DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — In what Donna High considered a statement game Friday night, its defense said the most.
Defensive linemen Jorge Ibarra and Robert Garza combined for a game-sealing forced fumble and recovery late in the pivotal contest to lead the Redskins past reigning District 32-5A champ Mercedes 28-21 at Tiger Stadium.
The big defensive play came only seconds after Amonte Bowen scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds left to give Donna the lead.
While Donna High (4-2 overall, 3-0 district) was potent against the Tigers’ No. 1 defense, its defenders were no slouches either. The Redskins held the Tigers to 229 total yards, including just 31 rushing yards on 28 carries, and 4.9 yards per play.
“Defensively, we knew we had to make a statement,” said Ibarra, who also had three sacks. “Everybody’s been saying that our defense is the reason we might not be able to win district, and how we can’t defend the run. We set out [thinking] that they were not going to run the ball on us.
“We knew this game would come down to defense, and we were going to win it.”
While Donna High amassed 328 total yards against a Tiger defense that was surrendering an average of 178 yards this season, it had two turnovers that kept Mercedes in contention.
The teams were tied at 14 at halftime. Donna quarterback Edward Dougherty opened the second half scoring with a 45-yard zig-and-zag touchdown run. Mercedes receiver Brandon Gutierrez, who caught four passes for 128 yards and a score, countered with a 15-yard catch off a nice flare pass to the left corner of the end zone from Zach Gomez.
With seven minutes left, Donna tore up clock, chewed up yards and then gave it to Bowen, who had 182 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
“Coming into that last drive, we told ourselves it was going to be the winning drive,” Bowen said. “We came out victorious. It feels really good, but we have to keep working.”
On second down of the ensuing drive, Gomez, a sophomore, never saw Ibarra beat the tackle off the edge. Ibarra pummeled into the quarterback, jarred the ball loose and Garza fell on it to seal the win.
“He saw something that was developing downfield and I just think (Ibarra) made a great play off the edge,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “Had he had a split second longer, the play was there. Give credit to that Donna defense.”
For a young team like Mercedes, which has a slew of key players that are underclassmen, it was a learning experience.
“It was crazy there at the end,” Gutierrez said. “We all fought and we gave it all we got. We tried our best.
“We have to use it as momentum and a learning tool. This is a young team still and it was good for us to see the big lights, the intensity, the big crowd. We have to use this, learn from it and move forward and win some more games.”
And for Donna, the win kept it on the right track, a journey that began last season when the Redskins were embarrassed 37-7 at home by the Tigers.
“We’ve had this game circled since last year,” Ibarra said. “Last year we didn’t play very well against them. Through the whole offseason, we knew we were going to be the favorites, at least on paper. The pressure is on us to perform, and we want to make sure everyone knows what Donna is made of.”