By Jesus Sanchez

Staff Writer

For more than 20 years, the Hanna Golden Eagles had not won a playoff game.

That all changed Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium with a 35-20 Class 6A Division II bi-district victory over the Weslaco East Wildcats.

“I’m still trying to soak it all in,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “We hadn’t won a playoff game here since 1996. I felt a lot of pressure just because of that. Our goal is, of course, to get to a state championship game, and no matter what anybody says, we still believe we can get there and we’re going to do our best to get there.”

Prior to Friday night’s game, Weslaco East, which finished third in District 31-6A, was considered to have one of, if not the top, defensive units in the district, allowing only 183.4 yards per game.

Hanna, however, finished the game with 310 yards of offense, 229 rushing and 81 passing.

Victor Campos and the Hanna offensive line allowed running backs Aaron Frausto and Cesar Mancias to make big plays for the Eagles.

“It was a smashmouth game,” the Eagles’ Doug Tolman said. “It was all between the lines, and I think our line, we stepped up this game. We just hope we get some respect because no one ever talks about the O-line or D-line, but I think we did very well this time.”

Frausto ended the night with three touchdowns, two 1-yard runs to go along with a 6-yard reception from Campos, and Mancias broke free from the Wildcats twice to score long rushing TDs.

Mancias first found the end zone on a 45-yard run, then, after the Eagles forced a three-and-out, he rushed for 30 yards to give Hanna its last score of the night.

The Wildcats struck first in the game after Ramsey Vasquez scored on a 30-yard run on his team’s first drive.

“It was a good game,” Vasquez said. “We fought till the end, but mistakes we made didn’t help us. The ball didn’t roll our way and that’s it. That’s what happened.”

Hanna responded with Campos’ 6-yard pass to Frausto. The home team then took the lead after Frausto hit paydirt again for the Eagles, on a 1-yard run, to make it 14-7.

“Tonight was just all hard work,” he said. “We really played as a unit today, and that’s why we were able to get this victory over a very good Weslaco East team.”

From there, the Eagles were one step ahead of the Wildcats for the remainder of the game.

The Eagles extended their lead to 21-7 with another 1-yard run by Frausto. Weslaco East closed the gap a bit after Vasquez ran 2 yards to the end zone late in the third, making it 21-14.

Mancias’ two TDs were enough to spell the end for the Wildcats.

Weslaco East added a 2-yard run by Josh Gonzalez but failed on its two-point conversion attempt, leaving the final score 35-20.

“Tonight, the team that played better won,” Wildcats coach Michael Burget said. “Hanna definitely played better. We turned (over) the ball quite a bit, but my hat is off to them. They scored when they had to. I think we left our defense on the field too long, too many turnovers and stuff.

“It’s been like that all year. We’ve leaned on them, but (Hanna) scored 35 points on our defense and they scored 35 points on our team, which is a little bit hard to swallow as a head coach. Hanna has a great team. I wish coach Guess the best of luck in the next round. We’ll be back.”

Hanna will travel next week to San Antonio to face Eagle Pass, which defeated the PSJA High Bears on Friday night.

For Hanna, Frausto said the Eagles’ mentality will remain the same as it has all season.

“We just have to keep our mindset straight and not get too overconfident, practice well every day, all three days,” he said. “We’re going to head over to San Antonio, and we have to make sure we play as a team. That’s the No. 1 thing that we have to do.”

Guess is proud of the team but realizes there is still work left for the Eagles.

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and minimize pre-snap penalties and mistakes that we shouldn’t be making at this point in the season,” he said. “That comes from lack of focus or sometimes from anxiety, but we just have to buckle down and nail that stuff down a little better.”

By Jesus Sanchez | The Brownsville Herald

Throughout the game, the Pace Vikings and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers went back and forth exchanging turnovers and touchdowns.

It seemed the showdown was going to end up tied as Pace was on its way to even the score, but a Tony Medrano interception shut the drive down, securing a 21-14 win for Brownsville Veterans Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.

“The Pace Vikings are a tremendous football team,” Chargers head coach David Cantu said. “We have a world of respect for them, so to come out, at the end of the day, victorious, I’m speechless of how proud I am of our group of boys, who have been through a ton of adversity. We’ve had countless number of starters out, but it was a next-man-up mentality and a lot of kids really stepped up. This is what it’s all about.”

Pace (6-3, 6-2) inched its way closer to the end zone at the Brownsville Veterans 20 before Medrano’s interception

Medrano ran the pick back 46 yards to give the Chargers (7-2, 6-2) the ball on the Vikings’ 34.

From there, quarterback Liam Longoria took care of the rest, rushing for 22 yards in five carries and completing a 10-yard pass to Elijah Masten to run out the clock.

“We got outplayed,” Pace head coach Danny Pardo said. “We didn’t play our game. We were not focused. We were not ready to play mentally. That’s what happened. Hopefully, these kids learn from it. It’s simple but we shouldn’t have lost to these guys. There’s no reason why, but that’s just my opinion.”

Pace appeared to be one step ahead, especially after Jonathan Perez recovered a fumble for the Vikings and took it all the way to give the visiting team a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter.

Yet, the Chargers would not be denied and kicked it up a notch, following the loose ball with two scoring drives against the Vikings to give them the lead in the final quarter.

At the start of the game, both teams went scoreless in the first quarter and were tied at halftime with one touchdown each.

Pace quarterback Jose Banda hit paydirt first with a 25-yard keeper.

The Chargers responded with a 1-yard QB keeper of their own from Longoria.

After the Vikings took the lead once again on Perez’s fumble recovery, Brownsville Veterans traveled 78 yards to tie things up early in the fourth on Longoria’s second touchdown, a 10-yard QB keeper.

Jose Moreno ran for 9 yards to put the Chargers ahead 21-14 for the first time in the game one drive prior to Medrano’s game-changing interception.

“We all came together and my whole team, we were practicing hard all this week and we wanted to come out with the dub and that’s what we did,” Moreno said. “We’re going to take it as a big team, still come out like we did today with Pace and keep going.”

Moreno finished the game with 33 yards rushing on eight carries; Longoria 81 rushing yards on 15 carries; and Gilbert Garcia 51 rushing yards on two carries.

For the Vikings, Banda tallied 102 rushing yards on 14 carries while Brandon Zapata garnered 64 rushing yards on 15 carries.

“It was a hard game,” Zapata said. “It didn’t go the way we planned. We have to focus more and we need to practice harder. That’s all we need to do.”

Pace, who already has clinched a playoff spot, will face Rio Grande City in its last regular season game next Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.

With two district defeats, Brownsville Veterans will need to defeat La Joya Palmview next Friday to secure a berth in the postseason.

By JESUS SANCHEZ | The Brownsville Herald

The Hanna Golden Eagles scored on six out of 10 drives and once on an interception, earning a 48-0 victory in their battle against the Rivera Raiders to kick off District 32-6A play.

Eagles receiver Ernest Mendoza led the team with three touchdowns, 56 yards on four catches and 27 rushing yards on one carry.

“ All of our hard work finally paid off,” he said. “All we do is practice every day and go hard, and we knew we were going to come out with the victory but I’m just excited with this dub. Starting 1-0 in district, that’s all we wanted.”

Mendoza was the first Eagles player to hit paydirt after a 24-yard pass from quarterback Victor Campos. The other two touchdowns for Mendoza came from a 15-yard pass from Campos and a 27-yard run.

Campos also threw a 23-yard pass to Miguel Payan early in the first quarter to put the Eagles up 13-0.

On the Eagles’ next possession, the junior quarterback ran 1 yard to the end zone with 52 seconds left in the first quarter.

When it seemed the Raiders were attempting to mount a comeback early in the second quarter, the Eagles’ Johnny Aleman intercepted a pass thrown by Rivera quarterback Andres Perez and ran it back for a 40-yard touchdown.

Hanna coach Mark Guess said the team knew that coming into Friday night’s first district game of the season, all records were thrown out the window.

“ We had to come to play,” Guess said. “Rivera, they can do some damage. They can score quickly and they have some good speed. We just happen to be the better team on the field tonight. We have to clean up our mistakes, we made way too many, and get ready for the Harlingen (High) Cardinals next.”

Right before halftime, Eagles running back Cesar Mancias rushed for 3 yards to extend Hanna’s lead to 34-0.

The Raiders had a few moments in the game, including a 51-yard kick return by Jesus Camarillo and a 13-yard run by Frank Eguia.

“ I feel like we could have executed better,” Eguia said. “Our team wasn’t that good tonight, but we’re working hard every week. Hopefully, we get a win.

“ We just have to focus up and keep working harder. We lost a lot of seniors, Ariel (Gonzalez) got hurt, some people fell, but we’re working hard. We’re (mostly) all freshmen and sophomores, but we’re on it.”

Rivera (0-6, 0-1) is still trying to find the right combination to acquire some victories. Raiders coach Tom Chavez said the team will just have to keep working harder.

“ We didn’t play very well,” Chavez said. “We just have to keep on working. Hanna is a great team and I think they’ll go a long way, but we just have to keep on working.”

The Eagles (4-1, 1-0) turn their attention to the Harlingen High Cardinals, who lost 42-28 to the San Benito Greyhounds in the Battle of the Arroyo on Friday night.

The Raiders will continue the search for their first win of the season next Friday when they take on the Los Fresnos Falcons, who lost 16-7 to Harlingen South in Week 7.

After having to reschedule matches due to inclement weather and cutting late-night games short, the four teams in District 32-6A advancing to the playoffs are focused and ready to go.

The four teams advancing to the team tennis postseason are Harlingen South, Los Fresnos, Harlingen High and Hanna. Team tennis playoff matches will kick off Oct. 15.

POWERHOUSE

Harlingen South cruised through the regular season, finishing first and undefeated (5-0) in 32-6A competition. Hawks coach Noe Stillman is proud of how far the team has come this season and is excited to watch it play through the playoffs.

However, to be the best in the district, the Hawks practiced hard and played tough matches against schools in San Antonio and Houston to prepare for the season.

Stillman said the hard work paid off, as the team is stronger than it has ever been.

“On our boys side, for a second straight year, we were really strong,” he said. “We dominated pretty much everywhere we’ve been with the exception of Houston Memorial, they’re the state champions, but we held our own against them.

“Along with that, our girls are young, and we are more athletic than we’ve ever been. They did a good job this year. Everywhere we’ve been at, we’ve performed well. I think those are the two things I would say really stand out.”

Stillman said another reason the Hawks have been successful is because they have a team full of depth.

“Early on in the season, we played these two tournaments, one in San Antonio and one in Houston,” he said. “We went for the competition. We ran the gauntlet here in district, obviously. We might’ve lost a couple individual matches, but those were pretty much because we substituted kids. We worked hard all summer to try to improve.”

The Hawks still don’t know who they will face come Oct. 15, but Stillman said the team will be ready.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The Los Fresnos Falcons ended the regular team tennis season with a 4-1 record, finishing second in district.

“We’re very happy,” Los Fresnos coach Bill Sandlin said. “We’ve been working for this for several years. I think we’ve been competitive with some of the upper teams, so now that we were able to get them, we’re very happy. We’re looking forward to our first (playoff) game. I know it’s a couple of weeks away, but we have to stay focused and practice to be ready to play whoever we go up against on the other district.”

Sandlin added the Falcons feel they have unfinished business in the postseason, as they are eager to see how far they can go.

“We think that our district is a tough district, so it prepares us well,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of good matches, and we’ll try to stay mentally focused.”

For Los Fresnos, No. 1 boy Chancellor Wyatt and No. 1 girl Kayla Ortiz have provided the leadership and guidance the team needed to finish the regular season strong.

“A lot of players look up to them for leadership,” Sandlin said. “They’ve usually been winning their matches, so they’ve been leading the team. … The younger kids, sophomores and freshmen, are looking up to them.”

STEPPING UP

The Harlingen High Cardinals were in a fight all season, aiming to get one of the four spots in the postseason.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, hard work and dedication paid off as they finished with a 3-2 record and third in 32-6A.

Harlingen High faced a tough challenge after losing a top player, but coach James Tanamachi said the Cardinals put that behind them and fought through to get where they’re at now.

“My kids have really stepped up this year after losing our returning regional qualifier and No. 1 boy who moved to San Antonio at the beginning of the year,” Tanamachi said. “Junior Luke Alvarado has played really well and won some big matches for us at No. 1 boys singles and doubles. Seniors Andy Cortez, Aaron Mitchell and Martin Lopez have won big matches for us as well.”

The Cardinals’ coach added that the girls side also has risen to the occasion, even after losing its top two players to graduation last year.

“Addie Flores, Kate Scaief and Laura Macmanus all have stepped up and won tough matches throughout the season so far,” he said. “Laura Macmanus came from a set down to win a very important match in a third-set tiebreaker for us versus Hanna this week that put us up 7-5 in matches after the singles instead of being tied at 6, so that was huge towards us winning.”

Overall, Tanamachi said he is proud of how the Cardinals performed throughout the regular season and can’t wait to see them take on the challenges the playoffs will bring.

“Even in our losses, our kids have kept fighting all year through every match until the last point,” he said. “As long as they continue with that work ethic, I think we will be successful this year in the playoffs and beyond, and even off the courts and in the classrooms.”

GIRL POWER

For the Hanna Golden Eagles, the girls side put the team on its back and carried it to a fourth-place finish in 32-6A competition, enough to secure the last playoff spot.

Hanna ended the regular season with a 2-3 record.

Eagles coach Tyrone Powers said if it wasn’t for the girls, the team might not have made it.

“Our girls have been steady and winning their matches,” Powers said. “They lost a couple of close matches, but for the most part, they’ve been pretty much carrying the team. The boys are getting better. They’re losing some close matches now, but at least we’re able to compete.”

The Hanna team is now preparing to take on whoever places first in District 31-6A. Either way, the Eagles achieved the goal they had been aiming to reach since last year.

“We had a goal to get to the playoffs,” Powers said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, and these guys wanted to make the playoffs. They reached that goal. We won last year our first match in area, so we’re hoping to get by area and get to play somebody up north.”

Donna High’s 17-14 victory over Brownsville Lopez on Saturday night was not just for the Redskins; it was for late coach Jason Garcia, who was on the team’s sidelines one last time two years ago.

“The last time we were here that we played Lopez, one of our coaches, Jason Garcia, it was his last game,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said. “He had a tragic accident the week afterward. So, it was a little emotional coming back and playing Lopez here. That was one of the things that got the kids motivated at halftime. It’s an emotional night.”

Donna High was down 7-3 at halftime but came back to score two touchdowns and win it. Down by one touchdown and with two minutes left in the game, the Lobos had a 65-yard punt return to the end zone called back on a holding penalty.

Lopez and Donna fought back and forth during the entirety of their District 16-5A showdown. Ultimately, the Redskins found a winning combination that allowed them to get past the aggressive Lobos defense.

Leal said the victory was a team win, which was a good way to remember Garcia.

“I think we went in at halftime and I said, ‘Listen, we need to comeback and we need to score,’” he said. “We needed to find ways to score. The last time we were here (this season) it was against Pace and we kicked three field goals. That wasn’t enough. We knew we had to come back and score TDs. We came back, tried to regroup, tried to see what else we can do and tried different things.”

Donna High’s offensive performance came at a price, though, as Redskins starting quarterback Ryan Espinoza took multiple hits from the Lobos defense, including four sacks. Espinoza went down late in the third quarter after a being pushed out of bounds by Lopez’s Luis Hernandez.

Fortunately for the Redskins, backup quarterback Avery Bowen was ready to rumble.

“We had a bad first half,” Espinoza said. “We just picked ourselves up and executed, and we came back out here and got the (W). … I knew I had to be a playmaker. They all blocked and we executed.

“I try my best to stay up and get more yards to turn into points. Avery, my backup, he finished it off for me as soon as I went down.”

Immediately after Espinoza went down, Bowen rushed for 7 yards for Donna High first touchdown of the game, giving the visiting team a 10-7 lead.

Bowen wasn’t done, though. The sophomore ran for 6 yards to make it a two-touchdown game. To set up that score, the Redskins’ Ivan Torres intercepted a pass from Lopez quarterback Jose Cruz, giving Donna High the ball on its own 20.

The Lobos earned redemption on their next possession with a 28-yard bomb from Cruz to Alex Rivera with 5:36 left in the game. Lopez forced a three-and-out on the following drive, leading to the nullified 65-yard punt return from the Lobos’ Leo Ramos.

The Lobos continued to fight, but a fumble by Christian Gamez sealed Lopez’s fate as captain Isaac Rangel recovered for the Redskins. Donna ran the clock out in three runs shortly afterward.

Lobos coach Armando Gutierrez appreciated the tough battle Donna High brought to Lopez, but said the team will put the loss behind it and move forward.

“The officiating was one of our concerns, as a matter of fact, coming in,” Gutierrez said. “We just let kids play. We don’t like it when the officials determine the games. Other than that, we made some mistakes as well. We kept them in the game and they have a good-coached team, so we can’t allow mental mistakes by our offense.

“Our defense kept us in pretty much the whole game. We just made some offensive mental mistakes as well. That kept them in the game and, ultimately, they won the game.”

Lopez captain Carlos Arellano was all over the field Saturday. Arellano finished the night with three sacks and one interception. Yet, the sophomore defensive back believes he could’ve done more for the team.

“I think we could’ve done better,” Arellano said. “We could’ve executed more and made better plays, but we made more mistakes than they did and, well, that was the ballgame.

“I just play for my team. I try my best for my team. The team always comes first. I know right now I’m putting my head down and I shouldn’t, but I’m disappointed in myself because I could’ve done better.”

The Lobos will have one week to regroup before they travel to Pharr to face the PSJA Southwest Javelinas.

As for the Redskins, they take on Mission Veterans Memorial on Oct. 12 on the road.

After a 75-yard fumble return by Rivera gave the team much needed motivation late in the game, La Feria executed offensively and hold off the Raiders’ flurry.

The visiting Lions spoiled the Raiders’ homecoming in a 21-14 victory. La Feria remains undefeated at 5-0.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” La Feria coach Oscar Salinas said. “They’re a good 6A program. Coach (Tom) Chavez does a great job and the whole staff there. Our kids hung in there and made plays when they needed to, and we were able to win the game.”

Throughout the night, the story was how the Rivera defense stopped La Feria on multiple occasions, including short fields close to the red zone. For the Lions, Avishai Dickerson, who racked up 134 yards on 22 carries against Port Isabel in Week 4, suffered from the aggressive Raiders’ defense.

Dickerson finished with 27 yards on 15 carries but executed when needed.

“Brownsville (Rivera) put up a fight, but we proved that smaller or bigger, it doesn’t make a difference,” he said. “I want to give credit to my O-line. They’re the ones that make things happen up in the front, especially for me.”

Offensively, the Raiders came up short on 12 of 13 drives, hitting paydirt once on a 1-yard run by Ramiro Vega right before halftime. Rivera’s Elian Hernandez knew the Raiders came close to pulling it off but said the team will now have to regroup going forward.

“We almost had it,” Hernandez said. “Defense went hard. Offensively, we have to pick up some things, but we played our hearts out today. … (We’re) going to keep on going and see what we have next.”

The junior wide receiver only caught the ball once for a 24-yard reception from fellow Raiders player Ramsey Rocha.

The second touchdown by Rivera came from Mariano Mendez, who scooped up a Lions fumble on the Raiders’ 25-yard line and ran in for the score.

“(Our defense) did a great job; they played the whole game,” Chavez said. “Our offense didn’t play the whole game. We played one half and forgot about the second half. We just have to fix that, and everybody has to learn from it and learn from our mistakes and just get the mindset that we have to play four quarters.”

Rivera’s defense stopped La Feria 10 times, forced three fumbles and recovered two, the last becoming the second touchdown for the Raiders.

On the La Feria side, the Lions did not score as much as they should have.

The visiting team found itself on the Raiders’ side of the field on several occasions but reached the end zone just three times: on a 5-yard pass from Dorian Hernandez to Emanuel Sanchez during the first quarter; an 8-yard run by Dorian Hernandez with 10:57 left in the game; and a 12-yard reception from Dorian Hernandez to Darius Hernandez three minutes later.

“We’re young on the offensive line so we haven’t really hit our stride, but they played well when they needed to,” Salinas said. “We still have a lot to get better. You have to give a lot of credit to the Rivera defense. They’re really good. It was a good test for our offense tonight.”

The Raiders’ coach said the team will have to work on executing offensively before district play begins.

“If we could’ve scored (on offense), it could’ve been a lot different right now,” Chavez said. “(Our defense) kept us in the game, but we just didn’t deliver offensively. Defense did a great job; my hat is off to them. We just have to correct the offense and get a little bit better.”

Rivera has yet to win a game in the 2018 season. The Raiders will give it another shot Oct. 12 when they take on city-rival Hanna in their first district game of the season.

La Feria will look to improve to 6-0 at home next week against Rio Hondo.

By Jesus Sanchez | The Brownsville Herald

Tasked with having to overcome injuries throughout the season, the road has not been easy for the Rivera Raiders, who have yet to get a win in their 2018 campaign.

The Raiders will have another shot at redemption at 7:30 p.m. today at Sams Memorial Stadium when they battle the La Feria Lions in a non-district game.

“We’ve had some injuries that put us in a (difficult) situation right now,” Rivera head coach Tom Chavez said. “We’re going to try to fill up the team, keep going and working hard and get ready for La Feria. I know La Feria is a really good football team. I think in their district, they’re one of the top schools for sure, so we have our work cut out for us.”

Last week, Rivera suffered a 43-14 loss to Sharyland Pioneer.

The Raiders are currently trying to figure out a game plan to work around their injuries, including quarterback Ariel Gonzalez and their junior varsity backup, who both are hurt.

Chavez said the team must put that behind them and take one game at a time in order to keep moving forward in the season.

“We’re just preparing for another game, trying to get better on what we’ve been doing and overcome some mistakes that we’ve made and overcome some injuries that we’ve had,” he said. “We’re just trying to get better every week.”

A key player the Raiders can turn to this week will be wide receiver Elian Hernadez, who Chavez described as a consistent playmaker.

Regardless of the injuries and setbacks, Chavez said the Raiders will not give up and fight till the end.

“These guys are just continuing to work hard, not quitting and trying to get a win like everybody else,” the Rivera coach said.

The Lions are no strangers to having injuries affect the team, either.

Although it could have been a big setback for La Feria, the Lions have managed to pull through and overcome every obstacle in front of them.

“We’ve had a couple of injuries that we’ve had to overcome being late in the year but overall we’re doing pretty well,” La Feria head coach Oscar Salinas said. “We had a good week at practice and I think our kids are ready to compete against a 6A school.”

La Feria battled Port Isabel in Week 4 and one play from the Lions was all it took to defeat the Tarpons 21-14.

Avishai Dickerson was a key player for La Feria, rushing for 134 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries.

“So far, he’s done a good job not only running the ball but in the pass protection,” Salinas said.

The Lions will look to extend their undefeated streak against Rivera in today’s matchup and although they have not been perfect, the Lions’ goal is to improve before district play, the La Feria coach said.

“There are still a lot of things that they felt they could’ve done a little bit better to play a better game,” Salinas said. “Our mentality is to get better as a team and get ready for district and go out there and play a lot better than they did last week.”

Offensively, the coach said La Feria’s receiving core is looking to do better.

Defensively, the Lions will continue to put the pressure on any team in efforts to force turnovers and errors.

Overall, La Feria is looking to get more wins as district play approaches.

“We just have to prepare for district because it’s coming up pretty soon,” Salinas said. “We’re looking forward to a tough match against Brownsville Rivera. Coach Chavez, he’s a legendary Brownsville coach. We know he’s going to have his team ready and we’re going to have to be ready to go to try to beat them.”

By Jesus Sanchez | The Brownsville Herald

After defeating PSJA Memorial 44-24 in Week 4, the 3-1 Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are looking to earn more wins as the 2018 season reaches its halfway mark.

In order to do that, the Chargers must first fight off the Rio Grande City Rattlers (1-3), who are still in the hunt to turn the season around in time for the postseason.

“The team has been very focused this week, just trying to build on a good game last week,” Brownsville Veterans head coach David Cantu said. “We did get some minor injuries last week during the game, which led to some opportunities for quite a few guys, especially on defense. In the long run, hopefully, that could be a good thing for us, trying to develop more depth.”

Some of those injuries include senior free safety Tony Medrano, who suffered an early game injury against the PSJA Memorial Wolverines.

Medrano, who Cantu described as the heart and soul of the Chargers defense, has been nursing an ankle injury and has shown improvement throughout the week.

Yet, the Chargers head coach said the decision of whether or not he will play against the Rattlers will be made at game time.

Brownsville Veterans is already planning on what to do in case Medrano is unable to play, which includes moving some players on the offense to the secondary.

The Chargers know they will be in for a fight to the finish against Rio Grande City and have already begun making plans in order to overcome the Rattlers onslaught.

“Offensively, we’re trying to find some things that’ll work against (Rio Grande City’s) scheme,” Cantu said. “They run a really good 3-4 defense with a good cover, so we have to keep everything in front of them in the passing game. Just being patient and keeping possession of the ball is going to be a big thing and then the weather can be a factor as well. Bottom line, offensively, we just have be consistent, run the ball well and be balanced.”

On the other side of the ball, the Brownsville Veterans coach said the Chargers will have a tougher challenge ahead of them.

“They do a fantastic job on spreading the field,” he said. “They throw every screen that probably is thrown in high school football and they’re not afraid to take shots down the field. They have two quarterbacks who both are effective; very, very tough kids who also tuck it and run with it. So, it’s definitely a tremendous challenge.”

The Rattlers are coming off a 48-7 loss against Mission Veterans.

Rio Grande City head coach Aaron Garcia said the team has been able to move the ball, but offensive mistakes is costing them the chance to finish the game.

“We play Brownsville Vets and just like Mission Vets, they’re obviously a very good team,” Garcia said. “We feel like we move the ball well; we just have to eliminate a lot of mistakes that we’ve made on our part. Also, we have to play better defense.”

The Rattlers will be without their usual quarterback Mario Garza, who was banged up in the game against Mission Veterans.

Adrian Gonzalez will be stepping in for Garza.

Gonzalez will have running back Angel Galvan to turn to during the game against the Chargers. Galvan has provided a consistent ground attack for the Rattlers, racking up a total of 227 rushing yards in the 2018 season.

“I think, primarily, our strength has been our offense,” Garcia said. “We have Angel Galvan who’s our running back; he’s been hard nose for us. He’s a tough runner who’s looking to build on what he’s got and what he’s done this year.”

The Rattlers coach said the team has the tools it needs to come out on top against the Chargers; it just needs to work on few details to be ready.

“We just have to eliminate our mental mistakes,” he said. “We have to be better tacklers. We have to be smart as far as when we have the football. Again, obviously, we have a lot of respect of (Brownsville) Veterans but we’re preparing to win.

“As long as we take care of our business, being patient and pick up what they give us and capitalize on any opportunities that present themselves, we feel we can be all right and make a run at the win.”

Cantu and Chargers feel the same way and are looking forward to the opportunity of continuing their recent success.

“We understand as a team how critical this (game) is to accomplish our ultimate goal to continue to be one of those teams that reaches the postseason and so forth and makes some noise in November,” Cantu said. “We’re really excited about the opportunity and can’t wait to play again.”

By JESUS SANCHEZ

Staff Writer

More than 150 Hanna and San Benito fans witnessed a fast-paced, high-energy match Tuesday night in which the Lady Eagles extended their undefeated District 32-6A record to 3-0.

Hanna defeated San Benito 18-25, 27-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7.

“I know the girls played very hard,” San Benito coach Ruby Medina said. “They wanted to win the game. At the very end, they just made some errors that cost them the game, and that’s what I told them. They played as a team; it’s just we couldn’t get the serve received as we needed it to put the ball down.”

The Lady ’Hounds took the first set in convincing fashion after grabbing the lead early and refusing to let it go.

During the next set, Hanna came back stronger but still did not take the lead.

When it seemed San Benito was one step ahead, the Lady Eagles’ duo of Tabitha Fernandez and Odalys Gonzalez turned things around for Hanna after a late-set kill that sparked a flurry by the Lady Eagles.

Hanna carried over the momentum built in the second set to earn its way to a 25-16 victory in Game 3.

However, the Lady ’Hounds were not done.

San Benito’s duo of Ariel Garcia and Alysa Naranjo fought through to set up three consecutive kills that put the Lady ’Hounds up 11-5 early. Soon after, the rest of the team came together to overpower the Lady Eagles and tie the match at 2 after winning the set 25-21.

A key defensive player for San Benito was Ysabel Soria, who finished with seven blocks and one kill.

“We played really good tonight,” Soria said. “That last game, we just had a lot of errors. We were just missing that back-row piece. All we have to do is push ahead and forget about this loss. Yes, we’re going to get them again soon, and we just got to push each other and play as a team.”

Also for San Benito (1-2), Garcia finished with 40 assists, two kills and one block; Naranjo garnered 31 kills, one ace and one dig; Zoe Betancourt tallied nine blocks and two kills; and Sarah Garcia finished with seven digs and two assists.

“It’s a lesson learned from any loss that we take and the girls have to analyze and see what the actual problem was, so we kind of know what we need to work on during practice and prepare for the next match,” Medina said.

The teams kicked the intensity level up a notch the last game, but a pep talk from Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann was enough to motivate the Lady Eagles to a 15-7 win in the last set.

For the Lady Eagles, Fernandez racked up 38 assists, one kill and an ace; Gonzalez finished with 12 kills, three blocks, one dig and an ace; Nataly Davila tallied four blocks and three kills; and Ari Arceneaux garnered eight blocks, three kills, an ace and one dig.

“We pushed really hard after losing the first set,” Gonzalez said. “We really had to come back. We’re glad we won but now, we’re going to face Los Fresnos on Saturday. We’re glad we’re going 3-0 because they might be going undefeated as well.”

Hagemann said both teams played well throughout the game, but he was happy and proud the Lady Eagles powered through in the end.

“It was an awesome volleyball game from both teams, especially the first two sets,” he said. “I told the team, ‘Even if we lose, you guys did well, you played well.’ We just let it ride from there to see what happens.”

The Lady Eagles now focus their attention to another top rival in 32-6A, the Lady Falcons.

“It’s going to be big,” Hagemann said. “I know Los Fresnos is a tremendous team, but we’re going to do our best to surprise people.”

By JESUS SANCHEZ

Staff Writer

After suffering a 45-24 loss in Week 3 that did not sit well with the Chargers, Brownsville Veterans Memorial refocused to defeat PJSA Memorial 44-24 in a District 16-5A Division I game Thursday.

Brownsville Veterans (3-1, 2-1 district) played a methodical and slow game, showing its ground attack can be lethal to any team. At the end of the first quarter, the Chargers led 14-0, and they extended it to a 27-10 lead by halftime.

The first touchdowns of the game came from short runs from quarterback Liam Longoria.

Elijah Masten made an 11-yard catch from Longoria at the 10:31 mark of the second quarter to make it 21-0.

Brownsville Veterans is back in action at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium in district competition against Rio Grande City.

Also adding points for the Chargers was running back Mauricio Garza, who rushed 49 yards to the end zone to increase the lead to 27-7 before halftime.

Garza led the Chargers with 162 yards on 14 carries.

MORE MOMENTUM: Pace began the 2018 season with a 20-17 loss to Sharyland High, but the Vikings did not let that bring them down and are now 3-0 in district play.

The Vikings added another win to their record when they defeated the PSJA Southwest Javelinas 19-7 on Friday night.

In fact, Pace showed it has improved since the season began, holding PSJA Southwest to 109 yards of offense.

Pace racked up 314 yards of offense, including 239 yards on the ground.

The Vikings’ air attack included 75 yards from quarterback Jose Banda, who was 5 of 12 during the Week 4 game. Banda also rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Fellow Viking Dylan Barron garnered 65 yards on 18 carries.

Shifting its focus to this week, Pace will take a trip to PSJA Memorial to face the Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

DISTRICT WIN: Going into the Battle of Southmost game against Porter, Lopez had one thing to prove: It is still a contender that should be taken seriously.

The Lobos proved that by overcoming the Cowboys 21-14 on Saturday.

Lopez began the game strong by finding the end zone twice and leaving Porter scoreless at halftime.

The Cowboys had a second-half surge that proved troubling to the Lopez at first until its defense came through, as it has in the past, to stop the Porter flurry and give Lopez the win.

Lopez gets its first district win of the season after coming up short against Rio Grande City in Week 3. Coach Armando Gutierrez said the team will continue to have the same mentality it has had since the season started.

“It has that blue-collar mentality that we’ve always had,” Gutierrez said. “We just keep moving forward. … At the end of the day, our kids our going to keep fighting no matter what. Not going into district play (with a win) and getting a win against a good team, we look forward to (this) week and getting another.”

During the Week 3 game, Lopez turned the ball over multiple times to the Rattlers, ultimately costing the team the game. On Saturday, however, the Lobos showed improvements throughout the Battle of Southmost with no interceptions or fumbles.

STILL SEARCHING: The Cowboys began the season by snapping a 22-game losing streak against Port Isabel; since then, Porter has been searching for a win in district play.

Porter started off slow during its game against Lopez last Saturday but was able to outscore the Lobos 2-1 in the second half of the Battle of Southmost.

During the last seconds of the game, Porter tried multiple times to find the end zone but did not hit paydirt.

Porter coach Carlos Uresti said the losses the Cowboys have suffered are tough, but the fashion in which they’ve lost shows that Porter can stay in the game for all four quarters.

“We had two straight games where the game is there,” Uresti said. “At least, you know, that’s all we can ask for from the kids. Being in the games at the end, and we’ve been in the games at the end in the last two games, we just have to be ready to execute and finish the game off right.”

The Cowboys are now 1-3 overall and 0-3 in district. They face Mission Veterans Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission.