ROY HESS | Staff Writer
As the end of the regular season draws closer, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are trying to play their best football in preparation of getting a possible playoff spot.
The Chargers stayed on course with that goal by defeating PSJA Southwest 29-0 Thursday night in a District 16-5A Division I game at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Brownsville Veterans improved to 6-2 on the season and 5-2 in district with upcoming games at Sams to finish the regular season against Pace and La Joya Palmview. The Chargers play the Vikings in two more Fridays at Sams with the winner likely securing a playoff berth.
“It will be two good teams on the field when we play Pace that Friday,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “We feel that if we deserve to go to the playoffs, that’s what will happen. I like our team and the way we’re playing.
“It felt good to have the kind of complete win we had tonight,” Cantu added. “All three phases of the game were working for us. I’m proud of our guys for getting the shutout. We had some great blocking up front and we had some some guys who did a great job carrying the ball.
“We know we must keep winning to get to the playoffs. I believe our team can do it.”
PSJA Southwest slipped to 3-5 and 2-5 with regular-season games remaining against Rio Grande City and Porter.
Thursday’s scoring for the Chargers began during the second quarter, and they led 16-0 at halftime.
Chargers kicker Pablo Perez made it 3-0 at the 11:02 mark of the second period by booting a 33-yard field goal. It became 10-0 with 8:32 showing in the quarter when Angel Ramirez burst into the end zone from 6 yards out and Perez added the conversion.
With 40 seconds to go before intermission, Marlon Montelongo also scored from 6 yards out for Brownsville Veterans to make it 16-0 after a missed extra point.
The Chargers added a pair of touchdowns during the fourth quarter to complete the shutout victory.
Tight end Damian Maldonado ran around right end and into the corner of the end zone from 6 yards away at the 10:23 mark of the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 23-0.
Montelongo, playing quarterback in the second half for the Chargers, broke loose on a 51-yard scoring run with 6:07 remaining to hike the lead to 29-0 after the extra point was missed.
Cantu said starting QB Liam Longoria suffered a slight ankle injury, so his play was limited during the second half. That’s why Montelongo took almost all of the snaps, the Chargers coach said.
Brownsville Veterans was coming off last week’s 43-6 district victory at Donna High. PSJA Southwest was coming off last week’s 48-7 loss to district leader Mission Veterans Memorial.