By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
As was expected, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers’ rushing attack was in full force Saturday night.
The Chargers (4-1, 2-0) scored all six of their touchdowns on the ground during their 42-24 win over the Rivera Raiders (0-5, 0-2).
“We took a big step today in regards to going where we want to go, being 2-0 in district,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “But we’re not satisfied. Not a single coach is satisfied, and I hope (my team) isn’t either. We’ve got another huge (game) next week.”
The Chargers came out swinging and scored twice early in the first quarter. First, Carlos Garza scored on a 66-yard run from on the second play from scrimmage and again on a 14-yard scamper from quarterback Marcus Castillo.
The score was 14-0 after the first quarter, but Rivera quickly bounced back with a 22-yard field goal by Chelin Martinez and a long pass from Danny Elizondo to Sammy Orive from 67 yards out. The Raiders trimmed the Chargers’ lead to four points.
Brownsville Veterans distanced itself heading into halftime, though, when Garza rumbled for a 3-yard score, his second of the night.
“There aren’t too many positive things to take out of tonight’s game,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “We didn’t play Raider football tonight. We’ve got to get back to work.
“Half the season’s done. We’ve got to forget about this one.”
The Raiders never found an answer during the second half, and Brownsville Veterans ran away with the game.
Derrik Rodriguez scored on an 11-yard run during the third quarter and Castillo added his second score of the night on a touchdown run from 21 yards out later in the period.
Jeremiah Meyers added the team’s sixth rushing touchdown with an evasive 16-yard run during the fourth quarter.
Danny Elizondo got the Raiders back on the board midway through the fourth quarter when he found Edward Rubio on a 16-yard strike for Rivera’s first points since the first half.
Following the score, the Chargers wound the clock and allowed the Raiders only two minutes, but Danny Elizondo manufactured a long touchdown drive and capped the game with a 2-yard pass to Rubio.
Chavez was hopeful that the final few minutes taught his team something it can use moving forward.
“Even though we had a tough time all game, maybe they can learn something positive from the last two minutes,” he said.
Rivera will play the Lopez Lobos at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at Sams Memorial Stadium, and the Chargers play the Hanna Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Sams.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.