McALLEN — After a back-and-forth contest that saw both teams jockey for leads and trade blows one after another, PSJA High senior quarterback Justin Morales look up to the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter to see his squad locked in another tie with McAllen Rowe.
The Bears were again facing another pivotal drive with possession around midfield when Morales took a snap out of the shotgun and looked deep downfield.
He fired a high lob pass to senior wideout Marco Guajardo along the visiting sideline in heavy coverage. He went up for the ball with the Warriors’ defensive back following in stride as the ball slipped right through the defender’s hands and into Guajardo’s.
He dashed down the sideline into the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown pass to take a late lead and secure a 41-34 road victory for PSJA High over previously unbeaten McAllen Rowe on Thursday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“It was just joy. These kids have been working so hard and to be able to finish the game on that type of play, it was amazing,” PSJA High head coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “We always preach ‘Who is going to be able to make the big plays tonight?’ Marco was the guy. He made the big play, I’m very proud of him and he came up big tonight and won us the game.”
Guajardo was the biggest difference maker in a game that continuously teetered back and forth, lifting the Bears’ to their second last-second, one-possession district win in the last three weeks.
He was the focal point of PSJA’s pass-heavy offense from the get-go and his workload was made even greater early on in the contest. Fellow senior receiver Miguel Flores — the district’s leading pass-catcher — was ejected from the game towards the end of the first quarter, leaving the Bears’ vaunted receiving corps shorthanded almost out of the gate.
Flores also helped put one of the Bears’ two touchdowns at the time on the board on their biggest play from scrimmage on the evening: a 65-yard scoring pass.
“We kind of lost our mojo there a little bit when he went out. Our team kind of got down,” Rodriguez said. “We made some changes. We moved our slot receiver outside and tried to be a little more patient trying to run the ball with JR.”
PSJA relied on senior running back JR Vasquez to dictate the tempo of the game on the ground, while Morales heavily targeted Guajardo and slot receiver Ethan Castillo through the air.
Vasquez ran for 116 yards on 18 carries and two second half rushing touchdowns to help the Bears catch back up and keep the Warriors’ offense off the field. He also chipped in 31 receiving yards on three catches.
Castillo and Guajardo, meanwhile, helped revitalize PSJA’s passing attack with the former snagging a touchdown reception before halftime and the latter scoring the go-ahead score on the final drive.
Castillo caught seven passes for 66 yards, while Guajardo snagged seven receptions for a game-high 95 yards through the air.
More significant than Castillo, Guajardo and Vasquez’s numbers, however, was the timing of their clutch contributions, as PSJA High seemed to make all the necessary big plays down the stretch run.
“It was going to be whoever had the ball last and whoever made the play,” Rodriguez said. “They had a chance there driving with some penalties, but fortunately it was us who made the plays unlike last week’s game. We made it count.”
It was tough way to go down for the Warriors in the their first loss of the season, especially given the quality play of senior signal caller Jonas Ortiz who connected with eight different receivers in the losing effort.
He scrambled for the final touchdown of the first half, giving the Warriors’ a 27-20 halftime edge. But with a string of injuries affecting the offensive line, backfield and defensive front at various moments throughout the later stages of the game, Rowe’s offense ran into trouble in the second half.
The Warriors’ offense scored once in the final 24 minutes of regulation on a 71-yard touchdown run by junior back Joey Partida. Rowe scored once more on a fumble recovery in the end zone off a backwards pass from Morales, but was unable to slow down PSJA High’ offensive onslaught.
The Bears scored the last two touchdowns of the game to take a one-score lead and gave the ball back to the Warriors with about 2 minutes to get to the end zone for the tie. Ortiz and Rowe were able to drive to the PSJA 41-yard line, but ultimately were unable to withstand the Bears’ heavy pass rush which generated five second half sacks.
“I thought we did a good job on both sides,” Rowe head coach Bobby Flores said. “We fought until the very end, it’s just that they came up with one bigger play than we did down the stretch and it went through our kid’s hands and they made a good play.”
The Bears’ win carries chaotic consequences into the district title hunt and playoff picture in 30-6A. Thursday’s result creates a logjam at the top of standings with four teams vying for first place: McAllen Memorial, McAllen Rowe, Mission High and PSJA High.
“I told our kids, ‘Our backs are against the wall.’ This game right now that we’re playing this week has a lot of significance because the district championship is there for us to take,” Rodriguez said. “We came in with a chip on our shoulder knowing that they were undefeated and said, ‘Why can’t it be us that beats them?’ They did that, and I’m very proud of our kids and coaching staff.”
PSJA High (4-3, 3-1) will return to action to face McAllen High (2-4, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Pharr, while McAllen Rowe (6-1, 3-1) will hit the gridiron again against Mission (5-1, 3-0) at the same time at Tom Landry Stadium with first place in the district on the line.