DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
It’s easy to look at Friday’s game between Donna High and Mercedes as having significant district title implications.
Mercedes (3-2, 2-0 32-5A) is the reigning District 32-5A champ, still a considerable designation despite only a few returners from last year’s team. Donna High (3-2, 2-0) is said to be the favorite in 32-5A. Edcouch-Elsa will have something to say about all of this when it’s all said and done, but Friday’s game at Tiger Stadium in Mercedes is a crucial step in determining the district’s best of the best.
No matter what the situation holds, however, each coach is sticking to the P.C. line that Friday is just the next game up.
“It’s the next opponent,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “We haven’t mentioned being district champs or them being favorites or whatever. But the kids understand the magnitude. They know it’s a big one.
“What matters is the kids put a lot of effort to put themselves in a situation like this, and this is what makes football fun.”
Donna High coach Ramiro Leal buys into that thinking.
“It’s a real delicate balance,” Leal said. “If I was to say a victory (Friday) makes it easier for us to win a district title and then we lose, it can feel like we failed or had a letdown. Yes, (Mercedes) is a very good team. But there’s a lot of football to be played.
“For me to say it’s a must-win, I can’t say. There’s a lot left.”
Friday’s game is not the end-all, be-all for a district championship. But it’s a lengthy stride toward that final step.
Donna High is 32-5A’s No. 1 offense, averaging 36.2 points on 442.4 yards. Mercedes is the district’s stingiest defense, allowing 16.2 points on 179.8 yards per game.
“I don’t know if we can stop them,” Adame Jr. said. “But we’re going to try and slow them down. We just have to play sound defense. Keep our gaps, play good coverages, play solid technique and we can’t miss tackles. We cannot miss tackles.”
The Redskins have an athletically gifted trio in the backfield in seniors Amonte Bowen, Edward Dougherty and Paul Guerra. But the Tigers counter with linebackers Fabricio Quintanilla, Adrian Noriega and Roger Adame III.
“They’ll send people from all different angles, and we have to be careful with our role blocking because they cause so much havoc,” Leal said. “The good thing is our (offensive) line is experienced. We just have to catch their blitzes and execute.”
The goal for each team is simple: wear out the other. For Donna, that means ball control, chewing clock and keeping Mercedes’ defense on the field. For the Tigers, it means the same, but with more of a hurry-up pace to limit defensive substitutions and promote fatigue for the opponent.
While Mercedes has impressive team speed, it is young. Its top playmakers on offense are sophomores, quarterback Zach Gomez and running back Fabian Ledesma. Ledesma has been a dynamo, and Gomez, who has not committed a turnover in 64 pass attempts and 54 carries, has improved each game, particularly in reading coverages and knowing when and where to deliver the ball.
“He’s a mobile guy, and he can make things happen with his legs,” Adame said. “Being a quarterback though, he’s had to trust himself and his teammates, and he’s exactly where he should be right now.”
All of this makes for what should be a classic contest, though perhaps not quite as big as some may like it to be.
“All games are the same, but this is probably the biggest test in district for us right now,” Leal said. “We have to bring our ‘A’ game. But we can’t tell ourselves one game is bigger than another. In theory, the motivation can be playing a team perceived to be as good, or maybe better.
“But our job is to stay as humble as we can, because we don’t want our worst enemy to be ourselves.”