LOS FRESNOS — It takes playing a strong game with minimal errors to defeat the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons in volleyball on their home court.

Hanna brought lots of energy and fire into Saturday’s District 32-6A showdown at Los Fresnos during a match between the two teams tied for the conference lead at 3-0 apiece. But the Lady Golden Eagles weren’t able to sustain their solid play to the end of the match in falling to the Lady Falcons 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23.

As a result, Los Fresnos is the lone 32-6A leader at 4-0, while Hanna slipped to 3-1 and is alone in second place. Also in the six-team district after Saturday’s action, San Benito is 2-2 and Rivera, Harlingen South and Harlingen High are all 1-3.

The next 32-6A matches Tuesday will mark the end of the first round for district play.

“This was going to be a tougher match, and we knew that coming in because we were the only two undefeated teams left in our district,” said Los Fresnos’ Sandra Salazar, a senior outside hitter. “At first, it was kind of rough, and it was just because of mistakes within ourselves, but we really pulled through toward the end.

“I’m just really proud of my team,” Salazar added. “We all did really well, and I’m happy we won.”

After numerous ties during the opening game, the last of which coming at 21, the Lady Eagles scored four of the next five points and won 25-22 on a well-placed tip by Odalys Gonzalez.

Hanna led 7-2 to start the second game, but the Lady Falcons soon battled back to tie the set eight times, the last time coming at 20. Los Fresnos eventually won 25-22 when Victoria Garcia Lebron made a successful tip to mid-court on the side.

Garcia Lebron and Jasmin Garcia are two Los Fresnos players who haven’t played a whole lot so far this season, but they earned some extended minutes with their solid play Saturday.

The Lady Falcons displayed their prowess during the third game, surging to advantages of 14-7, 16-8, 19-12 and 21-14. A back-line kill by Los Fresnos’ Gaby Cuevas allowed the Lady Falcons to take the third game 25-19.

By that time, the Lady Falcons were feeling as though they had gained the upper hand.

Hanna did not go away, however, as the fourth set was tied seven times, with the final deadlock coming at 23. From there, back-to-back kills by Jasmin Garcia, a tall, slender junior hitter, closed out the game and the match, with Los Fresnos winning the fourth set 25-23.

Los Fresnos had beaten Hanna twice in tournaments earlier this season.

“This time, Hanna was definitely more solid,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “They were ready for us. Everybody’s ready for us. Hanna was hitting the ball hard at us, and we just needed to make some adjustments after that first game. Basically, what we did was put our tall girl (Jasmin Garcia) on their big hitter (Gonzalez). Jasmin came through and was (blocking and) hitting the ball for us.

“This win means a lot for us because we’ve got to go to San Benito on Tuesday (and we need the momentum),” Woods added. “San Benito beat us (in five games during a non-district match Sept. 15). We have to go to San Benito and play hard. They beat us by tipping, and that’s what we’ve been working on, plus our movement in the backcourt.

“We have to go into San Benito and play like we played Hanna. I’m proud of how these girls played today.”

Emma Stambaugh led Los Fresnos with eight kills, and teammates Jasmine Garcia and Garcia Lebron added seven kills apiece. Cuevas contributed five kills.

Also for Los Fresnos, Hanna Castillo had five digs and two aces, Sarah Villarreal had 43 assists and seven digs, and Isis Delgado had 10 digs.

For Hanna, Gonzalez and Ariana Arceneaux recorded 18 and 11 kills, respectively. Gonzalez also had five blocks and five digs. Nataly Davila added seven kills and four blocks, and Tabitha Fernandez had 23 assists and 14 digs. Aniel Aguero contributed 20 assists and 11 digs, and Angelina Castillo had 16 digs. Also for the Lady Eagles, Vivian Izaguirre and Natalie Arnold had four and three kills, respectively.

“I feel we kind of lost a little momentum in the second set, and then we had a bad (start to the) set in the third before we came back in the fourth game,” Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “It’s an open (and very competitive) district, and today things went against us, but I believe we’ll be fine.”

While Los Fresnos will be at San Benito on Tuesday, the Lady Eagles that night will be at home against Harlingen South.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

SAN JUAN — It’s official. The Pace Vikings are on a roll.

They’re winning, even if they have to play some late-night football and fend off a determined opponent.

The Vikings broke out of a 21-21 halftime tie to capture their fourth straight victory by defeating the PSJA Memorial Wolverines 48-32 on a rainy Friday night at PSJA Stadium.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes due to the threat of lightning in the area. Drizzle fell at times during the contest, but there was no threat of lightning once the game kicked off.

The contest didn’t end until a few minutes before midnight.

The Vikings were up 14-0 early in the game, but the Wolverines never gave up trying to come back.

The District 16-5A Division I win improved the Vikings to 4-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference action. PSJA Memorial slipped to 0-5 and 0-4.

“I said before that PSJA Memorial’s (winless) record doesn’t indicate how good they are,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said. “They made some big plays against us, including on special teams.

“I tend to get a little more involved coaching our defense, and we had not allowed this many points before (so far this season), so it hurt,” Pardo added. “I’m a little disappointed in that. We have to really work on what we need to correct.

“Like I told the team, ‘It’s an ugly win, but that’s always better than a loss.’ We made too many crucial mistakes, but don’t get me wrong, PSJA Memorial played well and made some big plays. All credit goes to them. It wasn’t that we just played bad. Our opponent made us play bad, so credit PSJA Memorial.”

Pace led 14-7 after one quarter and wound up in the 21-21 deadlock at intermission. The Vikings took a 28-24 advantage into the final period.

Jose Banda, Pace’s sophomore quarterback, enjoyed a standout night by throwing four touchdown passes and rushing for two more scores.

During the first half, he threw TD passes of 9 and 8 yards to Juan Jimenez and another one of 14 yards to Brandon Zapata. During the second half, Banda recorded rushing TDs of 10 and 15 yards while throwing a 56-yard scoring bomb to Carlos Pulido.

There were big plays for both sides. The Wolverines’ Joaquin Sanchez returned a Pace kickoff 95 yards to the end zone in the first quarter to pull his team to within 14-7.

During the second period, the Wolverines’ Micheal Munoz caught a 52-yard scoring bomb from QB Orlando Munoz with 1:13 showing until the half to create the 21-21 intermission score.

Another big play for the Wolverines happened when Tavis Sain caught a 49-yard scoring pass from backup QB Alex Leyva with 8:05 left to make it 42-32.

Hector Salazar sealed the win for Pace by intercepting a Leyva pass and returning it 69 yards to the end zone for a pick-six with 14.9 seconds remaining to account for the final score after the extra point was blocked.

The only loss for the Vikings so far this season was a non-district 20-17 overtime setback on Aug. 31 at Sharyland High in a season opener.

It was Pace’s second straight victory at PSJA Stadium during as many weeks. The Vikings defeated PSJA Southwest 19-7 at PSJA Stadium one week ago.

The Wolverines were coming off last week’s 44-24 setback in Brownsville against Brownsville Veterans Memorial.

District 16-5A Division competition continues next week. Pace plays against La Joya Palmview on Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium. PSJA Memorial plays at Rio Grande City on Friday.

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers picked up their second District 16-5A Division I victory in a row with a 35-21 triumph over the the Rio Grande City Rattlers on Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.

The Chargers, coming off last week’s 44-24 district win against PSJA Memorial at Sams, improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the Rattlers slipped to 1-4 and 1-3.

The Chargers’ decisive victory came on an overcast, rainy night.

It was another big showing for Chargers running back Mauricio Garza. He ran 17 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

Also highlighting the scoring for Brownsville Veterans were quarterback Liam Longoria and wide receiver Elijah Masten. They hooked up on TD passes of 34 and 5 yards in the first half. Masten added an 11-yard wide-receiver-around TD run to the right side in the third quarter.

“It feels great that we all stepped up as a team to get this win,” said Carlos Galindo, a senior two-way player at inside receiver and cornerback for Brownsville Veterans. “We had to play smashmouth football against these guys by getting in their face and running right at them. We also completed some good passes, and we had some good blocking, so this win was fun.”

A 10-yard run by Garza and a 34-yard TD catch by Masten made it 14-0 during the opening period. A 74-yard TD bomb from Rattlers QB Adrian Gonzalez to a wide open Julio Nunez at the 3:59 mark of the first quarter pulled the visitors to within 14-7 of the lead.

Garza broke loose on a 30-yard scoring run with 9:45 showing in the second period for a 21-7 lead by the Chargers. It became 28-7 with 2:40 to go before intermission as Masten caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Longoria.

Masten scored on his 11-yard scamper to the end zone with 6:07 to go in the third period to make it 35-7.

“We got off to a good start,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “We had a game plan that our players executed really well. It was important to get off to a good start because we knew Rio Grande City’s passing game was eventually going to get on a roll.

“It’s important for us to get this win,” Cantu added. “In this district with 10 teams, every victory is absolutely huge. We’re sitting 3-1 (in district) right now, and next week (against Porter) is just as big. We’re trying to do everything we can to get into the postseason.”

The Rattlers cranked up their passing game and marched up and down the field during the final quarter before scoring a pair of rushing TDs to make the final score 35-21.

The Rattlers made it 35-14 on a 9-yard burst up the middle by Gonzalez, who was subbing at QB for the injured starter. Gonzalez’s score came with 4:30 to play. A 1-yard TD run by reserve running back Jonathan Huerta with 51 seconds left gave the Rattlers their third TD.

Rio Grande City was coming off last week’s 48-7 setback against district leader Mission Veterans. Prior to that game, the Rattlers prevailed 26-21 over Lopez on Sept. 15 at Sams.

Brownsville Veterans suffered its only district loss, 45-24, at Mission Veterans on Sept. 15. The Chargers opened district with a 32-12 triumph against Lopez on Sept. 7 at Sams.

The Chargers and Rattlers didn’t play each other last season because they were in different districts.

District competition continues next week for both teams. As the visiting team, Brownsville Veterans takes on Porter next Friday at Sams, while the Rattlers will be at home the same night against PSJA Memorial.

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

The football season is going along pretty much how the Pace Vikings envisioned it would go.

Pace is off to a 3-1 start, including 3-0 in District 16-5A Division I.

The next challenge for the Vikings comes at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they return to PSJA Stadium for a district matchup against the PSJA Memorial Wolverines, who are 0-4 (0-3 district). Even though they’re winless, the Wolverines are showing improvement each passing week.

Pace just played at PSJA Stadium last week and defeated PSJA Southwest 19-7 in district action. It was the Vikings’ third win in a row. The only setback thus far for the Vikings was a non-district 20-17 overtime loss at Sharyland High in the season opener on Aug. 31.

Second-year Pace coach Danny Pardo is pleased with his team’s showing so far as the regular season draws closer to the halfway point.

When asked to grade his team at this point of the schedule, Pardo agreed that grade should probably be a B-plus.

“We’re doing good enough to win,” the Pace coach said. “We’re moving the ball. We just need to score more. Last week against PSJA Southwest, we had four trips inside the 10-yard line and only scored three points.

“Our defense is doing well,” Pardo added. “We’re fortunate to be putting together some long drives (on offense) to have a good time of possession, and that keeps our defense off the field.”

The Vikings are leading the district in defense by allowing only 158.8 yards per game. It was only a year ago when the Vikings were fairly porous at times on defense. The Wolverines rank last in district, giving up 417.8 yards per outing.

Offensively, the Wolverines are averaging 261.8 yards per game, while Pace is averaging 270.0 yards.

“We don’t take PSJA Memorial lightly,” Pardo said. “We have a lot of respect for them. Their record doesn’t really show the kind of team they have.

“Their quarterback (Orlando Munoz) can move (and make plays), and they have a running back (Joaquin Sanchez) that is fast, and is the district champion in the 100 (meters), I believe,” Pardo added. “Nobody we’ve faced so far throws the ball like they do, so it will be a good test for us. It’ll be a good game.”

PSJA Memorial is coming off a 44-24 district loss two Thursdays ago to Brownsville Veterans Memorial at Sams Memorial Stadium. In that game, Munoz passed for 250 yards, wide receiver Tavis Sain ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns and Sanchez rushed for 62 yards.

Wolverines coach Michael Uribe sees his team improving every week.

“Absolutely,” Uribe said. “We’re making strides and getting better. I’m optimistic about our progress and pleased with how we’ve improved.

“We’ve been having a good week of preparation to give ourselves the best chance possible to be successful against Pace,” he added. “There’s a reason why they’re 3-0 (in district). Pace is very athletic and big up front.”

Pace relies on quarterbacks Brandon Zapata, a senior, and Jose Banda, a sophomore. If Zapata isn’t at QB, he plays running back and leads the team with 250 yards rushing. Dylan Barron (224 yards rushing) and Banda (196) are also in the mix.

Banda has the best passing numbers, having completed 14 of 29 attempts for 246 yards and two TDs with no interceptions in four games.

The Vikings and Wolverines didn’t play each other last year as each team was in a different district.
Next week, district action continues for both teams. Pace returns to Sams on Thursday against La Joya Palmview, while PSJA Memorial is at Rio Grande City on Friday.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS

Staff Writer

Sometimes, it takes a little extra incentive to encourage a team to win.

Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Lisa Mares felt as though her volleyball team wasn’t really playing with full intensity and was making far too many unforced errors during its District 32-5A match Tuesday night at Lopez.

In somewhat of an unorthodox coaching move, she offered to cancel the team’s practice today if the Lady Chargers displayed a stronger effort in the third game after barely prevailing during the first two sets.

The move paid off as she got her team to respond by finishing strong and sweeping the Lady Lobos 25-22, 26-24, 25-13.

“I think we started out with our energy a little bit low, but toward the end in the second set, we brought it up, and we were more competitive,” said Frida Rangel, a senior middle blocker for the Lady Chargers. “We played harder (in the third game), and that really helped us a lot.

“I think that (offer by our coach to cancel practice) definitely made us push harder,” Rangel added. “I still think we could have pushed harder (without the offer), but regardless, it really did help (us respond).”

Brownsville Veterans improved to 5-1 in district with Tuesday’s victory, and Lopez slipped to 3-3. Both teams remain in the playoff hunt.

“Defensively, the Lopez girls were picking up everything we hit to them, and they had a lot of energy,” Mares said. “We were making a lot of errors, and it was our own errors that were hurting us. I was telling our girls (during a timeout), ‘You’re beating yourselves because you’re committing so many errors.’ Our ball handling was off, and everything was off, but credit to Lopez, they were on.

“The match could have definitely gone a different way,” Mares added. “I’m glad we came back in the second set (after being down 23-20 and 24-21), but sometimes you can dig yourself into a hole like that and not get out.

“I told the girls, ‘Hey, maybe if we have fewer errors (in the third game), I’ll think about canceling practice.’ Then they played really well. I said, ‘Do I have to tell you guys that (just to get you to play better)?”

Rangel, Pamela Sanchez and Valeria Sumaya each recorded eight kills to lead the Lady Chargers. Also for Brownsville Veterans, Alex Parchmont, Daniela Espinosa and Aly Boek finished with 26, 21 and 14 digs, respectively. Espinosa added 31 assists.

Brownsville Veterans broke out of a 22-22 tie to win the first game 25-22, and the second game was deadlocked at 24 before the Lady Chargers prevailed 26-24.

“Lopez is a good team, and they’ve definitely improved since last year, but it felt good to know that we could work our way back up after we started so slow,” said Sanchez, a senior outside hitter. “I think this win will really pump us up for our next match and help us get into the mood and into the zone for Saturday, because we have an important match coming up.”

The Lady Chargers next face a key challenge to close out the first round of district play at 1 p.m. Saturday. They play host to district leader Edcouch-Elsa.

“It was good to have a match like this against Lopez, especially with the Edcouch-Elsa match coming up Saturday,” Mares said. “Hopefully we learned something from this match against Lopez.”

The 2018 District 32-6A volleyball race could be described any number of ways.

Regarding 32-6A after one week of competition, Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said, “This district is just insane. The teams are so even, and the matches are so close.

“I guess it’s amazing for the people who can watch the matches and be entertained, but for the coaches, it’s a different story,” Hagemann added. “Being 2-0 is better than being 0-2. There is a long way to go in this district (race). Every team (in 32-6A) is (good enough to be) a district champion.

“We’re going to be humbly approaching every district match and working hard for the win. Hopefully, we’ll be blessed and have some more wins.”

Hanna opened district play last week with wins against Rivera in five games and Harlingen High in four games to start 2-0. The Lady Golden Eagles share the 32-6A lead with Los Fresnos, which defeated Harlingen South and Rivera with three-game sweeps.

At 1-1 are Harlingen High and San Benito, while Rivera and South are 0-2.

Tonight’s 32-6A matches at 6:30 find Hanna at San Benito, Los Fresnos at Harlingen High and Harlingen South at Rivera.

If Hanna and Los Fresnos emerge 3-0 after tonight’s district play, there will be a 32-6A showdown for sole possession of the lead at noon Saturday when Hanna visits Los Fresnos.

One of the standout performers for Hanna is Ariana Arceneaux, a senior outside hitter/middle blocker who is enjoying the Lady Eagles’ strong 2-0 start.

I think this (2-0) start brings us closer together because in preseason we struggled to really get that groove (cohesiveness) in (place), and I think we’ve finally gotten to the point where we’re peaking, and that’s a good thing coming into district,” Arceneaux said. “I know we have one of the toughest districts and Harlingen (High) is a really good team, so to be able to beat them was crazy (good). In this district, anything can happen, so I’m excited to see how it all plays out.”

32-5A UPDATE: Thanks to a pair of victories against Mercedes and Valley View last week, Edcouch-Elsa remains the District 32-5A leader at 5-0.

Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Donna High are close behind at 4-1 apiece, and Lopez holds down fourth place in the district at 3-2. The remainder of the standings find Porter and Mercedes tied at 2-3, with Pace and Valley View both 0-5.

Brownsville Veterans plays a pair of crucial matches this week. The Lady Chargers are at Lopez at 7 p.m. today and then play host to E-E at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday’s matches will complete the first round of district competition in 32-5A.

32-4A UPDATE: The Hidalgo Lady Pirates go into today’s final matches of the first round in District 32-4A as the leader at 6-0. The Lady Pirates are at home against Grulla tonight.

La Feria is in sole possession of second place in 32-4A at 5-1, with its only loss coming at Hidalgo in five games (25-19, 13-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-10) on Sept. 11.

Rounding out the 32-4A standings, it’s Zapata at 4-2, Grulla and Rio Hondo at 3-3, Port Isabel at 2-4, Raymondville at 1-5 and Progreso at 0-6.

Port Isabel plays at Progreso tonight and at Raymondville on Saturday.

STRONG START: Jubilee Brownsville boasts a 16-2 record on the season following Friday’s 25-15, 31-29, 25-14 non-district victory over Santa Rosa. Jubilee is trying to duplicate or surpass last year’s showing, when the Lady Titans went 29-2 and reached the state semifinal round of the Texas Charter School Academic & Athletic League.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

The view from atop the District 32-6A volleyball standings is an enjoyable one for the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles.

Hanna is tied for the district lead at 2-0 with Los Fresnos after one week of 32-6A competition.

“ It’s better to be 2-0 than 0-2,” said Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann, who celebrated his 49th birthday Saturday as the Lady Eagles won at home against Harlingen High 24-26, 25-10, 25-13, 25-22 to improve to 2-0.

“ This (win) is the best birthday present that I could wish for, and that’s the main present (I would want),” Hagemann added. “I don’t know how it would have felt (to try to celebrate my birthday) without a win in this match. I’d probably just want to go home (and not celebrate).”

The Lady Eagles and Lady Cardinals were coming off impressive five-set victories against Rivera and San Benito, respectively, during last Tuesday’s 32-6A openers, so after Saturday’s match, Hanna is now 2-0 and Harlingen High is 1-1.

Also Saturday, Los Fresnos defeated Rivera 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 to stay unbeaten at 2-0.

For Harlingen High, it was a missed opportunity to remain up there as a district leader.

“ I saw this match against Hanna as a match that could potentially hurt us down the road (in the 32-6A playoff race),” Lady Cardinals coach Joslynn Torres said after the loss. “For some reason, we just can’t seem to pull it out (and win) in this (Hanna) gym.

“ It was all about our seniors today,” Torres added. “Now was finally the time to beat Hanna at Hanna, and we still couldn’t pull it off. We were way off today. My attackers weren’t in sync and everything was just off. You could just tell it. We had a lot of serving errors and all the errors were on us. To me, Hanna didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves.”

Yes, it wasn’t the most well-played of matches Saturday as both teams many times followed a standout play with a hit or serve that went out of bounds on the next point.

The Lady Eagles came alive and put together a stronger showing after dropping the closely contested first game 26-24. There were 14 ties during the first set, with the last deadlock at 24. The first game saw Harlingen High surge ahead 25-24 after the Lady Eagles mishit the ball out on a volley. A back-line kill on the final point of the first game lifted the Lady Cardinals.

After that, however, the match’s momentum carried over to the Hanna side, particularly when the Lady Eagles won the second and third games with decisive scores (25-10 and 25-13). Hanna and Harlingen High were tied at 8 during the fourth game. From there, Hanna led the rest of the way and won 25-22 thanks to a well-placed tip by the Lady Eagles’ Odalys Gonzalez.

Gonzalez led Hanna with 18 kills, nine digs and four blocks, and teammate Ari Arceneaux had 12 kills and eight digs. Also for Hanna, Nataly Davila had five kills and seven blocks, while Angelina Castillo had 16 digs. Tabitha Fernandez added 20 assists and seven digs, and Aniel Aguero contributed 14 assists, eight digs, three aces and two blocks.

“ Honestly, it feels amazing (to be 2-0) because we started completely opposite in district last year,” said Arceneaux, a senior outside hitter/middle blocker. “We had to struggle to get into the playoffs (in 2017). I think this year starting off strong (in district) gives us a lot of confidence.

“ We have a good group of seniors, so going back to the playoffs or even winning district would be amazing,” Arceneaux added. “I’m super proud of the team and how we’ve come together. We’re so close, and we’re a group of sisters. I’m so anxious to see how all this turns out (in the district race).”

District 32-6A action continues at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Hanna is at San Benito, and Harlingen High plays host to Los Fresnos.

All the Hanna Golden Eagles wanted was a chance to play football.

They didn’t have that opportunity last week, when their game was canceled due to the threat of tropical storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

Given a chance to return to the football field on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium, the Eagles made the most of the opportunity by defeating Sharyland High 28-23 thanks to a remarkable comeback in a non-district matchup.

It almost wasn’t the result Hanna wanted.

The Eagles never led until 1:08 remained. Hanna wide receiver Ernest Mendoza caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Victor Campos to rally the Eagles to a 28-23 advantage after Miguel Payan’s extra point with 1:08 to go.

The Rattlers took over at their 16-yard line with 1:02 on the clock following the ensuing kickoff. What followed were two incomplete passes and two sacks by the Hanna defense that allowed the Eagles to regain possession at the Rattlers’ 5-yard line with 40 seconds to play. The Eagles ran out the clock with one kneeldown by Campos.

“These players try to do everything they can to win,” Hanna coach Mark Guess said of his team. “They play hard for each other. They’re brothers.

“We went through some adversity in the first half and just could not get things going,” Guess added. “In the second half we were able to move the ball with our normal offense.”

Sharyland High led 10-0 after the opening quarter and was up 10-7 at halftime. The Rattlers took a 16-14 advantage into the final period.

“We knew Sharyland (High) would be a real game opponent,” Guess said. “They have two good quarterbacks, not just one.

“We had to make a stop (defensively late in the game to give ourselves a chance to win), and we did,” Guess added. ”Everything ended well for us.”

Prior to Hanna’s late go-ahead TD pass, the Rattlers were up 23-14 following a 2-yard scoring run by backup QB Oscar Valdez with 7:33 left.

Campos threw a 19-yard TD pass to Cesar Mancias with 5:46 remaining to pull the Eagles to within 23-21, but they still had to rally to win with time slipping away.

After the Hanna defense made a crucial stop, Eagles running back Aaron Frausto made a big play. He beat the Sharyland High secondary on a deep route and caught a 56-yard pass down the middle from Campos to give Hanna a first down at the Rattlers’ 3-yard line. Three plays and a penalty later, Mendoza made his 8-yard TD catch to put the Eagles ahead for the first time with 1:08 to play.

Hanna, ranked No. 4 in the Valley by RGVSports.com, improved to 2-1, and the unranked Rattlers slipped to an uncharacteristic 1-3.

Guess said according to UIL rules, Campos had to sit out the first half of Friday’s game because he was ejected during the second half of the Edinburg Vela game on Sept. 7. Payan played QB for the Eagles during the first half as Campos watched the game from the sideline.

Mancias, the Eagles’ top rusher, also sat out the first half and returned to play during the final two quarters. When asked why Mancias didn’t play in the first half Friday, Guess said he had no comment.

A 34-yard field goal by Valdez and a 39-yard interception return to the end zone of a Payan pass gave the Rattlers a 10-0 lead during the opening quarter.

Payan threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Leigh Guevara with 3:12 left in the second quarter to make it 10-7 at intermission.

It became 16-7 when Sharyland High starting QB Edgar Longoria threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Adrian Solis at the 3:47 mark of the third period.

A 15-yard TD pass from Campos to Payan with 10 seconds left in the third quarter made it 16-14. The pass had been tipped by a teammate before landing within Payan’s grasp in the back of the end zone.

That scoring play set the stage for a wild, back-and-forth fourth quarter.

Hanna’s most recent game prior to Friday was a 35-20 loss at Vela, RGVSports.com’s top-ranked team, on Sept. 7. Sharyland High was coming off a 31-7 setback at home Sept. 14 against La Joya High.

The last time Hanna played Sharyland High prior to Friday was 2013, when the Rattlers defeated the Eagles 42-0 in Mission in a season opener.

The Eagles and Rattlers continue playing their schedules next week. Sharyland High begins District 16-5A Division II competition at home against Laredo Cigarroa next Friday, and Hanna will play a non-district game against Amarillo Tascosa next Saturday in San Antonio.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers bounced back from a loss in the best way possible.

That way was with a decisive win.

The Chargers (3-1, 2-1 district) defeated PSJA Memorial 44-24 in a District 16-5A Division I game Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.

Brownsville Veterans was coming off last Saturday’s 45-24 district setback at Mission Veterans.

“We had to come out and really redeem ourselves after last Saturday night (and the loss to Mission Veterans),” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “Again, tonight wasn’t about who we were playing against, it was about us. It was about looking at ourselves in the mirror and deciding to execute better, especially on offense after last week. Fortunately, our players really responded.”

PSJA Memorial (0-4, 0-3) was coming off last week’s 34-21 district loss to crosstown rival PSJA Southwest.

The win by Brownsville Veterans was as methodical as it was decisive.

The Chargers led 14-0 by the end of the first quarter and held a 27-10 advantage at halftime.

A pair of short touchdown runs in the opening quarter by Chargers quarterback Liam Longoria on plays covering 4 and 1 yards made it 14-0.

It became 21-0 when Elijah Masten caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Longoria at the 10:31 mark of the second period.

PSJA Memorial pulled to within 21-7 when Tavis Sain broke loose on a wide-receiver-around play and sprinted 74 yards down the right sideline to the end zone with 8:54 showing in the second quarter.

Brownsville Veterans running back Mauricio Garza went up the middle and cut outside before racing 49 yards to the end zone to increase the lead to 27-7 as the extra point failed with 5:36 remaining before halftime.

Robert Balderrama converted a 20-yard field goal for the Wolverines on the final play of the first half to make it 27-10 at intermission.

“We felt confident going in to the game,” said Garza, a junior running back for the Chargers who finished with a pair of scores running the ball. “We prepared for our opponent and executed well tonight.

“It felt great (to score twice),” added Garza, who led all rushers in the game with 162 yards on 14 carries. “It doesn’t happen every game (that I score two times), so it’s nice to see it happen tonight.

“We’ve just got to stay confident, work hard and execute (well) next game (too).”

The second half became a shootout with the Chargers taking a 34-24 edge into the final quarter.

PSJA Memorial pulled to within 10 points twice during the third period, but could come no closer.

Sain scored on an 11-yard run with 8:58 left in the third quarter to help the Wolverines close the gap to 27-17 before Maston caught a 28-yard pass from Longoria at the 5:57 mark of the period to restore the Chargers’ advantage to more than two scores, 34-17.

Sain, who finished with 116 yards rushing on 11 carries, scored again — this time on a 13-yard run — to pull PSJA Memorial to within 34-24 with 1:51 to go in the third quarter.

The Chargers again gave themselves a more comfortable lead in the final period as Garza crossed the goal line from 14 yards out with 10:47 to play to make it 41-24. Israel Barron then kicked a 35-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining to account for the 20-point margin of victory.

Thursday marked the first time the two teams played each other in football as each school has competed in a different district before this season.

“It’s kind of neat to go against a new opponent and start a new rivalry,” Cantu said.

District 16-5A Division I competition continues next week with Brownsville Veterans back at Sams on Thursday going against Rio Grande City and PSJA Memorial playing host to Pace next Friday.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

One week without a football game was simply one week too many for the Hanna Golden Eagles.

The threat of tropical storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico caused the Eagles’ non-district game at Weslaco East last Friday to be canceled.

“We worked out the whole week and prepared thinking we were going to be playing, but of course, we didn’t get to play,” said Mark Guess, Hanna’s third-year coach. “If anything, it makes our guys even more hungry to get back out on the field.

“It wasn’t like having a bye week,” Guess added. “The silver lining was it gave us more time for our injuries to heal.”

Hanna (1-1) plays host to Sharyland High (1-2) in a non-district matchup at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium.

The Eagles are ranked No. 4 in the most recent RGVSports.com Top 10. The Rattlers are unranked this week.

The last action for Hanna was a 35-20 loss Sept. 7 at Edinburg Vela, the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked team. Sharyland High is coming off last Friday’s 31-7 setback at home against La Joya High.

Sharyland High coach Ron Adame said Friday’s game against Hanna offers the Rattlers an opportunity to get back into the win column against a strong opponent.

“We need to go into the game with the right mindset and be patient (for things to develop for us),” the seventh-year Rattlers coach said. “We need to win the third-down battle and the turnover battle.”

The Rattlers boast an experienced senior quarterback in Edgar Longoria, who is considered a legitimate dual-threat signal caller with three rushing touchdowns and one passing score so far in 2018. Running and passing, he accounted for 32 TDs last season. Longoria, hampered by an illness, was feeling less than 100 percent last week and saw limited action against La Joya High.

Longoria is expected to be available for the entire game against the Eagles.

Sharyland has a quarterback that is dangerous,” Guess said. “They have several people who can run the ball, plus their defense is sound. We have to make sure we play fundamental football against them.”
Adame is equally complimentary of the Eagles.

“Hanna is very athletic and well-coached,” Adame said. “I’m impressed with running back Cesar Mancias and their quarterback, Victor Campos, who is a great pilot and very capable. The scheme Hanna runs on defense requires athletic players to make it work, and Hanna has them. Their defensive line impresses me.

“We can’t afford to give up the big play,” Adame added. “Hanna certainly has come up with some big plays.”

Having played only two games, Mancias ranks second in rushing in District 32-6A with 274 yards and five TDs with a 5.8-yard average per rush on 47 carries. His five TDs (30 points scored) lead the district.

Campos ranks fifth passing-wise in 32-6A. He has completed 21 of 41 passes for 381 yards and three TDs with one interception.

Miguel Payan is Hanna’s top receiver with six catches for 162 yards and two scores in two games.

The last time the two teams played each other was 2013 when Sharyland High defeated Hanna 42-0 in Mission during the season opener.

The season continues for both teams next week with Sharyland High opening District 16-5A Division II action at home Sept. 28 against Laredo Cigarroa and Hanna playing a non-district game Sept. 29 in San Antonio against Amarillo Tascosa.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess