By Jesus Sanchez | The Brownsville Herald
After defeating PSJA Memorial 44-24 in Week 4, the 3-1 Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are looking to earn more wins as the 2018 season reaches its halfway mark.
In order to do that, the Chargers must first fight off the Rio Grande City Rattlers (1-3), who are still in the hunt to turn the season around in time for the postseason.
“The team has been very focused this week, just trying to build on a good game last week,” Brownsville Veterans head coach David Cantu said. “We did get some minor injuries last week during the game, which led to some opportunities for quite a few guys, especially on defense. In the long run, hopefully, that could be a good thing for us, trying to develop more depth.”
Some of those injuries include senior free safety Tony Medrano, who suffered an early game injury against the PSJA Memorial Wolverines.
Medrano, who Cantu described as the heart and soul of the Chargers defense, has been nursing an ankle injury and has shown improvement throughout the week.
Yet, the Chargers head coach said the decision of whether or not he will play against the Rattlers will be made at game time.
Brownsville Veterans is already planning on what to do in case Medrano is unable to play, which includes moving some players on the offense to the secondary.
The Chargers know they will be in for a fight to the finish against Rio Grande City and have already begun making plans in order to overcome the Rattlers onslaught.
“Offensively, we’re trying to find some things that’ll work against (Rio Grande City’s) scheme,” Cantu said. “They run a really good 3-4 defense with a good cover, so we have to keep everything in front of them in the passing game. Just being patient and keeping possession of the ball is going to be a big thing and then the weather can be a factor as well. Bottom line, offensively, we just have be consistent, run the ball well and be balanced.”
On the other side of the ball, the Brownsville Veterans coach said the Chargers will have a tougher challenge ahead of them.
“They do a fantastic job on spreading the field,” he said. “They throw every screen that probably is thrown in high school football and they’re not afraid to take shots down the field. They have two quarterbacks who both are effective; very, very tough kids who also tuck it and run with it. So, it’s definitely a tremendous challenge.”
The Rattlers are coming off a 48-7 loss against Mission Veterans.
Rio Grande City head coach Aaron Garcia said the team has been able to move the ball, but offensive mistakes is costing them the chance to finish the game.
“We play Brownsville Vets and just like Mission Vets, they’re obviously a very good team,” Garcia said. “We feel like we move the ball well; we just have to eliminate a lot of mistakes that we’ve made on our part. Also, we have to play better defense.”
The Rattlers will be without their usual quarterback Mario Garza, who was banged up in the game against Mission Veterans.
Adrian Gonzalez will be stepping in for Garza.
Gonzalez will have running back Angel Galvan to turn to during the game against the Chargers. Galvan has provided a consistent ground attack for the Rattlers, racking up a total of 227 rushing yards in the 2018 season.
“I think, primarily, our strength has been our offense,” Garcia said. “We have Angel Galvan who’s our running back; he’s been hard nose for us. He’s a tough runner who’s looking to build on what he’s got and what he’s done this year.”
The Rattlers coach said the team has the tools it needs to come out on top against the Chargers; it just needs to work on few details to be ready.
“We just have to eliminate our mental mistakes,” he said. “We have to be better tacklers. We have to be smart as far as when we have the football. Again, obviously, we have a lot of respect of (Brownsville) Veterans but we’re preparing to win.
“As long as we take care of our business, being patient and pick up what they give us and capitalize on any opportunities that present themselves, we feel we can be all right and make a run at the win.”
Cantu and Chargers feel the same way and are looking forward to the opportunity of continuing their recent success.
“We understand as a team how critical this (game) is to accomplish our ultimate goal to continue to be one of those teams that reaches the postseason and so forth and makes some noise in November,” Cantu said. “We’re really excited about the opportunity and can’t wait to play again.”