By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Who says football coaches won’t share?
After a wild weekend of regular season finales, Rivera, Los Fresnos, San Benito and Harlingen High all earned a share of the District 32-6A title after each finished 5-2 in district play.
The Falcons (7-3, 5-2 in district), the Greyhounds (6-4, 5-2) and the Cardinals (6-4, 5-2) had earned a postseason berth the week prior, and only the Raiders had to win out to share the feat. Rivera (5-5, 5-2) did just that, defeating San Benito 42-35 on the road to claim a piece of the crown and eliminate Brownsville Veterans Memorial (6-4, 4-3) from playoff contention in the process.
Despite the defeat to the Raiders, San Benito coach Dan Gomez said his team proved the doubters wrong.
“They didn’t exceed expectations of what we had,” he said. “But they did exceed expectations of what everybody else had of them.”
Harlingen High finished the season with a win over of crosstown rival Harlingen South, and Los Fresnos had little problem with Hanna to finish the season strong.
The Raiders won their fifth straight game and have plenty of momentum after opening the season winless during the first five games.
“It feels great. It’s good for everybody right now,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “I’m happy for everybody that (sharing the district title) came out this way. I like to share with my fellow coaches.”
NO REGRETS: Despite being eliminated from a postseason berth one day after its win against Lopez gave them a fighting chance, Brownsville Veterans Memorial had a good season.
The Chargers started the season strong and looked like the team to beat after starting the season 5-1, including a 3-0 mark in district play. But Brownsville Veterans lost three of its last four games down the stretch and was left out of the playoffs once again.
“I’m really proud of this team. If this was the last game, (we have) no regrets,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said after the win against the Lobos. The kids were awesome all year long, no matter what their role was.
“We got beat by three really good football teams. I wouldn’t change anything.”
NO OFFSEASON: When Lopez finished its season in a loss to a Brownsville Veterans, the Lobos finished winless on the season.
Lopez coach Jason Starkey was frustrated by the season, but also optimistic about the seasons ahead with a fairly young squad. Also, it meant the Lobos wouldn’t reflect on what could have been but rather start working to get better. Right away.
“Monday starts our offseason, and every kid that’s willing to jump in and do it the right way, then we’ll have an opportunity to be successful,” Starkey said after the loss Friday. “I stand for a heck of a lot more than 0-10. It doesn’t define me, this team or these coaches.”
POSTSEASON MATCHUPS: All four teams will play in the bi-district round Friday.
Harlingen High plays host to Weslaco High (6-4) at Boggus Stadium in Harlingen and Los Fresnos travels to face Edinburg North (5-5) at Cats Stadium in Edinburg.
San Benito also hits the road to face Weslaco East (9-1) at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco, and Rivera plays host to PSJA North (5-5) at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
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.