By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos has been happy with its air attack through two games.
And why not? Falcons quarterback Rene Ortega leads the district with 507 yards and eight touchdowns, completing more than 69 percent of his passes.
It’s the running game that needs to improve slightly, coach Clint Finley said.
“When people think about Los Fresnos, they think of a running team,” he said. “I’d like to see the running game come on a little bit more.”
The Falcons have rushed for 154 yards per game this season — that’s still in the top four among District 32-6A leaders — but that’s down from 217 yards last season. The biggest reason is that projected starter senior Isaac Moreno, the team’s second leading rusher last year, went down with knee injury before the season started.
“I can’t say that he’s going to come back this season,” Finley said. “He’s with the team, he’s in our thoughts, but unfortunately it’s not looking good for him to come back.”
With Moreno out, Los Fresnos will rely on senior Jose Hernandez and junior David Alvarez.
“They are smaller, but they’re good, tough kids. They’re quick, fast,” Finley said. “It’s just a different style of running than we had with Isaac. They’re doing a great job of filling the hole that he left by committee, and we’re happy with the work of both of those guys.”
STRONG STARTS: Rivera has gotten off to impressive starts during its games in Week 1 and 2 against Weslaco East and Edinburg North with 21 points scored during the first quarter of those two games.
However, after that the Raiders haven’t been productive on offense. Rivera has scored just once after halftime, a lone touchdown scored midway through the third quarter against Weslaco East.
“It was kind of a repeat of last week,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “We started real strong and we couldn’t come back.”
Although the defense hasn’t been as strong for the Raiders as in years past, the offensive production needs to improve as district play begins in a few weeks. The offense has averaged just 219 yards per game, near the bottom of District 32-6A.
“We’re not doing much on offense,” Chavez said. “We just have to look at the film and see what we’re doing, see if we can correct it.”
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.