RGVSports.com writer Dennis Silva II joins host Greg Luca to preview the fourth week of the Rio Grande Valley high school football season. The show opens with the guys breaking down a controversial top 10, including weighing the merits of Harlingen High vs. Harlingen South. Roma at Mission Veterans Memorial headlines a full slate in District 31-5A, and a few 30-6A schools enter non-district match-ups this week with something to prove.

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GREG LUCA AND MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITERS

Junior Gunnar Henderson is returning to McAllen High after transferring to Brownsville St. Joseph Academy during the offseason, McHi coach Kevin Brewer confirmed Tuesday.

Henderson was projected as the Bulldogs’ starting running back this year before he decided to transfer to St. Joseph in June. He will be ineligible for varsity play for 15 days after enrolling at McAllen High on Monday, which puts him on track to make his first appearance in the team’s District 30-6A opener against La Joya High on Sept. 30.

“Gunnar is just going to add to what we’ve already been doing,” Brewer said. “He’s going to be a good addition to the players that we already have. We’re excited to have him back.”

Henderson played mostly defensive back for McAllen High last season as a sophomore. Through three games this year with the Bloodhounds, Henderson made 12 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown while running three times for 21 yards.

Lauded by Brewer for his speed, quickness and athleticism, Henderson is expected to contribute both as a back and receiver once he readjusts to the Bulldogs’ offense, which Brewer said is significantly different from the Bloodhounds’.

“We’re going to play to Gunnar’s strengths,” Brewer said. “Gunnar is a tremendous athlete. We’re going to try to get the ball to him in space and let him create some things and take advantage of that with his athleticism. We might use him in a variety of ways.”

Henderson said through Twitter that the motivation for the move was to be closer to his family.

NEW ROLE

Joseph Moreno transferred from McAllen Rowe to La Joya High this offseason as a major receiving threat, having racked up 95 catches for 1,367 yards and 13 touchdowns in his two varsity seasons with the Warriors.

Now, the senior is becoming a weapon in the backfield, too.

Wanting to get the ball to Moreno as often as possible, Coyotes coach Reuben Farias is utilizing him at running back. In last week’s win against La Joya High, Moreno carried 12 times for 58 yards and a touchdown. His effort complemented starter Ray Alaniz, who carried 18 times for 80 yards.

“They’re both not very big kids. They’re both quick, tough runners,” Farias said. “But we didn’t want to have Ray carry the ball 40 times, or Joseph carry the ball 40 times. We don’t want to hurt them. They’re two of our better athletes, so we want to try to utilize them as much as we can.”

When not in the backfield, Moreno will still line up out wide or in the slot. He was the only Coyote to catch a pass in last week’s 16-0 win against Donna, hauling in 3 for 32 yards. Moreno is La Joya’s leader with 8 catches for 69 yards on the year.

Farias said Moreno had no trouble adjusting to the new role, and that the coaches had been thinking about using him that way since the preseason scrimmage.

“He’s a pretty bright young man,” Farias said. “He picked it up pretty good, pretty quick. What we try to do is very basic, simple stuff for him.”

NEW QB

When Mission High freshman Damian Gomez was thrust into the quarterback job two weeks ago against Mission Veterans after starter Rudy Treviño went down to injury, he didn’t show any signs of nerves or jitters, completing 6 of 12 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Coming back for last week’s game against Brownsville Hanna with a full week of starter’s reps, Gomez completed 5 of 10 passes for 87 yards and a score, helping Mission to its first win of the season, 42-21.

“One of the big attributes he has as a quarterback is he’s got good composure,” Mission High coach Koy Detmer said. “He takes charge of the huddle, and he’s confident in his abilities.”

Detmer praised Gomez for how well he moves around the pocket, makes the proper reads in the passing game and throws catchable balls.

He did that all as freshman taking over for an established starter in Treviño, who was the primary quarterback in Week 1. Detmer said Gomez has been able to keep the offense running smoothly and with the same style of play.

“With a young player, obviously, each week, they’re going to build on that experience,” Detmer said. “Hopefully, you keep taking big strides forward, because that’s just one more week of practice and game experience that you get.”

Treviño is nursing a shoulder injury, and Detmer said he is hopeful the team will have him back in practice as early as next week.

Either way, the Eagles appear likely to lean on a strong running game. Returning back Robert Martinez leads the team with 347 yards on 42 carries with 2 touchdowns. Steven De Leon, an all-state honorable mention at linebacker last season, has also shined in the backfield, carrying 35 times for 334 yards and 6 scores. Detmer has been resting De Leon some on offense and some on defense to try to keep him fresh.

“He’s doing an excellent job for us on both sides of the ball,” Detmer said. “Hopefully we stay healthy and keep the rotation so when he’s out there, he can be himself. When he’s full speed, he is an outstanding ballplayer.”

BOUNCING BACK

Through only three weeks, PSJA Southwest has already won nearly as many games as it did all of last year.

Coming off a 3-7 season in 2015, coach Jesus Reyes said he was determined to have several players help carry the offensive load, and it has shown early on as the Javelinas enter a bye with a 2-1 record before opening district.

The Javelinas, who generally have been a run-heavy team, opened up the passing game last week with 175 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Jose Salinas, who connected with five different receivers. In his first two games, he totaled just 79 passing yards.

Contrary to last year, too, Southwest has divided its workload on the ground. Reyes’ hope heading into the season was that no one player would have to carry the ball more than 20 times per game.

“Last year we had certain kids that we depended on,” Reyes said. “But this year it isn’t so much about one guy that we’re going to hand the ball to. We have a broader base and more senior leadership, so we’re going to get other guys involved.”

So far, Justin Corona has rushed for 403 yards and eight TDs. Andrew Becerra has totaled 343 yards and two scores. And Luis Flores has 101 yards and one TD.

RGVSports.com writer Dennis Silva II joins host Greg Luca to recap Week 3 of the Rio Grande Valley high school football season. The guys break down a pair of good games in Weslaco, the balance of power in District 32-6A, the start of district play in 31-5A and the rest from the week that was. The show wraps up with picks for the Dennis Silva II Hypothetical of the Week.

The podcast is now available on iTunes. Follow this link to subscribe.

GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

WESLACO — If he had his choice, Weslaco High’s Andrew Olguin would face a running team every week. A linebacker at heart after playing there as a sophomore last season, Olguin mostly enjoys going to work against the ground game.

But Friday, facing a spread team in Mercedes, Olguin slid into more of a slot cornerback role and produced perhaps the best game of his career. Olguin returned an interception for a touchdown and later forced a fumble, spearheading a dominant Weslaco High defense in a 21-6 win at Bobby Lackey Stadium.

“He played one hell of a game,” Diego Rodriguez, the Panthers’ safety and leading tackler, said of Olguin. “I wasn’t expecting that from Andrew, but big-time players step up with big-time games. And he certainly did there.”

Joining the varsity squad early last season, Olguin finished the year with 33 tackles and a pair of forced fumbles. Coach Tony Villarreal saw a lot of promise from Olguin, taking notice of his tough, physical play.

Coming back as a more seasoned player this year as a junior, Olguin opened the season with 23 tackles across Weslaco’s first two games, and Villarreal said he even caught the attention of the coaches at Richmond George Ranch in Week 1. Olguin looked comfortable playing against the pass, too, on Friday, jumping an out route on the first play of the second quarter and taking the interception 31 yards for the game’s opening score.

“I just saw the ball getting thrown up,” Olguin said. “I had a good press on. I just tried to fight him outside. It landed in his hands, and I ripped it out.”

Olguin’s score was nearly all the points Weslaco needed, as Mercedes didn’t find the scoreboard until only 1:10 remained in the game.

Mercedes finished the night with a respectable 278 yards of offense, but Weslaco came up with turnovers or fourth-down stops time after time.

In the third quarter, Olguin forced a fumble that was recovered by Weslaco’s Jacob Gracia. Late in the first half, Gracia recorded a strip and recovery of his own, ripping the ball away from Mercedes running back Fabian Ledesma. Mercedes also punted three times and turned the ball over on downs three times.

“It all starts with the d-line,” Rodriguez said. “It was all d-line. I thank the d-line and the linebackers for what they did today.”

Mercedes coach Roger Adame said he knew his team would have its hands full with Weslaco’s defensive front. Though able to move the ball at times, Mercedes struggled with penalties, racking up 15 for 134 yards. The Tigers were also the victim of injury, as quarterback Zach Gomez watched the second half from the sideline with his left arm in a sling.

His backup, Mark Ledesma, finished 8-of-16 passing for 66 yards and had 3 carries for 37 yards, including the Tigers’ lone score. Before leaving, Gomez had completed 6 of 12 passes for 59 yards with an interception while running 8 times for 33 yards.

“We held him out for precautionary reasons,” Adame said. “We put Mark in there, and he did a great job for us.”

For the game, Mercedes’ offense outgained Weslaco High 278-256.

The Panthers completed just one pass, as A.J. Gonzalez found Mark Lara for an 8-yard touchdown. Izaiah Ramos (84 yards) and Justin Coronado (78 yards) led the way on the ground, while Rodriguez scored the team’s lone rushing touchdown from 5 yards out.

Rodriguez played exclusively defense last season but has carved out a small role in the offense this year.

“I love it,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been a challenge, but I’m always up for it. You just have to get the work in and do whatever you can to help out the team.”

The win marked a significant milestone for Villarreal, who became one of the top 100 all-time winningest coaches in Texas high school football history. His career record stands 194-103-4.

Villarreal was presented a plaque in commemoration of the accomplishment, and the Weslaco players lifted him into the air after the final postgame huddle.

“It’s nice. It really is,” Villarreal said. “I couldn’t do it without the kids and the coaches and the parents, and obviously the school board and the superintendant.”

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GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

WESLACO — When Edinburg Economedes lost leading rusher Michael Medellin to a hamstring injury on its second play from scrimmage, fullback Allen Arredondo saw that it was his time to become the workhorse.

“I’m ready for anything,” Arredondo said. “I know I’m a senior, and I have to step it up. I know if my number is called, I have to get to work.”

Arredondo carried the ball 20 times for a team-high 97 yards and a score, spearheading Economedes’ dominant ground game in a 23-16 win against Weslaco East on Thursday at Bobby Lackey Stadium.

The Jaguars are 3-0 after knocking off the previously unbeaten Wildcats, who had climbed to No. 4 in the latest RGVSports.com Top 10.

“We play fearlessly and we take chances. We gamble,” Economedes coach Gabe Peña said. “I’m just tickled to death for our coaches and players, because they really worked hard for this.”

The Jaguars jumped out 7-0 early in the first quarter, as Medellin took his first carry 73 yards for a touchdown. But Medellin tweaked his hamstring during the play, leaving Economedes without the player who had racked up 309 yards and five scores in the team’s first two games.

Lacking the explosiveness of Medellin, the Jaguars turned to Arredondo and his methodical, plodding style.

Economedes used a 12-play drive that spanned 5 minutes, 32 seconds to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, capped by quarterback Roger Barrientos’ 16-yard scoring run on 4th-and-11.

On the next possession, Arredondo carried the ball seven times for 46 yards and the 3-yard touchdown, ending an 11-play drive spanning 4:54 that gave the Jaguars a 21-7 advantage.

“He’s a returning all-district fullback, and people sometimes forget that,” Peña said. “He’s a true fullback. Everybody is running this spread stuff, and he’s probably one of the true fullbacks that’s out here. He knows his role. Three yards is great.”

For the game, Economedes gave carries to seven different players, racking up 46 rushes for 281 yards. Barrientos completed just 3 of 7 passes for 35 yards with an interception, but that was all the production the Jaguars needed.

“It was the o-line,” Arredondo said. “They’re getting us in the trenches. You control the trenches, you control the game, and most likely you win the game. Big shout out to our o-line. They got it done.”

Economedes’ defense held up its end of the bargain, holding Weslaco East’s vaunted rushing attack to 153 yards on 41 attempts.

The Wildcats entered the night averaging 228.5 yards per game on the ground.

“If there’s anything that needs to come out of this game, it’s that offense and defense complemented each other and played off each other,” Peña said. “We don’t have captains, because we play so many people on both sides of the football.”

Economedes carried a 21-13 lead into halftime, and East had opportunities to close the gap down the stretch.

On their first possession of the second half, the Wildcats took the ball down to the 1-yard line before quarterback Richard LeFevre was stripped while fighting to get across the goal line on a sneak. Economedes recovered to end the threat.

Economedes extended its lead with a safety late in the third quarter, but Weslaco East notched a field goal to pull within 23-16 early in the fourth.

The Wildcats got the ball back with 5:49 to play, but the possession ended with an interception when LeFevre was hit as he threw.

Then, East’s defense forced a punt, giving the offense new life at its own 20 with 2:59 remaining. LeFevre, who finished an overall strong game 13-of-19 passing with 165 yards and an interception, drove East 47 yards to Economedes’ 37 before taking a sack on fourth down with 21 seconds to play.

J.C. Vargas was East’s standout both rushing and receiving, carrying 11 times for 58 yards and hauling in six passes for 72 yards.

“We had a hard time getting momentum on our sideline tonight,” Weslaco East coach Mike Burget said. “The kids fought and fought. If we had a little more time, we had a receiver running down the sideline wide open. They did a good job getting to Richard and getting him on the ground. We’ll give them this one and wait for them next year.”

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GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

WESLACO — When fullback Izaiah Ramos learned he had paced Weslaco High in rushing attempts during the team’s Week 2 win, he was shocked. With 12 rushers combining for 56 attempts, Ramos understandably lost track of who had the ball how many times.

“I led the team in carries?” Ramos said. “I didn’t know that. I didn’t expect that, at all.”

He probably shouldn’t get used to it. In coach Tony Villarreal’s slot-t offense, diversity and misdirection are paramount. So while Ramos has certainly been impressive in his first year back at fullback after playing linebacker last season, projecting from week to week who will be the leading attackers in the Panthers’ vaunted rushing game is a daunting task.

Who will top the team in attempts, yards or touchdowns when Weslaco High hosts Mercedes at 7:30 tonight at Weslaco’s Bobby Lackey Stadium is anyone’s guess.

“We really don’t want to show who the guy is,” Villarreal said. “You have to key on everybody. Who is in? Who is out? What’s the formation? We move them around.”

Entering the season, Alex Lara and Justin Coronado were expected to be Weslaco High’s top options, and the Panthers and Villarreal still laud them as the team’s best and fastest playmakers.

Lara has been the team’s leading rusher through two weeks, with 8 carries for 120 yards. With Coronado sidelined for last week’s game against San Antonio Marshall, Weslaco still mustered 435 yards on the ground in a 48-20 win. Twelve Panthers ran the ball, and six had five or more attempts.

“Because a lot of defenses key on one guy, us having 12 different backs running the ball makes it tougher on defenses,” offensive lineman Rudy De La Torre said.

After playing almost exclusively as a linebacker since the midpoint of his sophomore season, Ramos is readjusting to the fullback position.

He carried 10 times for 57 yards last week, and Villarreal praised him as a natural runner with plenty of power and just a little wiggle.

“I’m getting more comfortable with transitioning back here and knowing what I’m supposed to do,” Ramos said. “I’m getting better.”

Ramos said his biggest challenge is blocking, starting with picking up the calls from the offensive line. On some series, his assignment is straightforward, but on others “right” may mean “left” with the intention of fooling the defense.

As a runner, he said he’s still learning how to follow his blocks. Last week, he felt he was too quick to bounce outside while his blockers were making holes in the middle. Villarreal is happy with the progress Ramos has made.

“It was hard at first, but I think he’s started to learn the offense,” Villarreal said. “He’s probably one of our best running backs, naturally, with instincts.”

Ramos notched a 70-yard touchdown on the first snap from scrimmage against Marshall, but the play was called back on a penalty by sophomore Jeremy Coronado, Justin’s younger brother and that week’s starter in the backfield.

Jeremy finished with 7 carries for 70 yards, much more production than he expected after barely playing in the team’s preseason scrimmage.

“I didn’t think I was going to play, but I came back, and (Villarreal) started playing me more and more, and I got the starting spot,” Coronado said. “I just have to keep working and getting better so I can keep that spot.”

Even in limited time, Coronado caught Villarreal’s eye during the preseason. He said the sophomore “torched” Weslaco’s defense, showing many of the same traits that made his brother a key cog in the system.

Villarreal said watching the two Coronado brothers is like seeing double, and Jeremy said he’s never hesitated to go to Justin for advice.

“He’s always there for me,” Jeremy said. “He tells me what I’m doing right and things I’m doing wrong. He told me to follow my blocks, to stay on them. He told me to work towards the middle and then try to find the open field.”

Richard Olszak has also been key for Weslaco High, picking up 103 yards on just 4 carries this season by exploiting defenses with sweeps and reverses. Driving the whole system is the offensive line, anchored by returning guard De La Torre and tackle Brandon Perez on the right side.

Together, the group attacked Marshall with a level of physicality unseen in the season-opening loss to Richmond George Ranch. The Panthers are hoping to take that same mentality into the matchup with Mercedes.

“We took the leather to them and hit them quite hard,” Villarreal said. “The level of physicality we brought was different. I was real impressed with the physicality of our kids.”

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GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — When senior Freddy Ayala first stepped onto the football field for McAllen Rowe last spring, receiver Adrian Bernal noticed that his stance was almost completely wrong.
A basketball player who hadn’t tried his hand on the gridiron since middle school, Ayala entered the Rowe program with plenty of rust.
“His stance was weird,” Bernal said. “We were like, ‘Come on, Freddy. Don’t you watch the NFL?’ And he was like, ‘Every now and then.’ So we just helped him out here and there.”
Last season, Ayala averaged 7.0 points and a team-leading 9.0 rebounds as a starting forward on a team that went three rounds deep in the playoffs, and Bernal was the starting point guard.
At the urging of Bernal and Rowe’s coaches, Ayala decided to put his 6-foot frame to use in football, and he was successful almost immediately. After carving out a role as the Warriors’ starting tight end, Ayala has hauled in 5 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown in the team’s first two games, helping resurgent Rowe to a 2-0 start.
“I didn’t know I was even going to play a minute,” Ayala said. “But I came out, and I started doing good, and I just kept with it.”
Ayala said offensive coordinator Shaun Tarantola was one of the first people who talked to him about the possibility of playing football, approaching him in the weight room with stories of players he’d coached at other schools who had successfully made the transition.
The trend has been felt in the NFL for years, with some of the position’s most productive players like Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez coming from basketball backgrounds.
“At first, I’m going to be honest, I was saying, ‘Man, I hope he can adapt to the agility part,’” Rowe coach Bobby Flores said. “But he’s also one of those tough kids that loves challenges, so he took it apart, and he’s running along well with it.”
Flores said he expected Ayala to be rusty upon his return to the sport, and Bernal said that was definitely the case.
Enduring the heat of conditioning outdoors was Ayala’s biggest challenge, but he said that he adjusted within a few days. Before spring had finished, Ayala showed a solid enough grasp of the fundamentals to be considered for a starting spot. Blocking is still a work in progress, but Ayala always displayed the ability to leap and pull down passes above the reach of defenders.
“He was going up and getting it, and fearless, at that,” Flores said. “That’s another thing you worry about as a coach. When they’re coming from a different sport, are they going to be timid doing certain things? He wasn’t timid, at all. He got after it.”
Ayala and the rest of the Warriors spent the spring learning a fresh offensive system under new coaches Flores and Tarantola, which Flores said was an advantage for Ayala since he wasn’t behind any of his teammates on the learning curve.
Ayala said picking up the scheme was actually “pretty easy.”
“Freddy has come up with a couple of big plays, and we were fortunate to get him out,” Flores said. “Luckily for us, it’s worked out really, really well.”
Rowe’s offense has been a success across the board through two weeks, ranking as the best in District 30-6A with an average of 353 yards per game. Quarterback Jesus Sanchez has been the star, completing 39 of 56 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.
His top target has been possession receiver Adrian Bernal, who has hauled in 14 passes for 159 yards and a score to earn the nickname “Wes Welker” from coaches and teammates. Speedy slot receiver Hector Ramirez has also been a big part of the aerial attack, with nine catches for 99 yards.
At 2-0 with wins over Edinburg High and Mercedes, Rowe is already just one victory shy of its 2015 win total.
“It took a while, learning the new system with a new coach,” Sanchez said. “But once we got the hang of it, we showed that we can take it to other teams. I think it’s pretty good that we’ve learned it quickly, and we’re always getting better.”
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RGVSports.com writers Mario Aguirre and Dennis Silva II join host Greg Luca to preview the third week of the Rio Grande Valley high school football season. After breaking down the latest RGVSports.com Top 10, which has a new No. 1, the guys shift focus to the Monitor’s Game of the Week between Weslaco East and Edinburg Economedes. Also on the docket is the start of district play in 31-5A, and matches pitting McAllen Memorial vs. San Benito and Mercedes vs. Weslaco High. The show concludes with the outline for the second installment of the Dennis Silva II Hypothetical of the Week.

The podcast is now available on iTunes. Follow this link to subscribe.

RGVSports.com writers Mario Aguirre and Dennis Silva II join host Greg Luca to discuss Week 2 of the Rio Grande Valley high school football season. The guys break down the Game of the Week between Edcouch-Elsa and Edinburg Vela that more than lived up to its potential and dissect a week of upsets, namely Weslaco East beating McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe taking down Mercedes. The guys also reveal their answers to the Dennis Silva II Hypothetical of the Week.

The podcast is now available on iTunes. Follow this link to subscribe.

GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — As the officials brought the chains on the field for the game’s final measurement, J.C. Vargas knew Weslaco East had already won. On fourth-and-6 from the 8-yard line, needing to reach the 2 to keep McAllen Memorial alive in overtime, Campbell Speights was stopped just feet short.

“I knew we got it,” Vargas said. “I could see it. I knew we got it. I guess they just measured it for the dramatics.”

After a 14-point comeback, a 90-plus-yard touchdown for either team, a missed field goal at the regulation buzzer and a major defensive turnaround for the Wildcats, Friday’s game hardly needed any extra drama.

When the dust settled, Weslaco East had pulled out the 37-29 overtime win against McAllen Memorial at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“My emotions were all over the place,” East quarterback Richard LeFevre said. “You can’t really explain it. It was a crazy night.”

After Memorial’s Ace Chavez returned a fumble 100 yards for a touchdown and East’s Vargas answered with a 94-yard bomb from LeFevre, Speights scored from 11 yards out to give Memorial a 29-15 lead entering the fourth quarter.

To that point, Memorial had been leaning on its typically dominant ground game, racking up 41 carries for 263 yards. But then, East’s defense, despite trailing heavily in the time of possession battle, began to find stops. Memorial ran the ball just 13 times for 35 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime, going 3-and-out on both fourth-quarter possessions.

“Down by 14, our kids didn’t lose any faith,” Weslaco East coach Mike Burget said. “I heard them yelling at each other, ‘Come on, guys. We can get this thing done.’ And sure enough, they turned the tide.’”

“We might be small, but we’re pretty quick,” Burget added. “Those guys were sticking out there. I could hear it.”

Offensively, East started to get its own ground game going. Fabian Castro scored from 39 yards out to make the score 29-22 with 10:15 to play, and then Vargas took a reverse 58 yards to set up Roy Pedraza’s game-tying, 8-yard score with 4:40 remaining.

Weslaco East had just 52 yards of total offense at halftime but finished with 367.

“Offensively, we stunk in the first half,” Burget said. “I don’t know how else to say it. We stunk.”

Burget said the major difference was LeFevre checking the offense into better plays. LeFevre finished 2-of-6 passing for 116 yards and a score, plus 7 rushes for 30 yards and a touchdown. Castro ran 19 times for 113 yards and a TD, Pedraza had 6 rushes for 37 yards and two scores, and Vargas carried 5 times for 65 yards.

Also critical for East was improved offensive line play, which Burget credited to offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Jesse Treviño’s halftime pep talk.

“He went in there and got on the kids and challenged them and said this wasn’t East football,” Burget said. “Those kids came out here, and bounced back, and did a great job.”

Despite East’s second-half resurgence, Memorial still had a chance to win at the end of regulation. After Joey Delgado intercepted LeFevre’s pass and returned it 35 yards to the East 26-yard line, Ricky Garcia had a shot at a 40-yard field goal with 1 second to play. Garcia had already nailed kicks of 46 and 40 yards in the first half, but his final attempt was wide right.

“We kept our heads in the game,” LeFevre said. “Anything can happen. We got lucky and came out with a win today.”

Weslaco East ran the ball four times in overtime en route to LeFevre’s 3-yard, game-winning score.

Memorial looked to have notched the potential tying touchdown on the ensuing possession, but quarterback Angel Almaguer’s scoring run on 4th-and-1 from Weslaco East’s 3-yard line was called back for delay of game. Speights took the next handoff 5 yards but was stopped just shy, finalizing McAllen Memorial’s first regular season loss since Aug. 29, 2014 — a streak of 20 games — and the Mustangs’ first loss at home since Oct. 25, 2013, also against Weslaco East.

“I knew our defense was going to do it,” LeFevre said, “but it’s just that short to get to the goal line, and for all of the talent they have, it’s just emotions are everywhere.”

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