DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Donna North is one play away.
In year two of varsity football, the Chiefs are 0-4, 0-14 including last season. The latest defeat was a heartbreaking 52-44 four-overtime loss to Brownsville Porter last week.
“Our kids keep battling and battling, and we’re one play away from getting that ‘W,’” said Donna North coach Tommy Sauceda, whose team is losing by an average of eight points per game. “Once we make that play — be it offense, defense or special teams — and we get that ‘W,’ the kids will see we need to keep doing what we’re doing.
“As far as effort and play, our kids are doing that. We’re learning how to practice at game-like speed, and that’s the big thing that we’re doing right.”
The Chiefs’ defense has been solid, but the offense has improved considerably. Under sophomore quarterback Alex Saenz and receiver Richard Gomez, Donna North has balanced its production. Donna High had 450 passing yards all of last season. So far, it has 487 this season.
Opponents can no longer just key in on Dominic Ochoa, the third-best running back statistically in District 32-5A. Saenz has been able to make them pay for loading the box by being efficient on bootlegs and screens.
Last week, Saenz completed 16 of 25 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
“Once you establish that run, you’re going to have mismatches outside,” Sauceda said. “We ran effectively, so we were able to do some things with our passing game. They go hand in hand, but we’re going to hang our hat on running the football and that will open the game-plan for us.”
SEGURA STEPS UP
Edcouch-Elsa could have been in a serious dilemma with junior quarterback Marco Aguinaga expected to miss the district season.
But they had senior Andrew Segura waiting.
Segura, the Yellowjackets’ No. 1 receiver and No. 2 quarterback, stepped up last week against PSJA High and produced E-E’s best passing game of the season so far. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns to one interception, and ran for 80 yards and three more touchdowns on 15 carries.
“What stood out to me was his mental toughness,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “Being thrown in that situation, he was poised and confident. You could feel it. You just can’t break this kid.”
Marichalar said Segura did a good job stepping into the pocket, reading the pressure and keeping his eyes downfield.
DIFFERENCE-MAKER
Donna High’s Amonte Bowen put District 32-5A on notice last week.
The senior do-it-all athlete ran for three touchdowns and caught a touchdown in a rout of PSJA Southwest to open district play last week. In four games, Bowen has 805 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 10.5 yards per carry.
“He’s elusive. He’s great,” Southwest coach Jesus Reyes said. “He’s got vision, he’s got speed and he’s a terrific athlete. He’d make us go one way and then go the other.”
Bowen played sparingly during the final two games last year after breaking his collarbone during the preseason. His healthy presence gives coach Ramiro Leal a plethora of options offensively.
Leal used Bowen, Edward Dougherty and Paul Guerra all over the field last week. At one point, Bowen found Dougherty on a 63-yard bomb to set up his 14-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Using a healthy complement of offensive talent for the first time this season, Leal saw his team rack up 522 total yards and 56 points.
“It’s a unique situation,” Leal said. “We have a great offensive line, we have Amonte, we have Edward, now we’ve got Paul back. We put Amonte on the wing, we throw Dougherty a deep pass for big yards and Paul gets them inside and sweeps. It just gives us more options.”