 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. It was a redemptive outing for the senior, who dislocated his elbow during the 2015 season opener against Mission High and missed the rest of the season.

Martinez became the first Patriots running back to rush for 100 yards in a game since John Garcia did it Oct. 30, 2014.

“It’s revenge,” Martinez said. “That’s what I have in my mind, coming back from a dislocated elbow. I was hungry every day and really worked on my legs. Now I’m just focused on keeping moving. My only goal was to finish this season, and push and push and push.”

The Patriots (2-1, 1-0 District 31-5A), winners of two straight games, need that mentality, particularly when going up against preseason 31-5A favorite Roma (2-1, 0-1) in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission. With both teams desiring a need to keep the ball out of the other’s hands, the run game could have a stronger influence than usual for Mission Veterans Memorial.

“Going into every game, we want to establish the run,” Mission Vets coach David Gilpin said. “I’m upfront about not being 50-50 and I’ve got a tremendous belief in the passing game. In order to make a deep run in the playoffs, our belief is we have to throw the ball. We know we’re not going to be a balanced offense, but we do want to try and run. We’re not going to throw 99 percent of the time.

“Johnny is showing teams we can run the football. It’s definitely something we want to build on.”

If anything, a successful run game for the Patriots isn’t to control the clock and play a possession game. It is used to open the offense and take pressure off a dominant passing attack anchored by quarterback Diego Hernandez, who has thrown for 898 yards and 12 touchdowns. That will be the idea Friday against Roma.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Martinez said. “But like they say, big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. This is going to be a big game for me, so I’m just going to have to shock the world.”

Martinez said he is a faster and smarter player than last year. He said he did not have a good mentality before.

“I was scared before,” Martinez said. “I was green. That was my problem. Now I fixed that and look now, I’m getting 100 yards in a game. I learned to be physical and tough when it comes to the mindset.”

Martinez refers to himself as an “east-west runner who is north-bound when I see that open hole.” He’s not a natural receiver, Gilpin said, but he hasn’t dropped a pass this season and is a legitimate threat with his speed in the Patriots’ screen packages.

In three games, Martinez has rushed 25 times for 27 yards and a score. He’s also caught nine passes for 63 yards and another score.

More essential, Martinez has emerged as another cog in one of the Valley’s top offenses.

“He gives us a different style of back,” Gilpin said. “He’s got some quickness to him, good burst. He’s got good vision. He’s strong off the line of scrimmage.

“Exactly what we saw against Laredo Martin is what we expected. He’s a good running back with a great work ethic.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — There have been a couple of timely epiphanies for Sharyland Pioneer senior Alec Garcia.

The first came during his eighth grade year. Garcia struggled athletically as a seventh-grader, so he started to work more on his legs. He did more speed training, and the result was a running a time of 53 seconds in the 400-meter dash. It drew attention.

“College coaches came at me to keep it up,” Garcia said. “So I’ve been working on that ever since.”

The more recent branch of enlightenment came this summer when Garcia was a fully-invested participant of the Diamondbacks’ strength and conditioning program.

“He worked hard during the summer and really put in time,” senior captain and offensive lineman Fernie Perez said. “In recent years, there were guys who wouldn’t come to strength and conditioning, and he was a part of that group. But he was a leader this summer, someone who motivated us each day and kept on us like, hey, this is our last year and we have to get it together if we want to be somebody.”

If Pioneer, 2-1 heading into next week’s game against Laredo Nixon, is able to do just that, Garcia will play a big role. In fact, he’ll play many big roles.

The 5-foot-10, 145-pounder is the Diamondbacks’ jack-of-all-trades. A starter since his sophomore year, during the program’s inception, Garcia is primarily used as a receiver and returner, but also plays quarterback and is used out of the backfield as well. Last season, he was the team’s punter.

This season, in three games, Garcia has rushed five times for 103 yards, caught 13 passes for 87 yards and three touchdowns, and returned two kicks for 52 yards.

In all, Garcia has 242 all-purpose yards.

“It’s a matter of helping the team out wherever they need me,” Garcia said. “This is my last year and I have to go out on a bang. I don’t want this program to take a step backward my last year. We want to get our names out there, make the playoffs and get better and better each week.”

That mentality and sense of urgency are new looks for Garcia. Before, coach Jason Wheeler said, he was content relying upon his talent. He didn’t take offseason work seriously. Garcia had a better sophomore season than junior season, as red of a flag as any for a young player.

But something clicked for Garcia this offseason.

“He had a great summer,” Wheeler said. “He got in the weight room, and he just wants to do whatever he can to help the team. He’s always had a lot of athletic ability, but he’s really matured mentally. He’s become a leader. He’s become a really good practice player. I think he understands this is his last year to leave a legacy.”

Since the day he stepped onto the Pioneer campus, Garcia was always one of the Diamondbacks’ most talented players, along with former linebacker Joe Garza. Wheeler says he is “one of the top-five fastest kids in the Valley.” But it’s helped that as Pioneer has established itself, so has the talent.

Garcia now finds himself alongside other gifted players like quarterback Jacob Rosales, running backs Christian Rivera and Michael Benavides, and receivers Bobby Acosta and Mike Madrigal.

“We’re out there competing against each other,” Garcia said. “We compete to see who gets more touchdowns, who gets more receiving yards. We just have fun, do our thing and compete every week to see who’s going to be the top dog.”

In turn, however, the influx of skill has refined Garcia’s job description.

“We don’t want to spread him too thin,” Wheeler said. “Right now, we don’t want to put too much on his plate. He’s fine scoring points for us. We pulled him from quarterback mostly because it limits his thinking.

“He can be more of an athlete out there and it’s more natural than trying to read somebody and run it or throw it.”

Playing cornerback is very much on Garcia’s to-do list. While he thinks track and field is his best ticket to a collegiate athletic career, he feels defensive back is his best route if he wants to play football at the next level.

Garcia is hungry to play a team against which he can line up at cornerback and get out in coverage to showcase his speed even more.

“I went to a camp this summer and a team told me I’d be the best fit for their team if I played corner,” Garcia said. “It was (Florida State).”

Either way, everything is pointing in a positive direction for Garcia. As coaches like to say of maturing athletes, he’s “put it all together.”

“If we can just get him the ball in space, he’ll take it from there,” Perez said. “He helps the team wherever the coaches put him. He just has to have the mentality to dominate, because no matter where he lines up, he’s going to put points on the board for us.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

Coming off a bye and going 1-1 in non-district play, Sharyland High is still trying to figure out what it is heading into its district opener this week against Valley View.

The Rattlers have a loss to Weslaco East and a win against Edinburg North. The common thread between the two games, coach Ron Adame said, is that the Rattlers played better in the second half than the first half.

“We’d like to think we’ve turned it up in the second half, but we don’t want to be that team slow coming out of the gates,” Adame said. “We’ve got a good nucleus of kids returning, and we’re just trying to get those other kids as much experience as possible. We’re still getting familiar with Friday night lights.”

The Rattlers are not necessarily young, but they are inexperienced. Still, they have shown the ability to make, and execute, halftime adjustments.

Against Weslaco East, Sharyland High trailed 14-0 at halftime before outscoring the Wildcats 14-7 in the second half. At Edinburg North, the game was tied 3-3 at halftime before the Rattlers outscored the Cougars 17-13.

“We’re trying to find the identity of our team,” Adame said. “So the only disadvantage to starting district early is most teams may have not found that identity just yet. It’s still an ongoing process, at least for us, as far as the make-up of this team.

“We’re a team that leans on each other as far as the three phases — offense, defense and special teams. I don’t think we have one that is stronger than the other.”

GUERRERO STARS FOR VETS

No receiver in Class 5A Valley football has had a stronger start to the season than Mission Veterans Memorial’s Jacob Guerrero.

The big, athletic wideout has caught 13 passes for 373 yards and seven touchdowns in three games. He’s averaging 28.7 yards per catch.

On a team with a plethora of dynamic perimeter playmakers, Guerrero has stood out as quarterback Diego Hernandez’s top threat so far.

“I’ve talked to Jake numerous times, and the thing is he has everything,” coach David Gilpin said. “He’s got the size, the work ethic, the athleticism, a great character guy. We just needed to put it all together to where he’s making plays, and he’s doing that now. It’s just his evolution as he continues to grow and grind.”

Gilpin said there was no epiphany moment for Guerrero. Guerrero only caught two passes for 60 yards and a touchdown against Harlingen High in Week 1, but since then he has posted 147 yards and three touchdowns against Mission High and 166 yards and three touchdowns against Laredo Martin last week.

“His confidence is at an all-time high,” Gilpin said. “There’s never been a lack of it, but as he’s become more and more successful and more of a focal point, he’s realizing he’s as good as anybody around. When the ball is in the air, he’s catching everything.”

ZAPATA IMPRESSES

The season has not gone the way Mercedes has liked so far. The Tigers, projected by many to be an elite team this season, are 0-3 heading into the start of district play next week.

But the campaign has not gone without its pleasant surprises. One of them is senior nose guard Ivan Zapata, who has made a position switch and emerged as a steady influence along Mercedes’ defensive line.

“He’s a strong kid,” coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “He’s coming off the ball hard and getting onto that center really quick. He used to be a linebacker, but committed to being a nose guard and put on some weight and got even stronger.

“His overall effort … the play is never over for him until he hears that whistle.”

During the spring, Adame needed someone with size and strength to man that nose guard spot. Fortunately, he found it in Zapata, who had been an outside linebacker.

In the season’s first two games, against Calallen and McAllen Rowe, Zapata registered 7 total tackles (3 for loss), a sack and two quarterback hurries. He also has a fumble recovery and a fumble caused.

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

District 31-5A football was dealt an unexpected hand in February when the UIL revealed its classification realignment for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.

What was a seven-team district grew by two teams with the departure of Edinburg Vela and surprising additions of Laredo Nixon, Laredo Cigarroa and Laredo Martin. The new schools were brought on board mostly because all Corpus Christi schools were grouped into Class 5A, kicking out Laredo from 30-5A.

“It was a curveball,” Sharyland High coach Ron Adame said Wednesday afternoon. “We knew we’d lose Vela, but we thought we’d gain somebody to keep us at the same seven-team district. The effect from the Corpus situation was Laredo being zoned into our area. It was a surprise.

“What can we do, though? We move forward.”

Moving forward means moving into district play a lot sooner than later.

The previous couple of years, District 31-5A teams — Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer, Roma, Rio Grande City, Valley View and Mission Veterans Memorial — played four non-district games before starting district competition. The next two, including this season, they play two non-district games before competing in the biggest district in the Valley.

First up is Pioneer (1-1), which travels to Laredo to face Cigarroa on Thursday. Mission Veterans Memorial (1-1) is at Laredo Martin on Friday, and Valley View (1-1) hosts Rio Grande City (2-0) and Roma (2-0) hosts Laredo Nixon.

“It literally cut our non-district time in half,” Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. said. “At this time last year, we still had two weeks before we had to be really, really primed. Now they count.

“It’s pressure a little bit more as far as installing stuff and making sure everything is in on time for district.”

Pioneer coach Jason Wheeler shrugged when asked about being the first Rio Grande Valley school to begin district play.

The new district, and new scheduling format, is not the challenge, he said. The challenge is playing a Friday game (Pioneer beat Brownsville Pace last week) and then playing the next Thursday.

Wheeler made one accommodation to counter the new format. He spent more time working on special teams during two-a-day practices last month because he wants his team to be sound in that area once district play comes around.

“If I had a choice, I’d like to have at least three (non-district games),” Wheeler said. “But the good thing is we have a lot of experience coming back. The last couple of years, this might not be a good situation. But we have more experience, maybe 16-17 starters back, and our kids have played a lot of football. It makes it easier.”

Mission Veterans Memorial coach David Gilpin was an assistant coach under Sonny Detmer at Mission High in the early ‘90s when the Eagles were in a 10-team district. That meant just one non-district game, so Gilpin said two is not a big deal.

“It’s the same for everybody,” Gilpin said. “I don’t look at it as an advantage or disadvantage. I look at it as this is what the UIL gave us and this is what we’re going to do. Everybody would like to have more time, have another game or two to iron out all the wrinkles, but this is what we’ve got.”

Gilpin, however, does like the momentum aspect of the circumstance. He said he got the most out of his two non-district games, a loss at No. 3 Harlingen High and an emotional win over rival Mission High last week.

“Look at UT, with that great win Sunday (against Notre Dame) and all the emotion and passion that was spent,” Gilpin said. “They’re going to play UTEP this week and they’re going to have a drop-off. It’s human nature. It happens at all levels.

“Having said that, I don’t believe there is that at our school right now, but it does happen. I think the importance of this first district game has cured what could be a letdown because of the emotion we spent in the Mission game, the Harlingen game.”

Rio Grande City, under new coach Aaron Garcia, could afford an extra game or two to establish more of a running game and eliminate some silly mistakes that have affected the defense.

But Garcia said he has a good feel for his team because of the teams it scrimmaged against and those he scheduled to open the season. Donna High, Laredo LBJ, La Joya High and Zapata all provided a variety of styles of play that he expects to see in district.

“To say we’re on the short end because we’re starting district early, I can’t say that,” Garcia said.

The biggest challenge right now, to many of the Valley’s 31-5A coaches, is scouting a district opponent.

According to the District 31-5A plan, teams trade all the film they have available when scouting an opponent, as long as the number of games traded is equal. District 31-5A teams generally trade film on Tuesday for the next week’s opponent; so, for instance, Sharyland High, which has its bye this week and opens its district slate next week against Valley View, exchanged film with Valley View on Tuesday and then will exchange again Saturday after Valley View’s district game Friday against Rio Grande City. Since the Rattlers only have two games of film to give the Tigers, Valley View will only give its previous two games to Sharyland High.

The challenge comes in this: two games are often not enough for teams to figure out who and what they are, let alone for opponents to figure it out.

“It’s difficult,” Habecker said. “In years past, our fifth game was our first district game, so we’d already established our identity. There were no surprises. It’s still early right now, so teams are still installing (systems) and continuing to grow. You can change from Week 3 to Week 8, big time. But once you’re in Week 5, you’ve found yourself and you know who you are.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

Everything is expected to be normal again this week for Mercedes.

Last week, the Tigers were upset by McAllen Rowe, 24-21, in a game which junior quarterback Zach Gomez did not play. Coach Roger Adame Jr. said Gomez was “unable to make the game, but will be back this week.”

On his Facebook page, Gomez confirmed he will play this week against Weslaco High and also vaguely acknowledged last week’s absence.

“I messed up and I learned from it,” Gomez wrote in response to a friend.

Fortunately for Mercedes, it proved against Rowe it has a capable backup quarterback in Marc Ledesma, who completed 23 of 32 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns to two interceptions in spot duty last week. However, Gomez is expected to resume the role of signal-caller against the Panthers.

The Tigers are 0-2 and have one more game before starting District 32-5A play. Mercedes was projected to be the preseason favorite in 32-5A.

“We know our schedule is going to be a grind here in the preseason, and we do it for a reason,” Adame said. “This is going to prepare us for district. We felt that if we could stay healthy, we’d have a shot at the district. We just want to see these guys getting after it. That’s what we’ve gotten. There may be bad plays, but they line up and get ready to go at it again.

“Every game is going to be a battle. Rowe tested us in a lot of areas and I like that we fought to the end and we gave ourselves a chance to win. There are going to be games like that. We showed a lot of heart, and even missing a key component we gave ourselves a chance.”

MAKING STRIDES

Two games into the season, this year’s Valley View team is a considerable step ahead of the 2015 Tigers.

After a winless campaign last season, Valley View is 1-1 following a 20-16 win against Hidalgo last week. There were more firsts that came along with that game.

For the first time, the football program swept an opponent at all three levels: freshman, junior varsity and varsity. Valley View’s freshmen beat Hidalgo 41-0, and the JV won, 39-0. Also, for the first time, the general admission seating for a Valley View home football game was full.

“We got that monkey off our back, that sour taste out of our mouths,” interim coach Eli Esquivel said of the win that snapped a 15-game losing skid. “We’ve got seniors that have won one game in three years. We’ve got juniors that hadn’t won one game. We had nothing to lose.

“We’re having fun, we’re working hard, and good things happen when you work hard.”

A primary culprit behind Valley View’s win last week was the emergence of a young defense, returning just one starter, that gave up only 94 total yards to the Pirates. The effort was ignited by standout play from seniors Chez Gonzalez (eight total tackles, one fumble recovery, one interception) and Juan Pimentel (nine total tackles, two sacks).

“We were behind when the year started, but we’re keeping it simple and the kids are working hard,” said Esquivel, whose defensive scheme is a modified multiple front. “They’re committed and it’s paid off. The defense keeps getting better and better.”

RUNNING OVER THEM

Through two games, Donna North is 1-1, already equaling its win total of the previous two years combined, and averaging 37 points on 436 yards per game.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” first-year coach Matthew Rokovich said. “I felt we could be pretty good offensively. We’ve got some good kids. There is a lot of stuff to grow on. It’s one day at a time. The kids just play hard. Our motto this year is, ‘Win the day, win the war.’ That’s the mindset — how much can we get better each day?”

Spurring the Chiefs’ offense is a dominant running game averaging 380.5 yards. The star playmaker in Rokovich’s multiple I-formation has been senior Dominic Ochoa, who has torched PSJA High’s and Laredo Martin’s defenses for 440 yards and eight touchdowns on 40 carries. Ochoa is averaging 11 yards per carry.

But he’s not doing it alone. Senior linemen Juan Martinez, Israel Cerda and Luis Costilla have awarded Ochoa plenty of room to operate.

“He’s obviously a special back, but we’ve got some pretty good guys blocking in front of him,” Rokovich said. “He has great vision and he runs real hard. But we have an offensive line that’s blocking really well right now, so we feel pretty good about that.”

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DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER

ELSA — Who are they? Well, pretty freaking good, first and foremost.

Coming into Friday’s Monitor Game of the Week showdown against Edinburg Vela, Edcouch-Elsa coach Joe Marichalar demanded that his team find its identity against the SaberCats. He didn’t care about the marquee matchup or any other subplot. Marichalar wanted to find out who and what his team is, and the Yellowjackets gave him answers.

“I saw my slot receiver run an out route and the corner(back) went with him,” Aguinaga said. “Found J.J. open.”

The game was tied at 21 well into the fourth quarter before Robert Guerra’s one-yard run with 5:33 left gave Vela a 28-21 lead.

But E-E receiver A.J. Rodriguez took the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a score before Vela’s Jonathan Navarro retrieved the blocked extra point and returned it for two points and a 30-27 advantage.

The game remained that way until Vela turned the ball over on downs with 1:13 left at E-E’s 37-yard line. That’s when Aguinaga produced the game-winning drive, either with his legs or timely throws to Flores and Rodriguez.

“We’ve been here before, so a game like this is not a surprise to us,” said Aguinaga, who ran for 216 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and completed 12 of 27 passes for 179 yards and three TDs. “Our coaches put us in tough situations every day at practice. We just came out there and played our style of football.”

On the final play, from Vela’s 13-yard line, Aguinaga scrambled and fired a rocket toward a double crossing route between Rodriguez and Flores.

“The defense was playing back, and I actually thought that ball was going to A.J,” said Flores, who caught eight passes for 115 yards and three TDs. “But I’m a ballhog, so if I see the ball I’m going to go get it. I just tried to make a play for my ball.”

It was a telling win for an Edcouch-Elsa (1-1) team that entered this week with a lot of internal questions after last week’s 50-40 loss at Los Fresnos.

“Who are we? We’re the team that fights,” Marichalar said. “We’re the team that doesn’t know how to quit, and that’s going to carry us all the way through this season.”

Guerra, named Dave Campbell’s Mr. Texas Football Player of the Week earlier Friday after scoring a Valley-record nine touchdowns last week at Victoria East, rushed for 190 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He also had a receiving touchdown.

But Vela’s true star Friday was quarterback Nathan Garcia, who ran 16 times for 217 yards and a TD while completing 9 of 13 passes for 123 yards and two TDs. But he was ejected with 2:20 left on Vela’s final drive for apparently shoving a Yellowjacket player.

In all, there were three ejections and a combined 33 penalties between the two teams.

“We knew it was going to be a physical ballgame,” Vela coach Michael Salinas said. “We fired our best shot and just came up a little bit short tonight. You have to give credit to Edcouch-Elsa. They made the play at the end of the ballgame and we didn’t.”

In all, the Yellowjackets compiled 467 total yards to 495 for Vela.

“We found who we were. We stuck together through all the adversity,” Rodriguez said. “We were down late and still won.

“A game like this says a lot. and we showed, to everybody else and ourselves, that we’re one of the best teams in the Valley.”

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