By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys and the PSJA Southwest boast two of the top rushing attacks in District 32-5A, and expectedly ran at each other’s defensive unit.
But the Javelinas were a little better and defeated Porter 21-14 in District 32-5A action Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
After the Cowboys tied the game at 14, PSJA Southwest chewed up the clock in the fourth quarter and grinded out a late touchdown from Hector Pecina on an 11-yard run with 1:22 on the clock to take the lead and ultimately seal the game for the Javelinas.
“I feel like Nostradamus, I told our guys it was going to come down to eight possessions and whoever has the ball last is pretty much going to win the game,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “They gave us an opportunity with a minute left. We made a couple good plays to start off that drive, but we made some bad decisions with the ball and ultimately it costs us.”
PSJA Southwest let its running backs go to work from the beginning, moving the chains and then scored on its first drive of the game.
Jesus Acosta, the top rusher in the district, scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to give the Javelinas an early 7-0 lead.
Porter answered quickly. The Cowboys moved down the field over the next two and a half minutes and their drive was capped by a 21-yard burst through the line by George Gutierrez for the score to tie the game at 7 in the first quarter.
Both teams had opportunities in the second quarter, but couldn’t find the end zone. Porter squandered a pair of chances with turnovers — a fumble inside the 5-yard line and an interception — and PSJA Southwest failed to convert a fourth down near midfield and later got inside the Cowboys 10-yard line, but ran out of time before the half.
“We should have been up 14-7 (at halftime),” Campos said. “That fumble (hurt us) before half, we could have gone up and then we get the ball to start the second half. We gave up opportunities like that that kept us out of the game.
“Just some mistakes that killed us.”
In the third quarter, the Javelinas made the necessary adjustments and broke the halftime tie with a 1-yard score from Acosta to give PSJA Southwest a 14-7 lead.
“We weren’t playing well, we had no emotion, no energy (in the first half),” PSJA Southwest coach Jesus Reyes said. “In the second half, we basically watered everything down. The only adjustment we made was personnel. We called some kids out. We wanted to know where they were, they weren’t on the field in the first half.”
The Cowboys answered midway through the fourth quarter. David Pacheco scored on a 2-yard run to tie the game at 14.
Gutierrez finished with 126 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown for Porter (2-4, 1-2).
Acosta finished with 221 yards on 28 carries and two scores for the Javelinas (4-2, 2-1). That wasn’t the gameplan for PSJA Southwest, but they’ll gladly take the district victory.
“He wanted the ball, so we gave it to him,” Reyes said. “Normally he won’t get the ball that many times, we’ll normally spread it out. (Now) we need to build from it, but a win is a win. We’re happy, we’ll take it.”
Ultimately, missed opportunities on very few drives were the downfall for the Cowboys.
“We were fighting, scratching back. I though we did a good job of putting that touchdown on the board (in the fourth quarter),” Campos said. “We put ourselves in a bad position and we wasted three drives in the second half. We didn’t move the ball and they did.”
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.