By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
A fumble and a special teams blunder in under three minutes of the first quarter put the Lopez Lobos in a 14-point hole against the Edinburg High Bobcats.
But instead of panicking, the Lobos felt at home.
The Lopez defense held Edinburg to 10 points over the next three and a half quarters, and the offense settled in for four scoring drives as the Lobos rolled to a 28-24 comeback victory Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“It was a total team victory and took everyone we had on the sidelines,” Lopez head coach Jason Starkey said. “I welcome the adversity in non-district play. We’re not the same old Lopez. Ain’t nobody hanging heads on our sidelines. We get inspired when our backs are against the wall. We play inspired football and we are the pride of Brownsville.”
Lopez (2-0) trailed until early in the fourth quarter when offensive lineman Damien Zuniga fell on a Lobos fumble in the end zone.
Down by four, Edinburg (0-2) mounted a drive starting at its own 25 with just under four minutes to play and found itself at the Lopez 27 nine plays later with just over a minute to play down by four.
Bobcat quarterback Danny Shawnee rolled out to his left on a 2nd-and-10 play and launched a pass downfield, only to be picked off by Lopez’s Johnny Ibarra to seal the Lobos’ victory.
The Bobcats scored a touchdown to open the second half, but were turned away on their next four possessions.
“Lopez has a great, veteran team,” Edinburg head coach J.J. Leija said. “That prepares us for when district starts. Game speed is a little different than practice and our guys need to learn to adjust. All credit to (Lopez), they have a great coaching staff, they do a great job with these young men — they deserve it.”
The Lopez troubles started on its second possession of the night.
A bad pitch from quarterback Marco Solis to running back Jose Echavarria put the ball on the turf, allowing the Bobcats to take possession deep in Lopez territory.
Edinburg cashed in five plays later on a 7-yard run by Hearlin Benavides to the left side, putting the Bobcats ahead 7-0 with 5:14 to play in the first quarter.
Lopez’s Leo Ramos couldn’t handle the ball on the ensuing kickoff, allowing the Bobcats to recover and setting up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Danny Shawnee to Adrian Garza for a 14-0 lead six seconds later.
A Solis pass to Johnny Ibarra for a 4-yard touchdown put Lopez on the board early in the second, making it 14-7.
Later in the quarter, Lobo linebacker Carlos Arellano intercepted a batted pass at the Bobcat 46, setting up a 46-yard TD run by Echavarria. A blocked point after kept it 14-13.
Edinburg went into the break up 17-13 after adding a 20-yard field goal off the leg of David Cepeda.
The Bobcats opened the second half on a seven-play, 69-yard drive that lasted under two minutes. Benavides put Edinburg up 24-13 with a 6-yard run.
On the ensuing possession, with Lopez in the Wildcat Formation Echavarria threw a 47-yard bomb to Solis for a touchdown.
After the score, Solis was back under center and found JD Diaz for the two-point conversion to make it 24-21 with 6:13 left in the third.
Both teams had chances heading into the fourth, but were marred by penalties throughout the night.
Lopez finally got into the end zone to take the lead after its defense forced Edinburg into a three-and-out.
The Lobos went 59 yards in six plays to finally pull ahead with 11:10 left in the game.