By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial High School came off its bye week looking for vengeance after a big loss to Edinburg Vela, and found its victim in a crosstown rival.
The BVM Chargers put away the Pace Vikings 42-14 to win their first District 32-5A game of the season Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
The win came following a layoff between a 35-10 loss to the Sabercats and the opening week of 32-5A play.
“I’m proud of how our kids responded after losing two weeks ago and being shook a little bit,” Chargers head coach David Cantu said. “The kids understood the importance of this football game and just did a good job playing one play at a time and beating a good Vikings team.”
The Chargers’ offense returned to form and rolled off to a hot start in the first quarter and didn’t look back, ending the game with 408 yards and six scores from the rushing attack.
Quarterback Gustavo Vazquez capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive with a 1-yard leap into the end zone to put Brownsville Veterans’ first points and a 7-0 lead on the board less than five minutes into the game.
BVM (3-1, 1-0) followed a turnover on downs by the Pace offense with another touchdown from running back Abel Martinez, who found the goal line from 10 yards out carry to take a 14-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
Pace (0-4, 0-1) scored on the next drive when quarterback Randy Aguilar found wide receiver Victor Rodriguez for a 30-yard touchdown pass to cut its deficit to six less than three minutes into the second quarter.
The Chargers responded with a quick score, with Vazquez running 63 yards for his second TD of the night to push his team’s cushion to 21-7.
Martinez scored again, this time on a 45-yard run during the second half’s opening drive, to give the Chargers a 28-7 advantage.
Pace’s Gabriel Zapata threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rodriguez early in the fourth quarter to trim BVM’s lead to 28-14, but a 7-yard run by Vazquez gave the Chargers a 21-point edge they’d never surrender.
Peter Rodriguez’s 25-yard touchdown run after a Pace interception iced the game for the Chargers.
Vasquez did most of the damage from the quarterback position, leading Brownsville Veterans with 211 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in BVM’s fast-paced offense.
He ran strong throughout the entire game, only taking a handful of plays off until the final two Charger possessions of the night.
“It’s the mentality of every time I touch the ball, I’m just wanting to score and (be able) to put us up on the scoreboard,” Vasquez said. “(I’m) just doing my job for the team.”
Martinez ran 12 times for 146 yards and the two touchdowns.
The Vikings had chances to add to their point total throughout the game, including a promising first-half drive that ended at the Chargers 10 after two straight incompletions.
“Obviously, it’s a disappointment,” Pace head coach Bill Deen said. “We expected to come in the game and win. We put ourselves in position, I thought, at the half. We were playing good on offense. Obviously we didn’t score a couple of times.”
Zapata had 85 all-purpose yards for Pace as well as two completions for 41 yards and a touchdown. Aguilar threw for 112 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 34 more.
Brownsville Veterans faces the Mercedes Tigers (1-3, 0-0) next Friday at home. Pace plays Porter (0-4, 0-1) at Sams Memorial Stadium, also next Friday.
Veterans opens 32-5A with win over Pace
By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial High School came off its bye week looking for vengeance after a big loss to Edinburg Vela, and found its victim in a crosstown rival.
The BVM Chargers put away the Pace Vikings 42-14 to win their first District 32-5A game of the season Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
The win came following a layoff between a 35-10 loss to the Sabercats and the opening week of 32-5A play.
“I’m proud of how our kids responded after losing two weeks ago and being shook a little bit,” Chargers head coach David Cantu said. “The kids understood the importance of this football game and just did a good job playing one play at a time and beating a good Vikings team.”
The Chargers’ offense returned to form and rolled off to a hot start in the first quarter and didn’t look back, ending the game with 408 yards and six scores from the rushing attack.
Quarterback Gustavo Vazquez capped a 12-play, 74-yard drive with a 1-yard leap into the end zone to put Brownsville Veterans’ first points and a 7-0 lead on the board less than five minutes into the game.
BVM (3-1, 1-0) followed a turnover on downs by the Pace offense with another touchdown from running back Abel Martinez, who found the goal line from 10 yards out carry to take a 14-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
Pace (0-4, 0-1) scored on the next drive when quarterback Randy Aguilar found wide receiver Victor Rodriguez for a 30-yard touchdown pass to cut its deficit to six less than three minutes into the second quarter.
The Chargers responded with a quick score, with Vazquez running 63 yards for his second TD of the night to push his team’s cushion to 21-7.
Martinez scored again, this time on a 45-yard run during the second half’s opening drive, to give the Chargers a 28-7 advantage.
Pace’s Gabriel Zapata threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rodriguez early in the fourth quarter to trim BVM’s lead to 28-14, but a 7-yard run by Vazquez gave the Chargers a 21-point edge they’d never surrender.
Peter Rodriguez’s 25-yard touchdown run after a Pace interception iced the game for the Chargers.
Vasquez did most of the damage from the quarterback position, leading Brownsville Veterans with 211 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in BVM’s fast-paced offense.
He ran strong throughout the entire game, only taking a handful of plays off until the final two Charger possessions of the night.
“It’s the mentality of every time I touch the ball, I’m just wanting to score and (be able) to put us up on the scoreboard,” Vasquez said. “(I’m) just doing my job for the team.”
Martinez ran 12 times for 146 yards and the two touchdowns.
The Vikings had chances to add to their point total throughout the game, including a promising first-half drive that ended at the Chargers 10 after two straight incompletions.
“Obviously, it’s a disappointment,” Pace head coach Bill Deen said. “We expected to come in the game and win. We put ourselves in position, I thought, at the half. We were playing good on offense. Obviously we didn’t score a couple of times.”
Zapata had 85 all-purpose yards for Pace as well as two completions for 41 yards and a touchdown. Aguilar threw for 112 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 34 more.
Brownsville Veterans faces the Mercedes Tigers (1-3, 0-0) next Friday at home. Pace plays Porter (0-4, 0-1) at Sams Memorial Stadium, also next Friday.
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