By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Mission accomplished for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers.
Thanks to Friday’s 41-21 District 32-6A victory against the Lopez Lobos at Sams Memorial Stadium, the Chargers are back in the state playoffs for the first time since 2012, when they advanced two rounds.
“Earning a playoff spot in 32-6A is absolute happiness,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “We’ve been so close the last two years, so that makes it extra special.
“Our motto has been ‘We will,’ and I’m proud to say that ‘We did,’” Cantu added.
Brownsville Veterans will play Weslaco East in the first round of the Class 6A Division II playoffs next week. Details regarding the matchup were to be finalized Saturday morning.
Snapping a three-game losing streak, the Chargers (7-3, 4-3 district) received a big game from senior running back Carlos Garza. He rushed 16 times for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns with scampers up the middle on scoring plays covering 79 and 37 yards during the first and fourth quarters, respectively.
Garza also caught a screen pass from quarterback Marcus Castillo and took it 26 yards for another score, also during the fourth period.
Castillo was a contributor to the Chargers’ scoring as well, as he tallied on a 14-yard quarterback keeper during the second quarter and threw the 26-yard screen pass to Garza during the final period. Castillo finished with 94 yards rushing on the night.
The score was tied at 7 after one quarter, and the Chargers led 17-7 at intermission.
Brownsville Veterans took a 24-7 lead into the fourth quarter that became a little bit eventful as 31 combined points were scored. The final period featured onside kicks, trick plays and going-for-broke fourth-down conversions.
Lopez opened the game’s scoring on Jose Echavarria’s 14-yard burst to the end zone with 2:37 showing in the initial period. Garza’s 79-yard breakaway scoring run came with just 12.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter to deadlock the tally at 7 thanks to extra points by Lopez’s Jose Martinez and Brownsville Veterans’ Humberto Trevino.
Castillo’s 14-yard QB keeper made it 14-7 with 1:50 left in the second period, and a 25-yard field goal by Trevino as time expired in the first half gave the Chargers a 17-7 edge at intermission.
David Jacob Cantu caught a 12-yard pass in the end zone from running back Jeremiah Meyers with 2:26 to go during the third period as Brownsville Veterans increased its lead to 24-7.
Things got a bit wild after Garza scored on the 26-yard screen-pass play from Castillo with 9:44 showing during the final quarter and the lead seemingly out of reach at 31-7.
But then, with the help of a successfully recovered onside kick executed by Echavarria, the Lobos (1-8, 1-6) tallied a pair of touchdowns within a span of 13 seconds to pull within 31-21.
First, Echavarria, lined up as a running back, took a pitchout and threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Markus Leal with 8:52 remaining.
After the recovery of Echavarria’s ensuing onside kick, Lopez QB Saul Mendoza hooked up with Cristo Garcia on a 53-yard scoring play on a deep pass route to cut the lead to 31-21 with 8:39 to go.
“The game was a great example of two teams playing their hearts out,” Cantu said. “Lopez was extremely tough and forced us into many mistakes early on. Kudos to Coach (Jason) Starkey, his staff and the players (at Lopez).”
The Chargers closed out the scoring with Garza’s 37-yard sprint up the middle on a fourth-and-1 situation with 5:25 left and Trevino’s 38-yard field goal with 2:36 to play, making it 41-21.