By ROY HESS |Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — There will be better days ahead than Saturday for the Harlingen South Lady Hawks in volleyball.

Conversely, “feel-good” wins don’t come much better for the Brownsville Rivera Lady Raiders.

Saturday’s District 32-6A match to see which team would remain with only one loss in conference play was won by the Lady Raiders 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22 at the South gym.

Rivera, coming off Tuesday’s disappointing three-game loss at home to 32-6A leader Los Fresnos (3-0), improved to 2-1 in district. South slipped to 1-2, having also lost to the Lady Falcons.

“ We came into this match, all of us together, with the mindset that if we all worked together, we could pull through,” said Kenya Ibarra, Rivera’s sophomore middle hitter and leader in kills. “It’s all about teamwork, and all of us were happy (to be winning) and cheering each other on.

“ If someone made a mistake, we lifted them up,” Ibarra added. “We all played together, and we pulled through (for the victory).”

Each of the teams played solid defensively, and for the most part, handled the opponent’s most powerful hits. It created some long, back-and-forth volleys.

But in the end, the Lady Raiders played just a little more consistently than the Lady Hawks, who didn’t foresee themselves with a 1-2 district record at this point so early in the 32-6A race.

But it’s happened, and all they can do now is try to get back into the win column when they next play Harlingen High (2-1) in a “Bird Bowl” matchup volleyball-style at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Lady Cardinals’ court.

For the Lady Raiders, winning Saturday’s opening set 25-16 was huge. It allowed Rivera to weather the storm when the Lady Hawks prevailed 25-20 during the second game to even the match at 1 set apiece.

“ I’m really excited (about this win) because we had a tough match against Los Fresnos,” said Lady Raiders coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra, whose team next plays at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at San Benito. “The girls started pretty good (against Los Fresnos) and then they just fell apart. They stepped up really well and played good today.

“ (Before this South match) we had a little talk about communicating, playing together and being there for each other,” Avelar-Guerra added. “I told them to just forget about what happened (against Los Fresnos), and the girls really stepped up and played hard, each and every one of them. Even when I had to get after them, they would step up again.

“ They stayed in the match the whole way through, so I’m really proud of all of them.”

As it is with just about every match tied at 1, the third game becomes crucial. So it was Saturday.

After five ties in the third game — the final one at 9 — the Lady Raiders went up for good during the set at 10-9 when a Rivera hit somehow went off the South side of the net and fell to the floor.

The Lady Raiders were up by nine points, 18-9, on a serving ace by Alondra Guzman before leading by 10 points, 24-14 and 25-15, thanks to a powerful kill by Ibarra that ended the third game.

After a tie at 8, the Lady Raiders went ahead for good during the fourth set, 9-8, on a hit by South that landed out of bounds. The Lady Hawks stayed within striking distance of the lead the rest of the way before a strong hit by Ibarra went off a South player and carried out to give the Lady Raiders a 25-22 victory in the fourth game that clinched the match.

Stat leaders for the Lady Raiders included Ibarra (25 kills, 10 digs), Clarissa Olivares (47 assists, 13 digs), Guzman (three aces, nine kills, 18 digs), Christina Garza (12 kills, 10 digs, one ace), Richelle Guzman (58 digs, one ace) and Laisha Izaguirre (seven kills, five digs).

Stats for South were not immediately available.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Nothing seems to be deterring the Mission Veterans Memorial Patriots on their way to capturing another District 16-5A Division I championship in football.

The Patriots won their fourth straight district game with a 49-0 triumph against the Porter Cowboys on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.

Mission Veterans improved to 4-1 on the season and 4-0 in district with Friday’s victory. Porter slipped to 2-3, 1-3.

It was the Patriots’ defense that got things going after Mission Veterans’ first two drives went into the red zone but resulted in no points.

The Patriots’ Arath Ibanez scooped up a Porter fumble and returned it 60 yards to the end zone for Mission Veterans’ initial score with 3:52 showing in the first quarter. It was 7-0 for the Patriots entering the second period, and they didn’t waste any more time in getting their offense on track.

“Once our offense got going and our defense got a little fire in their bellies, we were able to make some good things happen,” Mission Veterans coach David Gilpin said. “We told our starters with seven minutes left in the third quarter (and leading 49-0 that we were going to start putting in the reserves). It’s always a good feeling as a coach when you can give your guys playing time.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Porter is doing over here this year,” Gilpin added. “They’re a different ballclub than past seasons. I know the score tonight is not indicative of that. Porter is going to be a handful down the line for some of these teams in our district.

“They have to regroup now, and I understand that. Best of luck to them.”

After a quiet opening period offensively, Mission Veterans scored five touchdowns during the second quarter, including four within the final 6:36 before halftime.

Porter didn’t help its cause by losing four fumbles during the opening half.

The Patriots were led again by sophomore quarterback Ricky Reyna, who threw three TD passes and rushed for another score.

The score was 42-0 at intermission and 49-0 going into the fourth quarter.

It became 14-0 when Isaiah Flores caught a 5-yard TD pass from Reyna with 10:27 showing during the second period.

Then, during the final 6:36 of the second period, Flores scored on a 2-yard run, Mike Gonzaque caught scoring passes of 5 and 33 yards from Reyna, and Reyna went into the end zone himself from 1 yard out.

Gonzaque’s second TD reception — the 33-yarder — came with 29 seconds remaining in the second period and made the score 42-0 at the break.

The Patriots began bringing in their reserves midway through the third period after Erick Estrada’s 1-yard TD run increased the lead to 49-0 with 7:34 left in the third quarter.

Mission Veterans was coming off last week’s 38-21 district win against Rio Grande City. Porter was coming off last week’s 48-23 “Battle of Southmost” victory against Lopez.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — The La Feria Lions are 5-0 in football halfway through the regular season thanks to Thursday’s 55-7 non-district victory against the Brownsville Rivera Raiders at Sams Memorial Stadium.

Actually, it’s the second straight season for the Lions to start 5-0. They reached that undefeated mark one year ago after defeating the Raiders 21-14.

This time, the result against the Raiders was more decisive.

While La Feria improved to 5-0, Rivera slipped to 1-4.

“Our offense was very explosive this game,” said La Feria quarterback Dorian Hernandez, a senior, three-year starter who rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more scores against Rivera. “I know we’ve been explosive in many other games, but in this game, we started clicking right off the bat. We scored on two early drives, and that’s the first time we’ve done that (in a while).

“Being 5-0 is a big boost for our confidence,” Hernandez added. “We work hard every day, day in and day out, and I think we deserve this, we really do. Being 5-0 again this season is a really good feeling because we’ve done it two years in a row already now. It boosts our confidence majorly. We have a lot of confidence, but we stay level-headed, too.”

Rivera drove to the La Feria 18 on its first possession, but came away empty-handed when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

The Lions then scored on two of their next three possessions with a lost fumble inbetween to make it 14-0 by the end of the opening quarter. Hernandez tallied on scoring runs of 1 and 8 yards to account for the Lions’ two-TD, first-period lead.

During the second quarter, Hernandez threw scoring passes of 23 yards to Dereck Perez and 50 yards to Caleb Flores to increase the Lions’ advantage to 28-0 with 2:18 to go until halftime.

La Feria kicker Sergio Rodriguez booted a 20-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to make it 31-0 at intermission. He later kicked a 35-yard field goal with 55 seconds remaining in the game to account for the final score.

It was 45-0 by the end of the third period. During the third quarter, the Lions scored on Avishai Dickerson’s 24-yard run and Hernandez’s 14-yard scamper to hike the Lions’ lead to 45-0 with 9:54 left in the third period. Dario Sanchez’s 2-yard burst into the end zone at the 9:39 mark of the fourth quarter made it 52-0.

Rivera closed the gap to 52-7 on Alberto Garcia’s 11-yard TD run with 3:57 left to play before Rodriguez added his second field goal — a 35-yarder — with 55 seconds left.

“What stood out to me was how we came out and played so well offensively,” La Feria coach Oscar Salinas said. “We had a fast start tonight. We’ve been kind of sluggish (getting started) in other (recent) games. Our guys just came out fired up and ready to go.

“We had two days of work (in practice), and we didn’t feel we had enough preparation for this (Thursday) game with all the blitzing that Rivera does,” Salinas added. “The players on both sides of the ball (for us) came out with great intensity.

“Dorian played really well. He’s just getting better every week. He’s a multi-year starter, and he had one of his best games tonight. It’s a great feeling to be 5-0 again, but for us, it’s just a matter of continuing to get better for District (32-4A Division I). We have a long season, and we have some big-time goals we want to accomplish.”

La Feria was coming off last week’s 47-7 victory at Port Isabel. Rivera suffered a 50-28 setback at Sams last week against Sharyland Pioneer.

The Raiders are headed into an open date prior to the start of District 32-6A action. La Feria plays a non-district game at Rio Hondo next Friday.

Hernandez said he wanted to say he greatly appreciates the La Feria fans.

“I’d just like to say thank you to everybody for coming out and showing their support, even on a Thursday night,” the La Feria QB said. “I thank the community for all the backup we’ve had. It’s like having another player on the field, like having a 12th man. We know our fans have our backs, and they’re going to ride with us far into the playoffs.”

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

District 32-6A vs. District 2-6A Week is back.

To avoid a scheduling quandary last year, regardless of the travel involved, five teams from 32-6A agreed to take on opponents from 2-6A.

Both districts had scheduled open dates the following week prior to the start of conference play, so they didn’t want to be without games during back-to-back weeks.

District 2-6A is considered a stronghold of traditionally successful Texas high school football that includes schools such as Odessa Permian, Odessa High, Midland Lee, Midland High and Amarillo Tascosa.

Out of the five matchups between 32-6A and 2-6A last year, the only Rio Grande Valley team to win was Hanna. The Golden Eagles defeated Tascosa 35-19 in San Antonio. Despite the loss, Tascosa went on to advance to the 6A Division II state semifinals. Hanna made it to the third round of the playoffs in 6A Division II.

Now teams from the two districts are ready to match up again.

Hanna (2-2) plays Tascosa (3-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Abilene Christian University.

Tascosa is playing with a lot of confidence after having made it to the state semifinals last year,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said. “The game gives us a chance to see Tascosa’s triple option (offense) before we see it against Los Fresnos in our district.

“This will be a good road trip and give our players a chance to bond,” Guess added. “We’ll leave on Friday and come back on Sunday. We’ll be playing at Abilene Christian’s brand-new stadium.”

In other 32-6A vs. 2-6A matchups this week, it’s Los Fresnos (1-3) at Odessa Permian (1-3) at 7 p.m. Friday, Midland High (1-3) at Harlingen High (3-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday, San Benito (2-2) at Midland Lee (4-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday and Harlingen South (2-2) at Odessa High (1-3) at 11 a.m. Saturday.

San Benito faces perhaps the toughest challenge as undefeated Midland Lee is ranked No. 21 in 6A by the Associated Press this week.

Hanna is coming off last week’s 22-17 victory at Sharyland High. The Eagles are on a two-game winning streak after having beaten Weslaco East 21-19 on Sept. 14.

“Our defense has been hot lately, and our offense has still been having some struggles,” Guess said. “We’re a young team, but we’re not going to use that as an excuse. We still have to get better.

“We’re still going to put the ball in the end zone with who we have out there on the field,” Guess added. “We’re getting better. We need to get better.”

The only team from 32-6A not going against a 2-6A opponent this week is Rivera.

The Raiders (1-3) play host to La Feria (4-0) at 7 p.m. today at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville. The non-district game originally was scheduled to be played in La Feria.

This week’s District 16-5A Division I action gets underway at 7 p.m. today with Lopez (0-4 overall, 0-3 district) playing at Donna High (1-3, 0-3). Also in 16-5A Division I action at 7:30 p.m. Friday, it’s Mission Veterans Memorial (3-1, 3-0) vs. Porter (2-2, 1-2) at Sams, Brownsville Veterans Memorial (3-1, 2-1) at Rio Grande City (3-1, 2-1) and La Joya Palmview (2-2, 2-1) at PSJA Southwest (3-1, 2-1).

At 7 p.m. Saturday at Sams, Pace (3-1, 3-0) plays host to PSJA Memorial (0-4, 0-3) in 16-5A Division I action.

Besides today’s Porter-La Feria game, another non-district contest matching area teams at 7:30 p.m. Friday finds St. Joseph Academy (2-2) at Port Isabel (1-3).

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The first District 32-5A volleyball match of the season between “Battle of Southmost” rivals Porter and Lopez was won by the Cowgirls.

The Cowgirls prevailed 22-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-9 on Tuesday at the Porter gym.

The victory improved the Cowgirls to 2-2 in district. The Lady Lobos slipped to 1-3.

“We were able to pull it off and get the win,” said Azaneth Perez, a junior all-around player for Porter. “We didn’t focus too much on our mistakes (tonight), and we’ll keep on focusing on the positives (in the future) in what we do.

“We’re pretty confident for the playoffs this year,” Perez added. “We hustle in practice and in the games. We always have each other’s backs. We played a really good match tonight.”

Porter coach Tiffany Capistran was in full agreement with Perez, one of the team’s standout hitters.

“Honestly, this is the best the girls have played in district, so to see them play at the level of our competition (or better) is the best thing a coach can ever see,” Capistran said. “I’m happy with that. It feels great.

“Making the playoffs is our goal,” she added. “It feels great to see a 2-2 district record on paper. Tonight our girls had energy, they were communicating, they were playing like a team, and that was the best thing of all.”

There was only one tie during the opening game, and it came at 20 as Lopez led pretty much the entire way. The Lady Lobos surged ahead 24-20 and eventually won the first set 25-22 when Porter made a block that carried out.

The Cowgirls led by as many as seven points, 18-11, during the second game before the Lady Lobos came back to narrow it to two points twice, 20-18 and 22-20, and then to one, 22-21, before the Cowgirls won the second set 25-21 on a kill by Katherine Salas.

The Porter girls were not to be denied during the final two games, as they won 25-13 and then 25-9 to take the match 3-1.

Stat leaders for the Cowgirls were Perez (10 kills, 10 digs, six aces), Salas (17 kills, 14 digs, two aces), Anahi Villarreal (eight kills, three assists, four digs), Brianna Franco (one kill, six blocks), Mickey Garcia (eight kills, five blocks), Angela Vallejo (two aces, 12 digs) and Ashley Pena (44 assists).

Porter next plays Saturday at Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Donna High is at Lopez the same day for the Lady Lobos’ next match.

Tuesday’s Brownsville-area Scores

District 32-6A

Harlingen High def. Brownsville Hanna 17-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-7

District 32-5A

Porter def. Lopez 22-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-9

Donna High def. Pace 25-17, 24-26, 28-26, 25-14

TAPPS

St. Joseph Academy def. CC John Paul II 25-12, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-6

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Just like past seasons, there are some pretty strong hitters in Cameron County high school volleyball this year.

Almost every team has at least one player with the ability to leap and make a powerful hit for a kill if given a good set.

Among those strong hitters in the area who stand out so far this season are Harlingen South’s Mikela Mireles, Los Fresnos’ Jasmin Garcia, Brownsville Rivera’s Kenya Ibarra, Brownsville Hanna’s Odalys Gonzalez and Brownsville St. Joseph’s Ally Stachowiak.

While there are others, these five have been consistently producing points with their play at the net. Still, a player such as Mireles, the 2018 co-offensive player of the year in District 32-6A, is a strong hitter from all over the court. Gonzalez was The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro MVP last season.

Power hitters were on display Saturday on the opening day of 32-6A competition.

Garcia had 32 kills and three blocks for Los Fresnos, and Mireles had 22 kills and 29 digs for Harlingen South during the Lady Falcons’ 28-26, 25-17, 17-25, 27-25 district-opening victory against the Lady Hawks.

Mya Pearl Aguirre, an all-around player for South who can hit with power, contributed 19 kills, 19 assists and 24 digs.

Garcia said all she wanted to do was help her team win against the highly regarded Lady Hawks. She kept receiving good sets, which helped the Lady Falcons’ cause.

“My role was I just wanted to hit so badly,” Garcia said. “I just wanted to help us win.

“We’re a happy team (with a win like this),” Garcia added. “We all talked (to each other during the match) and did amazing. It was one of our best matches. I believe it motivates us to win every other (32-6A) match.”

The Lady Falcons and Lady Hawks meet again Oct. 12 at South.

Rivera and Harlingen High also won their 32-6A openers Saturday. Rivera defeated Hanna 25-20, 25-29, 25-16. Harlingen High downed San Benito 3-0.

District action continues at 7 p.m. today with Los Fresnos at Rivera, Hanna at Harlingen High and South at San Benito.

QUITE A COMEBACK

The Brownsville Pace Lady Vikings rallied to prevail against the Brownsville Lopez Lady Lobos 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-13 during a District 32-5A match Saturday.

“I think my team did not give up and fought for every point,” Lady Vikings coach Pamela McCumber said. “After one of my main middles went down with an ankle injury, the team was forced to communicate (more).

“Jill Perez, my libero, had more than 40 digs, and my middle, Lilia Guevara, had 12 kills,” McCumber added.

Saturday’s 32-5A action left Edcouch-Elsa and Brownsville Veterans Memorial as the district co-leaders at 3-0. Mercedes is 2-1, and Lopez, Pace, Brownsville Porter and Donna High are 1-2. Valley View is 0-3.

District action in 32-5A continues at 7 p.m. today with Pace at Donna High, E-E at Mercedes, Brownsville Veterans at Valley View and Lopez at Porter.

RANKINGS WATCH

Several Rio Grande Valley volleyball teams continue to be state-ranked this week by the Texas Girls Coaching Association.

In Class 6A, McAllen High has moved up to No. 3 in the state, while Los Fresnos is back in the 6A rankings at No. 25 and is tied at the No. 25 spot with two other 6A teams from Texas.

Two Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 9 Mission Veterans Memorial and No. 16 Edcouch-Elsa.

The only other Valley team listed in the rankings this week is San Isidro, which is No. 21 in the Class 1A-2A poll.

EAST VALLEY TOP 5 RANKINGS

1. Los Fresnos

2. Harlingen South

3. Brownsville Veterans Memorial

4. Brownsville Rivera

5. Brownsville Hanna

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — The District 32-6A volleyball race got off to quite a rousing start Saturday in Los Fresnos.

A district opener featuring favorites Los Fresnos and Harlingen South was characterized by dramatic, back-and-forth action with loud responses by the fans, and was eventually won by the Lady Falcons 28-27, 25-17, 17-25, 27-25.

The Lady Falcons, ranked No. 24 in Class 6A by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, improved to 26-8 on the season and 1-0 in district. South is 20-6, 0-1.

“ It was very intense,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “We let our guard down in that third game, and you don’t dare let your guard down against any team in this district.

“ We also missed a lot of serves, and that hurt us,” Woods added. “I already told our girls there will be consequences for those missed serves. You miss serves at the junior high level, but not at the varsity level. (Serving into the net and serving out,) it’s just giving a point away. You can’t do that.”

An unofficial tally showed Los Fresnos had serves go awry nine times. It seemed like more, but at least those serves off the mark didn’t cost the Lady Falcons the match, although they created some anxious moments for the Los Fresnos fans.

South coach Anissa Lucio was disappointed with the outcome but said her team will bounce back.

“ It was a tough match, but I’m proud of the way my girls fought through it,” Lucio said. “We showed a lot of grit, and we’re going to take that into our next (32-6A) match on Tuesday (at San Benito).”

The Lady Falcons showed some resolve of their own by rallying after falling behind by nine points, 20-11, during the opening game. A hit into the net put Los Fresnos down by nine, but little by little, the Lady Falcons battled back.

There were ties at 24, 25 and 26 near the end of the first set. Back-to-back kills by Los Fresnos’ Jasmin Garcia, a senior middle hitter, provided a 28-26 victory for her team to open the match after things didn’t look too promising earlier.

“ This was a lot like our (non-district) match against McAllen Rowe (earlier this season), which is another good team,” said Garcia, who finished with a match-high 32 kills. “All of us just decided to keep going and never give up at all.

“ My role was I just wanted to hit so badly,” Garcia added. “I just wanted to help us win. The whole team learned to come back, and we all did a good job.”

Things looked even better for the Lady Falcons after they won the second game 25-17. Los Fresnos broke away from a tie at 11 during the second set to make it 12-11 on kill by Gio Godoy, and the Lady Falcons never trailed the rest of the game. The Lady Falcons won the set by eight points when Godoy sent a strong hit over the net that went off a South player and carried out.

The Lady Hawks went on another strong run during the third game, and this time didn’t let up. They were ahead by scores of 7-2, 9-3, 12-6, 19-13, 22-14 and 24-15 before a block by South’s Mya Pearl Aguirre won the set 25-17 and gave the Lady Hawks new hope in the match at 2-1.

The hotly contested fourth game featured 15 ties. It was clear neither team wanted to give in.

The last tie came at 25, and from there, Los Fresnos went ahead 26-25 when South hit a ball too long. A hit into the net by the Lady Hawks on the next point gave Los Fresnos a 27-25 victory and secured the district-opening match for the Lady Falcons.

Stat leaders for Los Fresnos included Garcia (32 kills, three blocks, three aces), Godoy (14 kills, 13 blocks, two aces), Cadence Castillo (30 digs, two aces), Clarissa Esquibel (54 assists, 18 digs), Mia Brown (11 digs, two kills) and Tate Halford (nine kills, 19 digs).

For the Lady Hawks, the stat leaders were Aguirre (19 kills, 19 assists, 24 digs), Mikela Mireles (22 kills, 29 digs), Alexa Encina (20 assists, 19 digs), Odemarys Vidana (two kills, eight digs), Korynne Reininger (three blocks), Allyah Guevara (three kills, seven digs), Zoe Garcia (48 digs) and Evelyn Yanez (51 digs).

South next plays Tuesday at San Benito. Los Fresnos goes to Rivera for its next match the same night.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Getting a chance to run on the course in Harlingen to be used for the District 32-6A cross country meet next month was a welcomed opportunity for runners from 32-6A on Saturday.

Pretty satisfying as well was coming away with team titles and individual first places in the Harlingen Invitational at the Harlingen Sports Complex on Wilson Road.

A pair of Brownsville teams emerged with team championships Saturday.

The Hanna boys won a team championship for the second straight week in a row by finishing with 56 points to come out ahead of top-five finishers PSJA Memorial (75 points), Harlingen High (79), San Benito (86) and Los Fresnos (165).

The girls team title was captured by Brownsville Veterans Memorial with 40 points. Also finishing in the top five behind the Lady Chargers were Hanna (82), Mission Veterans Memorial (102), Harlingen South (113) and Harlingen High (120).

Hanna coach Olaya Teran was pleased with the showing of her boys and girls, but added there is still more work to put in before the 32-6A meet Oct. 11 at the Harlingen Sports Complex.

“ This win helps our runners know how strong they are (on this course) and what they need to do (to win at district),” Teran said. “Today gives us a little more confidence.

“ District will be close,” she added. “We need to work on our fifth and sixth runners, and I think so does (district contender) Harlingen (High). The district title will go to who wants it the most.”

Jorge Medina, Brownsville Veterans’ coach, likewise said he was pleased with Saturday’s team title showing for his girls, and added there is still improvement to be made before the District 32-5A meet Oct. 17 at the Brownsville ISD Encampment.

“ We ran well today, but I still feel we’re not quite where I want us to be,” Medina said. “I’m real proud of our team. It’s a great team. We just have more work to do.

“ We’re a young team with a strong sophomore group,” Medina added. “I feel like our team is getting healthy and coming together at the right time. I believe we can be ready to do well at regionals and make it to state.”

The Lady Chargers won their team title Saturday despite the fact sophomore Sofia Ramirez fell on the course and didn’t come in as her squad’s second or third runner as she usually does. She is the twin sister of Cynthia Ramirez. Both are among the promising sophomore group for the Lady Chargers.

Medina had a lot of praise for Brownsville Veterans’ Valeria Gamez and Cynthia Ramirez, who finished 1-2 in the girls race in 20 minutes, 5 seconds and 20:09, respectively.

Los Fresnos’ Jasmine Ponce (20:21) was third, Harlingen High’s Victoria Scarberry (20:28) was fourth and Rivera’s Bethany Guzman (20:50) was fifth.

For the boys, PSJA Memorial’s William Macias (16:03) came in first, followed by Hanna’s John Abrego (16:13), Felipe Parra (16:28), San Benito’s Joaquin Medina (16:34) and Hanna’s Marcos Tellez (16:35).

Many Rio Grande Valley teams and others from around the state will be competing at the Round Rock McNeil meet next Saturday at Old Settlers Park, the course for the UIL state meet, which is scheduled for Nov. 9.

Brownsville Veterans and Hanna will be among those running next weekend at the Round Rock McNeil meet.

Last week’s meet was at the BISD Encampment. The Hanna boys won that meet and the Brownsville Veterans girls took second. Previously this season, the Lady Chargers won the team title at the Edcouch-Elsa meet.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Rivera Raiders’ winning streak was short-lived.

Sharyland Pioneer, another team on the rise in Rio Grande Valley football, dispatched the Raiders 50-28 on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium one week after Rivera ended a 21-game losing skid dating back to 2017.

The Raiders were hoping to add to their win column this season after beating Valley View 32-0 at Brownsville Sports Park last week under new coach Beto Leal, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Pioneer improved to 3-1 on the season with Friday’s non-district victory. Rivera slipped to 1-3.

Rivera scored on its first possession on a 5-yard run by Ramiro Vega to lead 7-0 at the 7:25 mark of the opening quarter, and the Raiders still led 7-3 by the end of the first period after a 28-yard field goal by Pioneer’s Oliver Olivares.

But after the first quarter, the Diamondbacks came alive in a big way and took control of the game behind the five touchdown passes and two running scores of Pioneer quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger.

“What stood out to me about this game was just our offense,” Marburger said. “We played very well. I’m happy with the outcome.

“Our O-line blocked very well tonight, and I was very comfortable with my passes,” Marburger added. “I’m just thankful for those guys in the line, and our receivers did a great job, too. I’m thankful for my O-line and the team in general.

“I see us gaining momentum as the season goes on. It’s creating a winning culture around here for us. Winning is helping this team a lot with the confidence (we’re gaining).”

Pioneer led 24-7 at halftime and 50-14 going into the final period before the Raiders added a pair of fourth-quarter scores.

During the second quarter, Marburger threw touchdown passes of 68 yards to Gavin De La Garza and 30 yards to Lavar Lindo before running in a TD himself on a 17-yard sprint to make it 24-7 with 4:08 to go in the half.

Marburger boosted the lead to 31-7 with 10:42 showing in the third period thanks to an 8-yard scoring run. During the final 8:11 of the third quarter, Marburger tossed scoring passes of 5 yards to Mike Ramos and 63 yards to De La Garza to increase the Diamondbacks’ lead to 44-7.

Rivera QB Chito Perez scrambled 31 yards for Rivera’s second TD with 2:55 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 44-14 before Marburger threw his fifth TD pass of the night — a 56-yarder to Luke Padilla — with 2:36 remaining in the third period to make it 50-14 by quarter’s end.

The Raiders added a pair of rushing scores during the last 6:16 of the contest as Ramsey Rocha went into the end zone on a 7-yard run and teammate Aaron Garza tallied on a 1-yard plunge. Garza’s TD to make it 50-28 came with 2:06 remaining.

Pioneer defeated the Raiders 43-14 one year ago when the two teams played in Mission.

The Diamondbacks were coming off last week’s 56-28 triumph against Mission High.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

This time, the “Battle of Southmost” in football belonged to the Porter Cowboys.

Ending a run of three straight wins by Lopez, the Cowboys defeated the Lobos 48-23 Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.

Lopez still leads the “Battle of Southmost” series between the two schools in football 12-10.

The Cowboys improved to 2-2 on the season and 1-2 in District 16-5A Division I. Lopez slipped to 0-4, 0-3.

It was The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week.

“Finally, we had a complete game,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “We got off to a fast start for the first time during this short season that we’ve had so far. We came out and moved the ball up and down the field and finally showed some urgency early in the game and not waiting until the second half, which seems to be what we’ve done in past games.

“I think what this win does is just solidify what we thought about our team from the very beginning of the season,” Uresti added. “We knew this was going to be a special team. We had some unfortunate losses at the end (of games against Pace and La Joya Palmview). We had two losses by a combined four points (17-14 to Pace and 27-26 to Palmview).

“This is a good team that we have here, and this kind of puts us back to what we thought we could do, which is play all four quarters. Let’s see what the outcome is ahead for us.”

It was also a rare night when the Cowboys were attired in all red uniforms. The change in color from their traditional blue didn’t seem to hurt the Cowboys’ chances at all, and maybe even helped them.

“This is the first time to wear these (red) uniforms,” said Adam Gonzalez, Porter’s senior left offensive guard. “It’s a nice style. I really love it. It’s the third color of Porter, which is blue, white and red. It’s really a nice change-up.”

Gonzalez said he is happy to go out as a senior with a “Battle of Southmost” victory after three losses to the Lobos.

“This win feels great,” he said. “After my whole four years of varsity, it feels so good to take that ‘Southmost’ crown back. It’s amazing after three years of losses to Lopez.”

Porter led 14-3 after one quarter and 41-10 at halftime.

During the first quarter, Cowboys quarterback Kevin Garcia scored on a 35-yard run and running back Joey Saldana went into the end zone from 7 yards out to make it 14-0 before Lopez’s Isaias Rangel converted a 34-yard field to close the gap to 14-3.

It became 28-3 during the second quarter as Porter’s Brandon Reta scored on an 11-yard run and Saldana added a 28-yard touchdown scamper.

Also durng the second period, Lopez QB Jose M. Cruz tallied on a 9-yard run with 8:13 left before halftime to cut Porter’s lead to 28-10.

But Porter came back and added a pair of TDs before intermission.

Garcia scored his second and third TDs of the opening half on runs of 7 and 14 yards during the final 7:08 of the second quarter.

Garcia had 138 yards rushing on eight carries by halftime.

After a scoreless third period, Lopez scored twice in the fourth quarter and Porter once to account for the final score.

Cruz’s 3-yard TD run with 10:42 showing in the final quarter cut Porter’s lead to 41-17. Brian Franco’s 14-yard TD run with 5:27 to go put Porter back up by 31 points, 48-17.

Late in the game, the Lobos recovered their own fumble in the Cowboys’ end zone for a touchdown on a play from the Porter 3 to make the score 48-23 with 1:52 remaining. That’s the way the game ended.

Last year, Lopez defeated Porter 21-14 at Sams.

The Cowboys were coming off last week’s 27-26 loss at Sams to Palmview. Lopez lost 69-19 at Rio Grande City last week.

District action continues for both teams as Lopez is at Donna High next Thursday and Porter plays host to Mission Veterans Memorial at Sams next Friday.