By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Football coaches prefer to view each week’s upcoming game as the most important one on their schedule.
This week, it’s certainly the case.
From the standpoint of big games to be played, including a pair of city rivalries, it’s quite a week of meaningful matchups in The Brownsville Herald’s Metro coverage area.
It’s a week that would seem to be well worth the wait, especially considering the number of key district contests.
The action begins at 7 p.m. Thursday as city rivals Pace (1-5, 0-3 district) and Porter (2-4, 1-2) battle in District 32-5A at Sams Memorial Stadium.
In District 32-6A at 7:30 p.m. Friday, it’s Harlingen High (3-3, 2-1) at Los Fresnos (4-2, 2-1), Rivera (1-5, 1-2) at Harlingen South (2-4, 1-2) and city rivals Hanna (1-4, 0-3) and Lopez (0-6, 0-3) playing at Sams.
Also Friday, it’s San Antonio St. Anthony’s (1-5, 0-1) at St. JosephAcademy(4-2, 0-1) at 7 p.m. in TAPPS district action and Rio Hondo (5-1, 1-0) visiting Port Isabel (6-0, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m. for a District 16-4A Division II showdown.
The weekend will be highlighted by a matchup of 32-6A co-leaders as Brownsville Veterans Memorial (5-1, 3-0) plays host to San Benito(4-2, 3-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sams.
It’s likely that few could have imagined Brownsville Veterans and San Benito as the two teams tied atop the 32-6A standings at this point of the season. Still, here they are playing a crucial game that will allow the winner to emerge with sole possession of a 4-0 lead in the 32-6A race.
It’s a prospect that has Chargers coach David Cantu feeling pretty pumped up about his team’s opportunity to make a statement for itself and Brownsville ISD athletics.
“We’re taking this season one game at a time,” said Cantu, whose Chargers have won five straight contests since opening the season with a 28-24 loss to Donna High. “Our intensity and focus has been high, and I would expect no different this Saturday night.
“San Benito is a very good team that has excelled on both offense and defense,” added Cantu, whose team is coming off Saturday’s 51-42 triumph over Hanna at Sams. “We believe in BISD, and we hope that the Brownsville community comes out and supports us and is ready to make some noise.”
It figures to be no less impactful on Friday at Port Isabel where the Tarpons and Bobcats collide. They have quite a history between them of their games deciding district championships in recent years. Although it will be only the second district game for each of them, the winner will take an important step toward the playoffs and the 16-4A Division II title.
“It’s a big game just like every year,” Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “It’s a big rivalry and it’s a huge district game for both teams.
“There’s a playoff atmosphere to every (district) game now,” he added. “You lose and you could miss the playoffs, so it’ll be a heck of a challenge for us.
“Rio Hondo is playing well right now, and they’re on a roll (having won their last three games). They’re good at what they do. They like to establish the run, and on defense they’re aggressive. They’re not making many mistakes, and they’re well-coached. We’re going to have our hands full with them.”
Adding interest into the mix of this week’s area games are the city rivalry matchups of Porter vs. Pace in 32-5A on Thursday and Hanna vs. Lopez in 32-6A on Friday. Such crosstown matchups tend to bring out a higher level of emotion and greater sense of pride for the schools involved.
Porter coach Tom Campos views the game as something going beyond a city rivalry.
“This game is going to be more than just for bragging rights this year,” Campos said. “The way our district is playing out, we still see the playoffs in our future, and in order to obtain that, we need to beat Pace. They have some wins on us (recently), but this is a different season, a different team.
“We aren’t going into this one (just) seeking our first win (over Pace since 2007), or a win over a Brownsville school,” he added. “We see it as a district game we need to win, and that’s how we are approaching it. They have had their moments this year and have played well against some good teams. Their offense is explosive at times, and their defense is very aggressive. It should be a great game with a lot of passion.”
As he likes to do, Campos has a quote this week from ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu to motivate his players. It reads, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”