While the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers were fast out of the gate, the Rivera Raiders couldn’t get out of their own way.
Early Raiders turnovers turned into short fields for the Chargers, who cashed in on them early and never looked back on their way to a 50-13 season-opening win Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The Chargers (1-0) saw their defense — which returned just two starters this season — force the Raiders into four turnovers during their first six possessions of the first half.
“I was proud of the kids, they had a good mindset when they came out,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “They were ready to play hard, have fun. Our kids trained, and a lot of them have some experience from last year. We feel really good about Week 1.”
The hiccups not only put Rivera (0-1) in bad situations early, but also forced it to call an audible on its pregame preparations.
A couple of in-game injuries also made it difficult for the Raiders to mount a comeback.
“We had a hard time,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “We got a lot of injuries and the whole game plan went bad. So it just didn’t work. I feel bad for these guys. We worked hard, we practiced hard, but we just need to keep on going. We’ll keep working and give it everything we’ve got.”
Things went south for the Raiders (0-1) from the start as Matthew Guerrero put the ball on the turf on the first play from scrimmage for Chargers defensive back Eric Sosa to recover at the Rivera 44.
After driving to the Chargers’ 49, two penalties and two sacks on quarterback Ariel Gonzalez on consecutive plays backed up the Raiders to their own 38, and they were forced to punt.
The Chargers scored on the ensuing possession, going 31 yards in five plays, capped off by a Mauricio Garza 8-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Gonzalez, who felt the pressure all night, threw his first of two interceptions on the night right into the hands of Michael De Leon to set the Chargers up with a first down on the Raiders’ 21.
The Raiders’ defense got the ball right back when Gabriel Cuellar scooped up a fumble by Chargers running back Guadalupe Moran.
After the offense gave the ball up on downs, the Raiders forced another turnover, this time recovering a Garza fumble.
While the Raiders’ defense looked like it may keep its team in the game, the offense could not capitalize.
“The defense played well and put us in a good position to score, and we just didn’t do it,” Chavez said. “After a while it gets tough, but they did play well. We have to get back to work and get better.”
On the ensuing drive, Chargers quarterback Liam Longoria broke off a 45-yard run to the right side of the field for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 9:46 to go in the second quarter.
Longoria found the end zone two more times in the quarter on runs of 2 and 1 yards. The Chargers QB had a big night, as he went 10 for 17 for 154 yards passing and racked up 65 yards rushing on seven carries with four total scores.
Rivera had a first half to forget and couldn’t solve the Brownsville Veterans defense, posting just 78 yards of offense in addition to four turnovers (one on downs) three punts and a safety before going into the half down 30-0.
“We’re trying to do our job and not make mistakes,” said Chargers defensive back Tony Medrano, who also intercepted a pass during the first half. “We know we have our guys and a great coaching staff. We just have to keep building up every week.
Rivera played better during the second half, scoring on two of its first three possessions on a Gonzalez 4-yard keeper and a 75-yard catch-and-run to Elian Hernandez.
Brownsville Veterans put the finishing touches on the game with three straight scoring drives on its last four possessions, which included a 21-yard touchdown run by Garza up the middle and a 68-yard bomb from Longoria to Damian Maldonado.
Backup quarterback Rolando Izeta also got in on the action with a 4-yard keeper.
Maldonado hauled in four catches for 90 yards and a score.
Garza rushed just seven times for 47 yards but had two scores.
The Chargers racked up 391 yards of offense, including 237 rushing yards on 39 carries and six rushing scores.