By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers and Porter Cowboys came into their matchup with urgency, eager to get back in the win column.
The Chargers were the ones to stand tall and deliver as they rolled to a 34-17 District 16-5A Division I win Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said all week he wanted to get wide receivers Mauricio Garza and Damian Maldonado more in the mix and did just that, as they combined for three of the Chargers’ five touchdowns on the night.
“ We felt like everything was sound,” Cantu said. “We had a vision over the weekend of Mau (Garza) and Damian (Maldonado) doing some things, and that’s what transpired. For that to happen, the line has to do their job, the quarterback has to do their job, everyone has to do their job. For the most part, that happened tonight.”
Garza moved back to the running back position and rushed for more than 100 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns, including a 58-yard scamper.
Maldonado hauled in just four passes but was effective, racking up 57 yards and a 29-yard touchdown pass from Liam Longoria early in the second quarter.
The Chargers improved to 3-2 in district play and stayed in the thick of the playoff race heading into next week’s bye.
“ Going into the bye with a win feels great,” Cantu said. “I said earlier in the week that it feels like a rebirth for our team. We had a gut check (last week) and looked in the mirror, all of us coaches and kids included. Then we came out here and played Charger football tonight.”
Meanwhile, the Cowboys head into their break 1-4 in district play and on a two-game skid with four games to play.
“ Even now, we still have a chance at the playoffs,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “We were telling the kids, that’s the reality of it. We’re mathematically not out of it, so we’re going to still continue to work hard and try to finish up the season strong.”
Porter was led by quarterback Kevin Garcia, who rushed for 119 yards and Porter’s only two touchdowns of the game.
It was another rough night for the Cowboys’ offense, which turned the ball over just once. But it was costly as Garcia put the ball on the ground on a botched exchange at the Porter 29, where Chargers defensive lineman Alex Villarreal recovered.
The Chargers got on the board soon after on a 16-yard touchdown run by Longoria to make it 6-0 after a missed extra point at the 6:44 mark of the first quarter.
“ It was a tough game for us, and we struggled moving the ball,” Uresti said. “We got put in third-and-long situations. Overall, credit to Veterans, their defense played well for them today. We moved the ball, but not as consistent as we wanted to. That turnover the first half gave Veterans a short field, and that’s been our Achilles’ heel the whole year.”
After the Chargers went up 13-0 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Angel Ramirez, Porter answered on a 66-yard run by Garcia to make it 13-7 with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
After Longoria hit Maldonado, Porter tacked on a field goal and headed into the break trailing 20-10 before Garza found paydirt twice in the third period to put the game away.