By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Porter found itself down early but, on the strength of a powerful running game, overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Donna North 31-21 in the District 32-5A opener for both teams Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Led by George Gutierrez, who ran for 151 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns — including 102 yards and one score during the first half — the Cowboys rushed for 281 yards and four touchdowns on the night against the Chiefs.
“When George is upright, he’s on two feet, he’s going to get yards,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “He gives it everything he has, and by the end of the game, he’s spent.”
Porter got on the board first. After its offense stalled, David Pacheco hit a 32-yard field goal to give the Cowboys an early 3-0 lead.
Donna North answered quickly. Using a steady diet of runs, Dominic Ochoa found the end zone from 8 yards out to give the Chiefs a 7-3 lead.
On the next Porter drive, a broken play turned into a fumble. The Chiefs’ Jose Sanchez scooped it up and returned it 54 yards for another touchdown and Donna North took a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Cowboys continued to run, and Gutierrez scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to four points by halftime.
The second half belonged to Porter.
The Cowboys went with an onside kick to start the second half and recovered. The offense couldn’t take advantage, but the Porter defense took over. The Cowboys’ defense forced a punt and got the ball back.
After a lengthy drive that ate up most of the clock during the third quarter, Gutierrez added another score to give the Cowboys their first lead since the first quarter, 17-14.
“It’s my O-line, just a team effort, it’s not just me,” Gutierrez said. “(It’s) always a team effort, always.”
Porter’s defense helped shift the momentum with two forced fumbles that set up two more touchdowns. Johnathan Leal scored from 1 yard out and later quarterback Frank Alvarado drew the defense offside and went straight up the middle from 25 yards out to give Porter a 31-14 lead.
“We had a couple of turnovers on our side of the field and that’s never a good thing,” Donna North coach Tommy Sauceda said. “And they converted on a couple of those.”
The Cowboys defense forced three turnovers in total, including an interception by Pacheco before the end of the first half.
“It seemed like (Donna North) was trying to press a little and getting out of their game plan,” Campos said. “All the credit to the kids and the coaches (on defense), they’re doing a hell of a job.”
Ochoa added a late 6-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough. He finished with 105 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns for Donna North.
Sauceda was upbeat despite another loss to start the Chiefs’ first varsity season.
“Our kids continue to play hard,” he said. “As long as we play hard, good things are going to happen.”
Campos was happy to get the win, but even more to begin to change the mentality of the program.
“The kids are starting to learn how to win,” he said. “We’re going to keep pushing and pushing, we’ve got to get every win we can.”
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.