By JESUS SANCHEZ
Staff Writer
After suffering a 45-24 loss in Week 3 that did not sit well with the Chargers, Brownsville Veterans Memorial refocused to defeat PJSA Memorial 44-24 in a District 16-5A Division I game Thursday.
Brownsville Veterans (3-1, 2-1 district) played a methodical and slow game, showing its ground attack can be lethal to any team. At the end of the first quarter, the Chargers led 14-0, and they extended it to a 27-10 lead by halftime.
The first touchdowns of the game came from short runs from quarterback Liam Longoria.
Elijah Masten made an 11-yard catch from Longoria at the 10:31 mark of the second quarter to make it 21-0.
Brownsville Veterans is back in action at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium in district competition against Rio Grande City.
Also adding points for the Chargers was running back Mauricio Garza, who rushed 49 yards to the end zone to increase the lead to 27-7 before halftime.
Garza led the Chargers with 162 yards on 14 carries.
MORE MOMENTUM: Pace began the 2018 season with a 20-17 loss to Sharyland High, but the Vikings did not let that bring them down and are now 3-0 in district play.
The Vikings added another win to their record when they defeated the PSJA Southwest Javelinas 19-7 on Friday night.
In fact, Pace showed it has improved since the season began, holding PSJA Southwest to 109 yards of offense.
Pace racked up 314 yards of offense, including 239 yards on the ground.
The Vikings’ air attack included 75 yards from quarterback Jose Banda, who was 5 of 12 during the Week 4 game. Banda also rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
Fellow Viking Dylan Barron garnered 65 yards on 18 carries.
Shifting its focus to this week, Pace will take a trip to PSJA Memorial to face the Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
DISTRICT WIN: Going into the Battle of Southmost game against Porter, Lopez had one thing to prove: It is still a contender that should be taken seriously.
The Lobos proved that by overcoming the Cowboys 21-14 on Saturday.
Lopez began the game strong by finding the end zone twice and leaving Porter scoreless at halftime.
The Cowboys had a second-half surge that proved troubling to the Lopez at first until its defense came through, as it has in the past, to stop the Porter flurry and give Lopez the win.
Lopez gets its first district win of the season after coming up short against Rio Grande City in Week 3. Coach Armando Gutierrez said the team will continue to have the same mentality it has had since the season started.
“It has that blue-collar mentality that we’ve always had,” Gutierrez said. “We just keep moving forward. … At the end of the day, our kids our going to keep fighting no matter what. Not going into district play (with a win) and getting a win against a good team, we look forward to (this) week and getting another.”
During the Week 3 game, Lopez turned the ball over multiple times to the Rattlers, ultimately costing the team the game. On Saturday, however, the Lobos showed improvements throughout the Battle of Southmost with no interceptions or fumbles.
STILL SEARCHING: The Cowboys began the season by snapping a 22-game losing streak against Port Isabel; since then, Porter has been searching for a win in district play.
Porter started off slow during its game against Lopez last Saturday but was able to outscore the Lobos 2-1 in the second half of the Battle of Southmost.
During the last seconds of the game, Porter tried multiple times to find the end zone but did not hit paydirt.
Porter coach Carlos Uresti said the losses the Cowboys have suffered are tough, but the fashion in which they’ve lost shows that Porter can stay in the game for all four quarters.
“We had two straight games where the game is there,” Uresti said. “At least, you know, that’s all we can ask for from the kids. Being in the games at the end, and we’ve been in the games at the end in the last two games, we just have to be ready to execute and finish the game off right.”
The Cowboys are now 1-3 overall and 0-3 in district. They face Mission Veterans Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission.