By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
KINGSVILLE — A slow start put the Los Fresnos Falcons in a tough spot from which they didn’t recover.
San Antonio Reagan scored two rushing touchdowns and returned an interception for another score to take a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter, and the Rattlers went on to defeat Los Fresnos 50-19 in the Class 6A Division I regional game Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Javelina Stadium.
Los Fresnos (9-4) scored all of its points after halftime, but too many turnovers gave the Rattlers’ offense good field position often and the Reagan defense held the Falcons to 122 yards rushing.
“We had some trouble. They’re big, strong and physical. We had trouble moving them, and that’s what we do,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “We move people. We try to establish the line of scrimmage, and we had some trouble with that. It wasn’t an easy night for us.”
The Rattlers (12-1) scored on their first two drives of the game, the first a 23-yard touchdown run by Marquis Duncan and the second a 3-yard run by Ian Leslie a few minutes later to give Reagan a 14-0 lead.
The Falcons tried to regroup, but quarterback Pierce Ruiz was intercepted by Garrett Strauss, who weaved his way 59 yards for another touchdown to give Reagan a 21-0 advantage they took into halftime.
Reagan allowed 272 yards on defense and finished with three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
“Our defense has played extremely well all year,” Reagan coach Dan Wetzel said. “I’m proud of those guys, they needed to play well (today).”
Ruiz was forced to throw more often than usually called for on the Falcons’ game plan, and it proved to be costly against the Rattlers’ strong defense.
The senior quarterback completed 13 of 24 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown, ran for 106 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Rene Ortega.
Finley said the game plan had to change from the normal run-heavy offense.
“We couldn’t (run) with any consistency,” he said. “To be able to pound on them and push the ball.We needed to find a way to get the ball out of the box and find another way to get it done, unfortunately. We weren’t able to do that like we wanted to.”
Led by Duncan (70 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns) and Leslie (63 yards on 10 carries and one touchdown), Reagan established the run early and often, finishing with 292 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
But Wetzel said it wasn’t easy against the Falcons.
“Los Fresnos has a really good football team,” he said. “(Give them credit) they did a really good job today (on defense).”
While disappointed with the loss, Finley was happy with the effort from his team.
“I definitely think we could have played better, but I’m happy with the way the boys came out and competed,” he said. “They could have left a goose egg on the scoreboard, but they didn’t. They competed and found a way to get the ball in the end zone.”
After winning a playoff game last year and two more this season, Finley was excited for the future of the Los Fresnos football program.
“It’s big (for the program),” he said. “We have some young guys who got some playoff experience, and that’s always going to be a plus. That next Friday night next year won’t be as big of a deal, they’ll be more prepared because they’ve been in some big games.
“I’m excited where we’re going. We have a good program and it’s coming along, hopefully we can build upon it next year.”
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.