By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Two familiar foes face each other, but a lot has changed since their last matchup one year ago.
The Porter Cowboys and the Pace Vikings are quite familiar with one another, having faced off multiple times in District 32-5A. But since the UIL realignment that added a Class 6A, 32-5A looks as different this year as the two teams who once again will meet tonight at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“They’re not going to hold anything back,” Porter coach Tom Campos said of Pace. “It’s not like it’s been the last two years. We’re not fighting for one win or for bragging rights for who’s not going 0-10. We both have a win or two under our belts.”
During the past two seasons, Porter and Pace struggled to rebuild their programs and were both winless when they squared off.
This season, when they meet in the new District 32-5A, each squad is much improved and hardly the same from one year ago.
“We’re familiar with Porter, but it doesn’t put us in a confident situation,” Pace coach William Deen said. “We have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
The Vikings (1-5, 0-3) will have to, especially against the Porter rushing attack.
“They have two wins already, and they do a lot of things well, obviously,” Deen said. “They run the ball well. They have a big offensive line. They’re going to try to run right at you, and they do it. They do a very good job of it.”
Porter (2-4, 1-2) relies on George Gutierrez to lead its ground game. Gutierrez is second in the district in rushing with 587 yards on 122 carries and four touchdowns.
The Vikings’ offense is lead by quarterback Alex Cisneros, who is second in passing with 848 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
“Their offense is explosive at times, they have big-play capabilities,” Campossaid. “We know they’ve had some issues with turnovers, and we hope to capitalize on those opportunities.”
And Deen is keenly aware of that fact, too.
“We can’t turn the ball over,” he said. “We’ve had situations where we started driving,we’d get on a roll and turn the ball over. We can’t do that against Porter. Porter will take advantage of it.
“Just not allowing Pace to beat Pace on offense.”
The Vikings are going to have to be balanced against the Cowboys, Deen said.
“Throwing the ball isn’t going to win the game. We have to establish a run game,” he said. “We have to mix it up. We have to keep Porter off-balanced. They have a good secondary with a lot of speed.”
Campossaid the Cowboys need to be more consistent on offense and have spent the week getting sharper on, “what we feel like we need to do to win.”
The Porter coach added, “We just have to do a better job live and in color when the lights come on.”
Each squad would like to get a win to make a push for the postseason.
“We’re treating it as a playoff game,” Campossaid. “I know Deen is going to (have his team) aggressive on defense. They have some guys that fly around and make plays. Especially the way the district is playing out. With a few games left, we still have a chance at some of the top guys, but this is definitely a must-win for us.”
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.