By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial looked ready for the regular season to start next week.
The Chargers’ defense had four interceptions and a forced two fumbles, and the offense took advantage to claim a 28-16 win in the final scrimmage of the season during a steady rain shower Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The scrimmage ended early during the third quarter due to a leg injury to Brownsville Veterans linebacker Abraham Garcia.
Brownsville Veterans’ defense collected its first interception of the game during PSJA High’s first drive, and one play later the Chargers scored on a 38-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.
PSJA High answered two drives later with a 16-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7.
The Chargers’ defense continued to shine, intercepting the Bears’ quarterback three more times and forcing a fumble during the first half.
“Defensively we had a few interceptions, and we were pretty stout against the run,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “Third and long situations are something we still need to address. There were a couple they converted, but give the Bears credit, they did a good job in those situations.”
Brownsville Veterans took advantage of the miscues, scoring on a 67-yard run and later a 12-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-7 lead.
“The (offensive) line did a good job protecting during passing situations and opened some nice holes for our running backs,” Cantu said. “I like the fact that we threw two touchdowns, which is something we’ve been stressing, so that was nice to see.”
The Chargers made a slight mistake after yet another first half interception that put them deep in their own territory. A few plays later, they were called for holding in the end zone leading to a safety for PSJA High to make it 21-9 and it remained that way at the break.
Brownsville Veterans added a 1-yard touchdown run, and PSJA High added a 3-yard run for a score in the second half. But suddenly that wasn’t that important.
Garcia appeared to get tangled up trying to make a tackle and went down. He was down for several minutes and had to be taken off on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance. The scrimmage was called after the injury and players from both teams offered their condolences to the fallen player before he was taken off the field.
“(Garcia) has a right leg injury, it looks like it will be the end of his season,” Cantu said. “He was a tremendous teammate. It’s a bit of a shock for all of us. We all understand, though, that’s football. These things happen, but I think our team will stick together realizing that they are a family and they’ve worked really hard to have what they hope would be a good season.”
PSJA High coach Steve Marroquin was disheartened to see such an injury happen during a scrimmage.
“I want to say I was impressed with the young man from (Brownsville) Veterans,” Marroquin said. “He showed a tremendous amount of courage, poise, his strength, and great mental toughness. My prayers go out to him and his family, and I and the team wishes him nothing but the best.”
Despite the unfortunate end to the scrimmage, both coaches seemed to think their teams were ready to begin the regular season, which starts next week.
“Overall, we’re ready to start the season,” Cantu said, seemingly still shaken by the injury to his defensive player.
The Bears’ coach felt good about his team’s performance as well.
“We’re getting better week by week,” Marroquin said. “We tell the kids as long as we keep improving every week we’ll be all right. We’re growing up, and we’re growing up fast. The more that we play and the more we practice together the better continuity we’re going to get, and that’s what I saw tonight and I’m very proud of them.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.