NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — For 24 minutes on Thursday night, McAllen High and Edinburg North jostled for field position, but neither produced any points. With no score heading into the second half and the game badly needing a shot of adrenaline, Bulldogs defensive back Daniel Chiquito, was a game-breaker. He reached out and stripped a Cougars wide receiver after a completed pass, then jumped on the loose ball to give McHi possession just outside of the red zone.
The second half developed into an exciting finish as McHi went up, went down and eventually ran off the field as victors by a score of 13-9 via running back Octavian Lewis’ 10-yard touchdown run with time expiring at Richard R. Flores Stadium.
“To me, it’s just bulldog mentality,” Lewis said. “Training under coach (Kevin) Brewer and all these amazing coaches, they put me in the mindset. Whether its 2 yards, 5 yards or a home run, I get the ball, keep running — moving my feet. Sooner or later, it will pay off.”
Prior to his touchdown, Lewis had gone for 58 yards on 26 carries. But his final touch, a 10-yard gain up the middle on a second effort, will be the one he remembers.
Chiquito, a senior, knew that his third-quarter recovery would be a crucial moment. It led to the game’s first points.
“Any big moment like that, you have to take full advantage of it,” Chiquito said. “Offense did, and we scored on that drive.”
The score came on third down, when junior quarterback Brian Garza found fellow junior Jackson Helmcamp on a flag route for a 17-yard score. The strike was Garza’s longest passing play of the night. He finished with 37 passing yards.
“We just clicked as a defense, as an offense,” Chiquito said. “Our motto was ‘always us,’ and all three units clicked tonight.”
Daniel’s younger brother, David Chiquito, had already logged a first-half interception, giving the family two turnovers in one night.
“That’s more than I can ask for,” Daniel Chiquito said. “We’ve been dreaming for that since we were in middle school. We’ve been wanting to play together for a long time, and finally, we got to. It’s a blessing.”
For North, Max Aguilar was solid at quarterback after the interception. He passed for 170 yards. His top target was Roel De Leon, who caught seven passes for 65 yards.
The senior QB answered two drives after McHi opened the scoring. He helped the Cougars march downfield with passes of 13, 27 and finally 15 yards for the score. Jose Cruz was the receiver who broke the plane.
North looked to be gaining steam, but that was the best the Cougars’ offense performed all night. It nearly didn’t matter. On the ensuing drive, McHi’s punt attempt deep in its own territory turned into disaster. The ball flew over punter Robert Amador’s head, and he was brought down for a safety to give the Cougars their first lead, 9-7, to close the third quarter.
McAllen’s defense shined in the fourth. The Bulldogs forced three punts, including one after punting the ball away themselves with under four minutes remaining.
“We knew our defense had the potential to be really good this year,” Brewer said. “They played really well last week, only giving up 180 yards, but they just played outstanding tonight.”
McHi’s final drive was a nail-biter. First, Edinburg North was flagged for a 15-yard taunting penalty. Then, Lewis ran for 22 yards to set his team up with game-winning field position. After that, though, runs were stopped and penalties almost cost the Bulldogs, but Lewis eventually scored to give McHi its first win of the year.
“The idea was just to position the ball in the middle of the field, call a timeout, kick the field goal, but it worked out another way. That’s football,” Brewer said of the final play. “The crazy thing, I was watching the clock. I was actually afraid he was going to fight for extra yardage so long it was going to eat up the clock. Hey, it worked out, and that’s the beauty of it.”