The La Joya High Coyotes knocked off their rival La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies 24-10 in a game they needed to win to stick around as contenders for a playoff spot, and no one was surprised defense led the way.
La Joya High has had the leading defense in District 30-6A essentially all season it terms of points (145) and yards per game (239.2) allowed. Despite the stingy defense, the Coyotes hadn’t secured a win since a 3-1 non-district season. La Joya High just hasn’t scored enough, with a district-low 111 points in eight games.
“It’s a big win for our school, for our community, plus our team,” La Joya High coach Reuben Farias said. “We’ve been in a lot of ballgames throughout the year and it hasn’t been going our way.”
Despite an 0-3 record, La Joya High entered the game against Juarez-Lincoln with some confidence after keeping McAllen Memorial to 218 rushing yards and 24 points — both district lows for the Mustangs — in a 24-7 loss Oct. 20.
The Coyotes parlayed that showing to keep the Huskies to 225 total yards.
“We felt Memorial has a better running attack (than Juarez-Lincoln),” Farias said. “We felt that we could hold them and not allow that big play also, and that would give ourselves a chance to win.”
Senior Irving Zamora had a game to remember with an interception and a fumble recovery on defense, plus 83 receiving yards on two catches on offense.
La Joya High will try to keep strong play against strong offenses a trend when it faces McAllen Rowe Friday in McAllen.