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MERCEDES — In what Donna High considered to be a statement game Friday night, its defense said the most.
Amonte Bowen’s three-yard touchdown run was the go-ahead score with 47 seconds left and Jorge Ibarra and Robert Garza combined for a game-sealing forced fumble and recovery moments later to lead the Redskins past reigning District 32-5A champ Mercedes 28-21 at Tiger Stadium in The Monitor’s Game of the Week.
While Donna High (4-2, 3-0 32-5A) was effortlessly potent against the Tigers’ No. 1 defense, statistically, in the district, it was its defense that won the game. The Redskins held the Tigers to 229 total yards, including just 31 rushing yards on 28 carries.
EDCOUCH-ELSA 49, DONNA NORTH 10: At Elsa, quarterback Andrew Segura threw for five touchdowns and receivers J.J. Flores and Moses Gomez each caught two TD passes to push the Yellowjackets to 3-0 in District 32-5A.
Segura, District 32-5A’s leading passer, also ran for a touchdown for E-E, which stands at 5-1. Donna North fell to 0-6, 0-3 in district.
BROWNSVILLE PACE 26, PSJA HIGH 22: At Pharr, the young Bears played their most competitive game of the season but fell short to the Vikings.
PSJA High dropped to 0-6 overall, 0-3 in district. Pace won its first game of the season, going to 1-5, 1-2.
MISSION VETERANS 34, ROMA 3: At Mission, the Patriots overcame the loss of senior quarterback Diego Hernandez to defeat the Gladiators and improve to 1-1 in District 31-5A..
Hernandez went down awkwardly on his left ankle on a sack during the second quarter. Freshman Landry Gilpin subbed in under center, rushing for 166 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries, and threw for 90 yards and two scores through the air.
CLASS 6A
SAN BENITO 22, HARLINGEN HIGH 21: At Harlingen, for a second consecutive year, the Greyhounds found themselves down to the Cardinals in the Annual Battle of the Arroyo with just minutes left.
And once again, the ‘Hounds answered the bell.
After San Benito’s EJ Barron cut the Harlingen lead to just one on a 1-yard scoring run with 1:39 to play, quarterback JR Gaitan found receiver Juan Salas for the go-ahead two-point conversion to lift the Greyhounds to a 22-21 win Friday night at Boggus Stadium.
“When the waters were muddy, we kept on pushing through,” Gaitan said. “Our offense did a good job keeping the momentum and pushing through. We had good blocking by our backs and our linemen and I took it.
“My team worked hard and we got the job done tonight.”
San Benito (4-2, 2-1) has now won back-to-back Battle of the Arroyos for the first time since 2006-07.
LA JOYA HIGH 28, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 20: At La Joya ISD Stadium, the Coyotes took down a 2014 playoff team for the second consecutive week, beating the Lobos.
La Joya High is 3-4 overall and 2-1 in district, having beaten McAllen High 22-18 last week. Palmview drops to 3-3, 1-1.
With quarterback John Cadena out due to illness, sophomore Irving Garcia led the offense and threw touchdown passes to J.C. Maldonado and Victor De Hoyos.
“He stepped up, he kept his composure, and I think he did a great job tonight,” coach George Espinoza said.
Brandon Ramos and Frank Garcia scored rushing touchdowns for the Coyotes.
McALLEN HIGH 43, McALLEN ROWE 40: At McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, McHi’s Cesar Flores kicked a 23-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
After the Bulldogs took a 33-20 lead late in the third quarter, Rowe scored 20 unanswered to take a 40-33 lead. But McAllen High tied the game on a 5-yard run by Josh McGowen, who finished with 263 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries, then drove 48 yards in the final 1:26 to set up the winning kick.
LOS FRESNOS 39, HARLINGEN SOUTH 21: At Los Fresnos, the Falcons scored 22 unanswered points during the third quarter to knock off the Hawks at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
Right after the break, Isaiah Zepeda scored a touchdown on an 8-yard run. On the next drive, Rene Ortega scored a touchdown on a 16-yard run. After the defense recovered a fumble, Ortega hit Pete Perez on a 20-yard touchdown pass to take a commanding lead that would hold up.
“We executed a little bit better,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said of their halftime adjustments on offense. “We came back to some plays we thought we could have had early, but we didn’t hit. We hit them a couple times. The boys just came out and executed. They were hungry, it was a big game.”
WESLACO EAST 28, EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 7: At Weslaco, Ciro Rojas scored twice on the ground and ran for over 100 yards to push the Wildcats to a 3-0 district record.
“Ciro did Ciro stuff,” coach Mike Burget said. “No matter what we ask, be it to play quarterback, running back, receiver or safety, he goes out and makes plays. What an athlete. He played like Ciro tonight, so we got the win.”
The Wildcats limited the Jaguars (3-3, 1-1) under 200 yards of offense and forced five turnovers.
“The defense was unbelievable,” Burget said. “Those guys played really well. That was our positive tonight. The defense showed us that they can do a heck of a lot of things.”
EDINBURG NORTH 35, EDINBURG HIGH 14: At Edinburg, the Cougars halted a four-game losing skid with a win over the Bobcats, claiming their first district victory of the season.
PSJA NORTH 22, PSJA MEMORIAL 20: At Pharr, Brandon Villarreal scored two touchdowns, and Raul Alvarez kicked a 47-yard field goal to give the Raiders (3-4, 2-1) their second consecutive win.
CLASS 4A
PORT ISABEL 33, PROGRESO 13: At Port Isabel, the Tarpons won their fifth straight district opener to improve to 4-1 overall.
Port Isabel led 9-0 after one quarter at 22-7 at intermission at Tarpon Stadium. It took a 25-7 cushion into the final period of its District 16-4A, Div. 2.
CLASS 3A
LYFORD 41, SANTA ROSA 0: At Santa Rosa, Bulldogs quarterback John Rivera threw for 140 yards on 16 of 30 passing and two touchdowns in their District 32-3A rival Warrior Stadium.
Rivera spread the ball around completing passes to nine different receivers, improving Lyford’s record to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Warriors, meanwhile, suffered another setback and dropped to 0-5, 0-1.
Rivera and John Reyna connected on a 16-yard passing play to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 5:58 left in the first quarter.
Four minutes later Rivera stuck again only this time with his feet as the senior scored on a designated running play from 13 yards out to stretch the lead to 14-0 just before the end of the first quarter.
DILLEY 43, MONTE ALTO 14: At Monte Alto, the Blue Devils lost their District 16-3A opener to drop to 3-4 on the season.
CLASS 2A
LA VILLA 34, THREE RIVERS 21: At La Villa, Ramiro Cantu scored twice and Ruben Garza and Macario Perez chipped in as the Cardinals won their District 16-2A, Div. 1, opener.
“It was good tonight. The kids played hard,” La Villa coach Shawn Alvarez said. “I can’t praise our offensive line enough. They really do a good job for us. Hats off to them.”
The Cardinals scored on a nine-minute drive in the first half, going up 20-0 at the break after recovering a fumble in the second quarter.
“Everything kind of came together,” Alvarez said. “They played hard as a team.”