By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
Soccer is the premier sport in the Rio Grande Valley. There has been a constant presence of Valley teams competing for a state championship.
The last team to bring home a state title was the Brownsville Porter Cowboys in Class 5A in 2016, and the year before in 2015, the Brownsville Rivera Raiders were Class 6A champions.
East Valley teams are itching to bring a state title back to the Valley. The Cowboys were close last season but lost to Valley View in the regional final game.
Because the bar is set high for East Valley teams, district still seems like the preseason.
“It has never been a goal at Porter to win a district title,” Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said. “Our goal every year is to win a state title. We have that pressure on us in this sport, and we embrace that in Brownsville.”
Districts 32-5A and 32-6A are always extremely competitive in all sports, but in soccer there are multiple teams that could be regional champions.
Porter and Brownsville Veterans Memorial kick off 32-5A in one of the most exciting matches to begin district.
Porter is the defending district champion and will be challenged by Brownsville Veterans, Brownsville Lopez and Brownsville Pace. Weslaco East and Pace have played well early in the season, Espitia said. Pace beat Porter 2-1 in a tournament and returns lots of starters.
Los Fresnos will look to defend its district title in 32-6A. The talented district did not do well in the playoffs last season, as no team advanced past the second round.
“Our first goal is to defend the district championship,” Los Fresnos coach Michael Miller said. “We lost a good number of seniors, but I feel like we have the players to compete for the district title. Our guys played a lot of the best teams in the Valley, so that will help them be mentally strong when district starts.”
Harlingen South finished second, Brownsville Hanna took third and Donna North was fourth.
Two teams that are looking to shake things up in the top four for next year are Rivera and Harlingen High.
Teams have had their problems with COVID, and Rivera was one of those teams. Because of that, the Raiders fielded a young squad last season and nearly made the playoffs.
“Having a young team is not an excuse,” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “Every year, our goal is to win state. It does not matter if we have a young team. For us, district is not enough and just making it to the playoffs is not enough.”
First-year Harlingen High coach Joseph Johnson understands the challenges that his team faces against really good teams in his district. The defensively sound Cardinals had five shutouts in non-district and tournament play.
“Tough district,” Johnson said. “Harlingen South and Los Fresnos were top 50 in the state in 6A last season. Rivera were young and hung with everybody. No game is easy on the schedule, but I have confidence in my guys. We are getting focused, and we set a high goal for this season and anything short of that would not just be a failure but a disappointment.”
The Cardinals open district against the Raiders. Another great matchup in 32-6A to begin district is Harlingen South against Hanna, two playoff teams from last year.
District 32-4A last season was decided by a last-minute header, giving Brownsville IDEA Riverview the title over Brownsville Jubilee.
The two played against each other in the BISD Showcase. IDEA Riverview scored two goals during the first half and made plenty of changes at halftime. Jubilee scored four goals during the second half to win.
When both teams are at full force and there is something on the line, it will be an exciting one to watch.
“We are excited, the boys have been training very hard,” IDEA Riverview coach Rodolfo Rodriguez said. “Last year was something we have been looking forward to, but this year our primary goal is the playoffs and to get as far as we can in the playoffs. We want to defend our district title, but we also want to do better in the playoffs than we did last season.”
IDEA Riverview made it to the third round last season, and Jubilee went to the second round. Both likely will be challenged by Brownsville IDEA Frontier, which got to the third round of the playoffs last season.
Jubilee and IDEA Frontier both lost to Corpus Christi London in the playoffs.
The only team to begin district already is the Brownsville St. Joseph Bloodhounds. The Bloodhounds are undefeated in their TAPPS district.
When district play resumes for the Bloodhounds they will have to travel to take on Laredo St. Augustine. The Bloodhounds beat that school 2-1 earlier in the season.
All teams have to play well in district to reach their goals of deep runs in the playoffs. Playing in some of the toughest districts in Texas helps these teams achieve their objectives, which can reach all the way to state.