By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
High school football is officially back, with Week 1 beginning today for teams across the state. The East Valley has some top-tier matchups to open the season.
Perhaps the biggest opening-weekend contest in the East Valley will be Brownsville Hanna playing host to Mercedes at 7 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Eagles debuted at No. 10 in the RGVSports.com poll, and the Tigers took the No. 2 spot.
Week 1 action begins today with three East Valley squads competing. The Brownsville Lopez Lobos are traveling to Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi to take on South San Antonio. Rio Hondo will head to La Joya Juarez-Lincoln for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The contest will be the first for both teams since 2019.
The Brownsville Porter Cowboys are facing Grulla at 7 p.m. in the first game at Sams Memorial Stadium this season.
All other contests will be played Friday. The Harlingen High Cardinals, RGVSports.com’s No. 3 team in the preseason poll, will travel to Laredo to face the United South Panthers at 7 p.m. Harlingen South and Brownsville Veterans Memorial, two teams under new direction this year, will do battle at 7:30 p.m. at Boggus Stadium.
The San Benito Greyhounds and McAllen Rowe Warriors face off at 7 p.m. at Bobby Morrow Stadium. Los Fresnos plays host to Edcouch-Elsa at 7 p.m. to kick off the David Cantu era. The Brownsville Rivera Raiders will hit the road to take on the No. 5 PSJA North Raiders at 7:30 p.m.
Brownsville Pace and Sharyland High are scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m. at Richard Thompson Stadium.
In sub-5A action, the Port Isabel Tarpons will play host to the Brownsville St. Joseph Bloodhounds at 7:30 p.m. A pair of Class 4A squads will battle as the La Feria Lions travel to take on Raymondville at 7:30 p.m. at Burnett Stadium.
The Lyford Bulldogs and Santa Rosa Warriors will once again kick off the season against each other at 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium. Santa Maria heads to Marine Military Academy for a 7 p.m. contest.