By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Friday’s non-district football contest between undefeated St. Joseph Academy and winless Raymondville had all the makings of a mismatch.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what it turned out to be as the 4-0 Bloodhounds cruised to victory 45-20 in their 2016 home opener at Canales Field against the 0-4 Bearkats.

Highlighting the win was SJA running back Mario Garcia, a 6-foot-1, 186-pound senior who rushed for 194 yards on the night and scored three touchdowns.

Garcia gained 113 yards by intermission and scored on runs of 3, 70 and 20 yards during the the second quarter. He had a 77-yard scoring run called back on a holding penalty in the fourth quarter.

Last week, Garcia rushed for 206 yards and ripped off a 75-yard scoring run in a 48-28 win at Rio Hondo.

“Mario has always been that big, tough and quick back that we need,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “He’s battled through some injuries dating back to past seasons. We’re lucky to have him healthy. Everything is finally clicking for him. He’s starting to run the way we’ve always known that he could run.”

After a scoreless opening quarter Friday, the Bloodhounds erupted for four TDs to lead 28-0 by halftime. Two of the scores during the second quarter came on short drives after David Rodriguez and Conner Pace blocked Raymondville punts for the Bloodhounds.

SJA quarterback Kai Money threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Andres Martinez on the first play of the second quarter to make it 7-0 after Jose Kauachi’s kick. That started the Bloodhounds’ scoring spree thanks to Garcia’s three TD runs before halftime. Also, Garcia rushed for a two-point conversion after SJA’s third TD.

The Bloodhounds added 17 points during the third period to lead 45-14 going into the final quarter.

QB Daniel Gutierrez, who finished with 101 yards rushing, was a standout for the Bearkats, scoring on runs of 22 and 1 yards while tossing a 10-yard scoring pass to Adrian Saenz, all in the second half.

Also in the second half for SJA, Money scored on a 56-yard run, Kauachi nailed a 45-yard field goal and Antony Cantu tallied on a 5-yard burst up the middle.

Kauachi’s field goal made it 31-0 with 10:12 showing in the third quarter before Gutierrez tried to bring the Bearkats back.

“We’re always going to take the ‘W,’” Villarreal said. “I thought that we executed our game plan well. Raymondville gave us a real hard fight, so hats off to them. I think they played one of their better games (of the season) tonight.

“We just definitely have a lot to work on,” Villarreal added. “We made a couple of mistakes here and there that we have to clean up if we want to remain in the win column. We’re going to have a real tough opponent (in Port Isabel) next week. We have to clean up our sloppy play if we want to have a chance.”

Prior to Friday’s game, the Bloodhounds and Bearkats last met in the 2015 season opener in Raymondville and the Bearkats won 55-45.

The Bloodhounds, who played their first three games of the season on the road, figure to face a very tough challenge to stay unbeaten in their next game on Friday at home against the Tarpons.

The Bearkats will go after their first win of 2016 the same night at home against Kingsville.

On Friday, SJA was without junior running back/receiver Gunnar Henderson, who has transferred back to McAllen High after playing the first three games of the season for the Bloodhounds.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The annual Port Isabel cross country meet is being renamed to honor the memory of a former coach who recently lost her battle with cancer.

The event, which dates back 20 or more years, will now be known as the Sylvia H. Torres Memorial Cross Country Meet. It takes place Saturday on the Port Isabel High School campus.

Torres coached and taught in the Point Isabel school district for 27 years before her death Sept. 5, 2015, at age 51. She last coached track and cross country for the Tarpons in 2013.

A ceremony to honor the late coach is scheduled prior to the meet at 8 a.m. Saturday. The first race is set for 8:30 a.m. with the varsity girls competing over a course of approximately 3 to 3.2 miles or 5,000 meters around the athletic fields and practice areas at the high school.

Dawn Aguilar-Snyder took over coaching duties for Torres when she became too ill and weak to continue at school during her chemotherapy treatment.

“I knew her and I wish I could have known her better,” Aguilar-Snyder said. “We would chat and I would pick her brain (about coaching the girls cross country team). She would help me out as much as she could. That’s why we do some of the same things (as she did) now.

“There are some of the older kids at school and other (graduated) students who come back and they remember Coach Torres,” Aguilar-Snyder added. “They talk about her and the good times they had. She is greatly missed.”

Most years, the annual meet is staged on the beach at Andy Bowie Park on South Padre Island. It is unique in that it allows athletes an opportunity to run on the beach in a UIL-sanctioned competition. However, a decision was made Wednesday to move the meet to the high school campus due to health risk concerns posed by the Red Tide. It’s actually the second straight year the meet has been staged at the high school.

Aguilar-Snyder said the course at the high school includes a hill that will make things more challenging and help prepare the top runners for what they will encounter at state. She said schools from as far away as Laredo Cigarroa have indicated they will attend.

“It’s good to practice that,” Aguilar-Snyder said of the hill.

Leading the way for Port Isabel’s runners at the meet will be Susana Torres, Gabby Torres, Ava Gomez, Jennifer Martinez, Melisa Lopez, Sean Shrewsberry, Edrick Cuevas, Celso Callejas and Alan Leon Hernandez.

HEADED NORTH

Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Rivera and Hanna are among the Lower Valley schools sending runners to Saturday’s Islander Splash Meet on the grounds surrounding Dr. Jack Dugan Family Soccer and Track Stadium in Corpus Christi. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is the host. It’s the same site as the Region IV Meet scheduled Oct. 29.

Rivera coach Arturo Hurtado said he plans to have his boys team and his top two girls, Andrea de la Rosa and Jennifer Lopez, run in the Gold Division for elite runners.

“I’ll be happy if they can finish in the Top 10,” Hurtado said of his hopes for his top runners. “It’s a good way to see where they stand. Everybody (with strong runners in our region) will be there.”

He said the Rivera bus going to Corpus Christi will be leaving approximately 3:15 a.m. so that the team can arrive in time to stretch and run a little before the meet starts at 8:15 a.m.

“It’ll be pretty early (when we leave for the meet),” Hurtado said.

UPCOMING

Besides the Sylvia H. Torres meet at Port Isabel, the only other meet scheduled Saturday in the Valley is the Flying W’s Invitational with PSJA Memorial as the host.

The only meet in the Valley the following weekend is the annual Meet of Champions on Sept. 24 at Monte Cristo Golf Course in Edinburg.

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

The goal was not to slip to 0-2 to start the District 32-5A volleyball race.

That’s the objective the Porter Cowgirls and Pace Lady Vikings each had in mind when the two teams played Tuesday at the Porter gym. Each squad had suffered a loss in its conference opener last weekend, so getting a win in the second district match was pretty important to both of them.

As it turned out, things went in Porter’s favor as the Cowgirls evened their 32-5A record at 1-1 by capturing a 25-13, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19 victory over the Lady Vikings (0-2).

It was a back-and-forth match with quite a few momentum changes and standout plays, befitting the spirited rivalry that has developed between the two schools in 32-5A during the past few years.

“I’m really proud of our girls and the intensity level they had,” Cowgirls coach Ariel Arredondo said. “They kept their spirits high the entire match, even when we were down in the score and lost the second set. Even then, our girls still managed to rally back and push and fight. That’s what we’ve been working on a lot is staying positive and being consistency.”

The victory provides an important boost for her team, the Porter coach said.

“This win brings us to just another level and makes us want to keep pushing and fighting,” Arredondo said. “Playing like this, our girls can know that we do have a shot at the playoffs. Going into these next (district) games, 1-1 is a whole lot better than 0-2.

“Nothing is going to be easy and nothing’s going to be given to us. Now that we have that first district win, I feel there will be more wins to follow.”

It was anyone’s game in the fourth set as the score was tied for the last time at nine, but Porter surged ahead and soon led 19-12 on a kill by Melanie Gasca. Pace came back and an ace by Stephanie Saenz pulled to Lady Vikings to within one point, 20-19.

However, Porter then reeled off the next five points to take the fourth game 25-19 and clinch the match. The final point was won thanks to a well-placed tip by Porter’s Andrea Villanueva.

“Any time Porter and Pace play, (the rivalry) brings a different type of energy, especially to the home team,” Lady Vikings coach Gavin Rudder said. “Those Porter girls played their hearts out and hustled on every single point. They just seemed to want it more tonight than we did. I give props to every girl on their team. It was a total team effort by Porter.”

Valerie Jimenez led Porter with 11 kills and had one block. Gasca had 10 kills and two blocks. Villanueva also had 10 kills. Also for Porter, Brigitte Ortiz had 30 assists and April Reyes had 21 digs.

For Pace, Angie Cardenas had seven kills, three aces and two digs, while teammate Amanda Gomez had 15 assists. Ebony Casanova contributed nine aces and 17 digs.

Conference action continues Saturday as Porter is at home against Donna North and Pace is at Mercedes.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Volleyball conference openers during the past weekend in Districts 32-6A and 32-5A included some all-Brownsville matchups.

In 32-6A, Hanna captured a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 victory against Rivera to start off district 1-0.

“It feels good to be 1-0 since I would say we’re underdogs in the district,” Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “It’s a completely new team for us. There’s one starter back and another player who came off the bench last season.

“From what I have seen, we’re all pretty much even (in 32-6A),” he added. “I think there’s going to be some long game days (with quite a few highly competitive, drawn-out matches).”

Hagemann said his team is being sparked thus far by four hitters. They are Haley Penrod, Xitlali Montes de Oca, Lauren Webb and Ryan Wood.

The Lady Golden Eagles continue 32-6A competition Tuesday at Weslaco High.

In other 32-6A openers, also on Saturday, Los Fresnos defeated San Benito 25-20, 21-25, 26-24, 25-14; Harlingen High downed Harlingen South 25—19, 26-24, 25-18 and Weslaco High beat Weslaco East 25-21, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19.

“We don’t have the blocking we’ve had in the past, so we have to rely on better defense,” said Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods, whose defending district champion Lady Falcons have seven sophomores on their roster. “That’s what it took to get past San Benito. It could have gone either way. San Benito has some good players, but we had the momentum at the end (to win).”

DISTRICT 32-5A: There were two all-Brownsville matches in 32-5A Saturday as that district also began conference action.

Lopez defeated Porter 25-12, 25-21, 25-21 and Brownsville Veterans Memorial topped Pace 25-15, 25-10, 25-12. Lopez and Veterans Memorial are the two new additions to 32-5A this school year as PSJA High and PSJA Southwest exited and moved up to District 31-6A.

“I think it is tougher (in our district this year) with the addition of Veterans,” said Pace coach Gavin Rudder, whose squad is coming off a playoff season. “It is going to take a lot of hard work and commitment from our girls if they want to get into the top four (and reach the postseason again).”

Lopez coach Jackie Touchet said two standouts for her team in Saturday’s win were senior middle blocker Anna Morales and sophomore setter Noemi Gallardo.

In other 32-5A openers Saturday, Edcouch-Elsa downed Donna North 25-16, 25-19, 25-17 and Donna High defeated Mercedes 25-15, 25-6, 25-13.

UPCOMING: Besides Hanna at Weslaco High, other matches Tuesday on the 32-6A schedule find Los Fresnos at Harlingen South, Harlingen High at Rivera and Weslaco East at San Benito.

In 32-5A Tuesday, it’s Pace at Porter, Mercedes at Veterans Memorial, Lopez at Donna North and E-E at Donna High.

Also, in District 32-4A Tuesday, it’s Port Isabel (0-2 district) at home against Hidalgo.

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

OLMITO — Andrea de la Rosa of Rivera and Cruz Gomez of PSJA Memorial are starting off their cross country seasons with some top finishes.

Each of the two sophomores is a defending district champion and each won for the third straight week by dominating the field at Saturday’s annual Brownsville ISD Meet at the BISD Encampment.

De la Rosa, previously a winner at the San Benito and McAllen Rowe meets, won her race Saturday with a time more than a minute faster than the second-place finisher, who is her teammate. De la Rosa won District 32-6A last school year as a freshman and her goal now is to advance to state for the first time as a sophomore.

“I had wanted to hit 18 (minutes) today with my time, but it was still a good race,” said the Rivera sophomore, who came in at 19 minutes, 28.84 seconds. “I feel good about it. I feel that my season’s going great. I’m working hard and I’m going to keep working hard.”

Rounding out the top five finishers in the girls 3.1-mile varsity race were Rivera’s Jennifer Lopez (20:38.84), Harlingen South’s Mya Price (20:49.53), Hanna’s Nadia Sifuentes (21:01.31) and South’s Lindsay Zamorano (21:04.12).

For the varsity boys, Gomez was followed closely for a little while early in his race, but he soon distanced himself from the rest of the field and won in 16:14.12 over the same 3.1-mile course.

“I felt good during the race,” said Cruz, who advanced to state last year as a freshman and has won meets so far this season at Zapata and Falfurrias. “I really wasn’t pushed that much today. It was just like a regular practice run for me. I’m using these meets to get ready for the really big meets (such as District 31-6A in October in Edinburg). I feel stronger than last year and I think I’m getting faster.”

Finishing second behind defending 31-6A champion Gomez was Donna North’s Fernie Teran (16:36.72). Rounding out the top five were Rivera’s Jonathan Herrera (16:39.25) and Donna North teammates Danny de la Cruz (16:51.44) and Jesus Mora (16:52.81).

Donna North was the boys team champion and South captured the girls team crown.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — The San Benito Lady Greyhounds had Los Fresnos on the ropes during Saturday’s District 32-6A volleyball opener at the Lady Falcons’ gym.

Yet, the defending district champion Lady Falcons, sparked by senior hitter Jackie Kingsbury, refused to let the match slip away, even when San Benito appeared to be very close to pulling the upset.

With the contest split at one game apiece and San Benito ahead 22-18 in Game 3, the Lady Falcons found the resolve they needed to prevail and take the match 25-20, 21-25, 26-24, 25-14.

During the decisive third game, the Lady Greyhounds committed three unforced errors before a kill by Kingsbury created a 22-22 deadlock. There were also ties at 23 and 24 before Los Fresnos went up 25-24 as the Lady Greyhounds hit into the net. The Lady Falcons then won the third game 26-24 on a well-placed, down-the-line kill with authority by Kingsbury, a tall, all-around player who finished the day with a match-high 28 kills and 37 digs.

“We knew that they had prepared for us, but we had prepared for them as well,” said Kingsbury, a UT-Rio Grande Valley commit. “We went into the match a little unsure of what they might do and how they were going to play. We just had to stay on our toes and make sure we stuck to our game plan and did what we planned to do.”

Los Fresnos (13-13 overall) starts district at 1-0, while San Benito (8-4) begins 0-1. Still, the Lady Greyhounds sent a strong message Saturday to the rest of the district that they intend to be in the thick of the 32-6A race.

“I’m very proud of my girls and how they played,” San Benito coach Ruby Medina said. “There were times when we just let them get some easy points, and I told the girls they needed to fight a little harder. I feel that third game should have been ours, and I think it would have been a different story (regarding which team won).

“We’re a young team and our girls have a lot to learn,” Medina added. “A lot of it has to do with them not having the experience, but other than that, I’m very proud of them.”

In the opening game, San Benito pulled to within one point seven times but never came any closer as the Lady Falcons triumphed 25-20. The Lady Falcons fell behind 6-0 to start the second game and from there fought an uphill battle, trailing 10-3 and 11-4 before closing to 22-20 and 23-21. Unforced errors by the Lady Falcons near the end of the second game enabled the Lady Greyhounds to take it 25-21.

Los Fresnos fell behind 8-4 and 9-5 in the fourth game, and that’s when the Lady Falcons, along with the home crowd, began to sense that they might be in trouble. Also, that’s when the Lady Falcons began to play with more determination than ever, rallying to tie the score at 23, 24 and 25 after San Benito had gone up 22-18.

Once they saw the third game slip away, the Lady Greyhounds seemed a little downhearted and the Lady Falcons surged to advantages of 17-5, 20-8 and 24-11 en route to taking the fourth game 25-14 to clinch the match.

“I’m glad this match is over,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “We came out strong and won that first game. The second game we didn’t do anything different and we fell apart (early). That shows you that sometimes a combination (of players) will work one game but not the second.

“San Benito played us well,” Woods added. “San Benito’s going to be right at the top of the district this year.”

Besides Kingsbury, teammate Giselle Ibarra finished with 10 kills and 11 digs, while Isis Delgado had 29 digs and 25 service receptions. Sarah Villarreal contributed 47 assists.

For San Benito, Crystal Ibarra and Alysa Naranjo had 15 and seven kills, respectively. Also for the Lady Greyhounds, Larisa Garcia had 25 digs, Kayleen Reyes had 15 assists and Arlene Lucero had five blocks.

District play continues Tuesday as Los Fresnos is at Harlingen South and San Benito is at home against Weslaco East.

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

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

RIO HONDO — Brownsville St. Joseph Academy’s three-game road tour to begin the 2016 football season is complete and the Bloodhounds are off to a 3-0 start.

In the Valley Morning Star’s Game of the Week, SJA captured a 48-28 victory against Rio Hondo on Friday at Bobcat Stadium as the Bloodhounds’ ground game piled up some impressive numbers.

SJA running back Mario Garcia rushed 26 times for 206 yards and one touchdown while quarterback Kai Money carried the ball 24 times and gained 120 yards on the ground with a pair of TDs.

“That was our game plan all week to re-establish our rushing game,” SJA coach TIno Villarreal said. “We felt that Lyford kind of exposed it last week (during our 30-7 win over the Bulldogs).

“These last three weeks playing on the road has been a tough test,” Villarreal added. “The best part about it now is we’re going home and we’ll be in our home jer-seys for our next game.”

Money also passed for another score as SJA built early leads of 9-0, 16-7 and 22-7 before the Bobcats (1-2) battled back to close the gap to 24-21 early in the third quarter. Money’s TD pass was a 25-yarder to Bernie de la Garza midway through the second quarter to make it 22-7.

From there, after Rio Hondo closed to 24-21, SJA began to pull away again to re-store its comfortable lead.

One play after Rio Hondo made it 24-21 on a 61-yard pass play from Tyler Bush to Eric Pizarro, Garcia broke loose on a 75-yard scoring run to hike the Bloodhounds’ ad-vantage to 31-21 with 9:10 showing in the third period.

Rio Hondo was sparked by Bush, who passed for three TDs, including two of them to Pizarro on plays covering 54 and 61 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively. Bush’s other TD pass went to Frank Hernandez on a 7-yard play late in the second period.

The Bloodhounds, ranked No. 10 in the Rio Grande Valley this week 10 by RGVSports.com, play their home opener next Friday against Raymondville at Canales Field.

The Bloodhounds led 9-0 after one quarter, 24-14 at halftime and 38-21 after three periods.

Trailing 48-21, Rio Hondo running back Danny Vasquez went 7 yards up the middle with 2:08 left to account for final score. Vargas finished the night with 137 yards rushing on 25 carries.

The Bobcats will try to bounce back into the win column in their next game Friday at Hidalgo.

Also for SJA, Anthony Cantu rushed for 49 yards, including TDs on plays covering 28 and 2 yards, while teammate Jose Kauachi kicked field goals of 30 and 29 yards.

The Bloodhounds’ defense recorded a safety by tackling a ballcarrier in the end zone to make it 24-14 with 1:08 remaining before intermission.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

At this early stage of the cross country season, coaches are looking for runners to emerge and round out the top five to seven spots for boys and girls on their varsity squads.

Los Fresnos coach Frank Falcon sees improvement from his athletes and believes it will translate into some strong showings in the coming weeks as the District 32-6A meet on Oct. 14 in Harlingen draws nearer.

So far, there have been meets in the Rio Grande Valley the past three weekends. Most schools have competed in at least two of them.

Falcon said keeping everyone healthy is a priority at this point of the young season while also finding out which runners can make an impact at the varsity level.

“Overall, the runners are progressing quite well and they are starting to battle for the top spots (on our team),” he said. “This year we have a larger amount (of runners) at this stage, so there’s more competition for those top spots. The competition is healthy as they’re beginning to push each other.”

Brenda Garcia and Kassidi Arellano, a pair of freshmen, are making a strong bid for spots on the varsity, Falcon said.

“Brenda finished 10th (last weekend at the Mercedes Invitational), just ahead of Clarissa Tellez, our top sophomore,” the Los Fresnos coach said.

Another Los Fresnos runner, Cynthia Gutierrez, came in 19th at the Mercedes meet as the Lady Falcons finished fourth in the team standings.

Led by upperclassmen Ricardo Torres and Florencio Davila, the Los Fresnos boys finished fifth as a team at Mercedes.

“Several upperclassmen are the nucleus of the (boys) team,” Falcon said. “Ricardo continues to be the leader and Florencio has shown very good consistency in these past two meets. We do have a couple of other boys who have started showing potential to break into the top seven. I look forward to seeing how they’ll react to tougher competition.”

Along with additional Metro-area schools, Los Fresnos will be running at the Brownsville ISD Invitational on Saturday.

BISD INVITATIONAL: The Rivera boys and Edinburg Economedes girls were team champions at the BISD Invitational in 2015. Last year’s individual winners from those two schools have graduated.

The annual meet returns on Saturday to the BISD Encampment near Olmito and will get under way with the girls varsity race at 8:30 a.m. followed by the boys varsity competition. Both varsity races will be run over a 3.1-mile course.

“Our goal for this meet is to place in the top six teams in the boys division and have improved times individually,” Porter coach Clemente Delgado said.

Besides the BISD Invitational, other meets scheduled Saturday in the Valley will take place at Mercedes, Progreso, Mission and Rio Grande City.

VALLEY RANKINGS: Upper Valley schools dominate the most recent rankings compiled by the Rio Grande Valley Cross Country Coaches Association.

Here they are:

Girls — 1. La Joya Palmview, 2. Edinburg High, 3. Sharyland Pioneer, 4. McAllen High, 5. PSJA North, 6. La Feria, 7. Harlingen South, 8. Hanna, 9. San Benito, 10. Edinburg Vela

Boys — 1. Donna North, 2. Edinburg North, 3. PSJA Memorial, 4. Donna High, 5. La Joya High, 6. La Joya Palmview, 7. Mission High, 8. Rio Grande City, 9. Sharyland Pioneer, 10. Mission Veterans

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

MERCEDES — Top finishes at cross country meets are becoming a regular routine for Mercedes teammates Dominique Cavazos and Jonathan Reyes.

For the second straight week, Cavazos and Reyes finished a close first and second by a comfortable margin over the rest of the field. Their standout showings this time came at Saturday’s Mercedes Invitational.

Varsity boys and girls races were competed over a 5,000-meter course at the high school campus.

For the Mercedes teammates, past state qualifiers in track and cross country, it was the same 1-2 finish as last weekend at San Benito’s Dog Pound Invitational.

Cavazos, a junior, won Saturday in 15 minutes, 54 seconds as Reyes, a senior, came in close behind for second place in 15:59. Donna North’s Jesus Mora was a challenger to the two leaders for a little while before coming in third at 16:15.

Also for Donna North, Fernie Teran (16:23), Danny de la Cruz (16:30) and Leo Vasquez (16:32) came in fourth, fifth and sixth to help the Chiefs capture the boys team title in decisive fashion with 32 points. Mercedes was the boys team runner-up with 96 points. Progreso finished third with 105 points.

Although he won his race last weekend, Cavazos wasn’t all that pleased with his time at San Benito. He was more satisfied with it Saturday after running on his home course.

“I came in with a new ‘PR’ (personal record time), so I’m happy,” Cavazos said. “I definitely feel better about my time this week. It was a good race. I wasn’t expecting the runner behind us (Mora) to be as close as he was. It just pushed us to go faster in the last mile. It was an amazing race, and it just gives us more momentum for what’s ahead.”

Reyes said he thought it was an amazing race as well.

“We knew there was a guy close behind us, but we weren’t going to let him beat us on our home course,” Reyes said. “These finishes (at our first two meets of the season) are really getting us pumped up. We know (now) that we deserve to be up there with the top competitors (every week), and we’re just going to go out and show it.”

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came in the girls 5K race, where Santa Maria freshman Kristen Aleman won by a fairly comfortable margin in 20:01. The second-place finisher was Jasmine Rangel of Rio Hondo in 20:06.

It marked Aleman’s first varsity win. She competed in the junior varsity division last weekend at San Benito and placed second. That strong showing prompted Aleman’s coach to move her up to the varsity race this week, and the result was something remarkable.

Virtually exhausted, Aleman gave it her all and almost collapsed after winning Saturday’s race. She gasped to catch her breath and was supported at each side by teammates after it was over as she staggered forward to the water machine and tried to remain upright.

“This feels awesome,” a revived Aleman said of her victory a few minutes later. “I saw this race as beautiful because I’ve never had that big of a lead before. It made me push harder than (the) JV (race at San Benito).

“I felt confident that I could take first,” she added. “As the race went on and I got into a comfortable pace, I felt more confident. I thought I could handle it (running varsity), and I did. This just builds my confidence and makes me think I can run varsity next week and get first again. Me and my teammates, we want to work harder at every meet and get stronger.”

Rounding out the top six finishers in the girls race, it was San Benito’s Lauren Rodriguez (20:07) in third, Harlingen South’s Mya Price (20:31) in fourth and her South teammates Lindsay Zamorano (20:40) and Genesis Cruz (20:48) in fifth and sixth, respectively.

The South girls captured their division’s team championship with 53 points, while Hanna and San Benito finished second and third with 72 and 76 points, respectively.

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

Mercedes Invitational

at Mercedes High School

5-kilometer course

Saturday’s results

Girls division

Team standings (top five) — Harlingen South, 53 points; 2. Hanna, 72; 3. San Benito, 76; 4. Los Fresnos, 92; 5. Hidalgo, 136

Individual finishers (top 20) — 1. Kristen Aleman, Santa Maria, 20 minutes, 1 second; 2. Jasmine Rangel, Rio Hondo, 20:06; 3. Lauren Rodriguez, San Benito, 20:07; 4. Mya Price, South, 20:31; 5. Lindsay Zamorano, South, 20:40; 6. Genesis Cruz, South, 20:48; 7. Monica Hernandez, San Benito, 20:50; 8. Jasaline Ayala, 21:11; 9. Hillary Pina, Hanna, 21:18; 10. Brenda Garcia, Los Fresnos, 21:20; 11. Clarissa Tellez, Los Fresnos, 21:24; 12. Estephania Aviles, Hanna, 21:29; 13. Alyssa De La Garza, Hidalgo, 21:33; 14. Kayla Rodgers, San Benito, 21:36; 15. McKayla Guerra, San Benito, 21:39; 16. Cecilia Tellez, Hanna, 21:46; 17. Kimberly Trujillo, Hanna, 21:46; 18. Scarlett Salazar, Hanna, 21:48; 19. Cynthia Gutierrez, Los Fresnos, 21:48; 20. Arianna Garcia, Pace, 21:49

Boys division

Team standings (top six) — 1. Donna North, 32; 2. Mercedes, 96; 3. Progreso, 105; 4. Hanna, 147; 5. Los Fresnos, 151; 6. La Feria, 163

Individual finishers (top 20) — 1. Dominique Cavazos, Mercedes, 15:54; 2. Jonathan Reyes, Mercedes, 15:59; 3. Jesus Mora, Donna North, 16:15; 4. Fernie Teran, Donna North, 16:23; 5. Danny De La Cruz, Donna North, 16:30; 6. Leo Vasquez, Donna North, 16:32; 7. Ever Esparza, Progreso, 16:36; 8. (no name, school, time turned in to meet officials); 9. Reyes Rodrigues, La Feria, 17:10; 10. Omar Anguiano, Progreso, 17:12; 11. Juan Castillanos, South, 17:13; 12. Julio Dragustinovis, Hanna, 17:14.49; 13. Eric Lopez, South, 17:14.86; 14. Brandon Herrera, Donna North, 17:16; 15. Bruce Delgadillo, Pace, 17:19; 16. Leonel Pena, Hanna, 17:22.08; 17. Alonso Vidal, Hanna, 17:22.64; 18. (no name, school turned in to meet officials), 17:26; 19. Curtis Rodriguez, La Feria, 17:30.55; 20. Joaquin Medina, San Benito, 17:30.99

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

LYFORD – The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds continued their road tour to open the 2016 football season with another successful result.

Playing their second of three straight games on the road to begin the season, the Bloodhounds improved to 2-0 with Friday’s 30-7 non-district victory over the Lyford Bulldogs.

SJA junior quarterback Kai Money highlighted things on offense for the Bloodhounds by passing for a pair of touchdowns and rushing for another score.

In a game that was expected to showcase some offensive fireworks on both sides, the Bloodhounds’ defense came up with important stops at the right times to limit the Bulldogs to only one score, which came on a long pass play with just 16 seconds left in the first half as SJA was already up 17-0.

“These are the types of games we have to be in (and win) if we want to be a better football team,” Bloodhounds coach Tino Villarrel said. “(Lyford) Coach (Jaime) Infante picked up his 100th win last week, and he has a good ballclub. They play hard and they have a stingy defense.

“A lot of people would have said that on the over/under for this game there would probably be a combined 100 points or more on the scoreboard (because of the offensive prowess of each team),” Villarreal added. “We ended up with far less than 50, so it was a defensive battle (both ways). They exposed us a little bit and I felt we exposed them, too. We walk away from here with a hard-fought win and a lot of clear indications of what we need to work on to get better.”

SJA went up 7-0 on a 28-yard TD pass from Money to Andres Martinez with 9:10 showing in the first quarter. It became 10-0 on the second play of the second quarter when Jose Kauachi nailed a 22-yard field goal for the Bloodhounds.

Money broke loose on a 49-yard scoring run with 3:05 left in the half to make it 17-0 before Lyford QB Chase Hinojosa found Frank Moreno open on a 41-yard scoring strike before the break.

Later for SJA, Anthony Cantu scored on 1-yard run up the middle at the 5:25 mark of the third quarter and Bernie de la Garza caught a 27-yard TD pass from Money in the final period with 5:00 left to play.

SJA, who picked up a 64-35 triumph against Grulla in Rio Grande City in Week 1, next visits Rio Hondo on Friday as the Bloodhounds play their third straight road game.

Lyford, 59-6 winners in a home victory last week over Progreso, will play at Raymondville next Friday in a renewal of the “Cotton Bowl” rivalry.

Infante picked up career win No. 100 at Lyford during the Bulldogs’ triumph over the Red Ants.

The Bloodhounds defeated Lyford 73-22 last year in Brownsville.

SJA plays its home opener Sept. 16 against Raymondville.

“We have one more road game and it’s going to be just as tough, if not tougher, than this one tonight,” Villarreal said. “(Rio Hondo coach) Rocky James and the Bobcats are going to give us a lot of trouble. We know that. But we’re just going to take it one week at a time.”