DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — Donna High took care of business Friday night.
It secured the District 32-5A title outright with a demonstrative 31-10 win over Edcouch-Elsa at Bennie La Prade Stadium, leaving a packed Homecoming crowd dancing and singing along to Queen’s “We are the Champions” well into the evening.
The Redskins (8-2, 7-0 32-5A) had clinched a share of the district title with last week’s win over Donna North. But a win Friday made it theirs alone, and they were in no giving mood.
“We wanted to come out and hit them in the mouth,” said senior Edward Dougherty, who rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns. “We wanted to win that district title outright. We didn’t want to share with anybody.”
Just as it has been all season, Donna High was workmanlike.
The Redskins ran the ball at will, the defense hardly bended and never broke until E-E scored a late touchdown with 4:18 left, and they controlled possession. The only difference was this particular win — their eighth in a row — resulted in a complete grasp of their first district championship since 2007.
“As soon as the season ended last year, we had one goal and that was to be district champs,” senior defensive lineman Jorge Ibarra said. “Every huddle, we broke ‘District champs!’ We put in the work and it paid off.”
Now comes the real deal. Donna High hosts Mission Veterans Memorial for its Class 5A, DI bi-district playoff game next week, a rematch from last season when the Patriots sent the Redskins home with a 17-14 win.
“When we found out we were going to play them, the first thing that came up in our heads was redemption,” said senior Amonte Bowen, who rushed for 137 yards and a TD. “It’s going to be an amazing game next Friday.”
Donna High was hardly threatened all night. A slumping Edcouch-Elsa (6-4, 4-3) team that lost its third straight game was once again in shambles.
The Yellowjackets, who turned the ball over once and committed 12 penalties for 75 yards, did not score until there was no time left in the first half, gifted an untimed play after a Donna penalty. Abraham Castilla drilled a 47-yard field goal.
But by then, Donna High had already built a 17-0 lead, and the length of Castilla’s laser kick was only 34 yards short of the Yellowjackets’ entire first half total of 81 yards from scrimmage.
Edcouch-Elsa rotated seniors Andrew Segura and Moses Gomez at quarterback, but neither produced efficiently. The Yellowjackets managed 264 total yards and committed six false start penalties.
“We knew if they came out with Andrew Segura at quarterback, they were going to pass,” said senior defensive back Jarrod Garza, who intercepted Segura on E-E’s third offensive possession. “Anyone else out there, they were going to run that nasty slot offense. We were prepared for both and we executed.”
The Redskins weren’t statistically dominant, but they were in dictating tempo. Donna High rushed for 320 yards and scored on five of eight possessions.
“Those big games we played early really set the tone for the rest of the year,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said of the team’s 0-2 start against RGVSports.com Top 10 teams Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Weslaco High. “It got us mentally and physically prepared and everything just flowed.
“We never changed what we did, we just got better at what we did.”