McALLEN — The McAllen Memorial Mustangs escaped with a 35-28 victory over the La Joya Palmview Lobos in an overtime thriller Saturday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Mustangs defense turned up the intensity in overtime, stuffing the Lobos on three consecutive plays setting up a crucial fourth down and 15. That’s when junior defensive tackle Marcos De Ochoa broke through the line coming up with a huge sack, giving the ball back to his team.
Following the turnover, the Mustangs turned to running back Michael Lewis, giving him the ball four times on the final possession. Looking at a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Lewis took a pitch to the left and turned the corner, walking in for the game-winning touchdown.
“I think a little bit of tradition came out,” McAllen Memorial head coach Bill Littleton said. “Our kids did what they needed to do to win the ball game. We hadn’t played very good all night long, but they put together some pretty good defense in overtime and offense did good enough to get in the end zone and win the ball game.”
Following an offensive outburst by the Mustangs in the third, the Lobos faced a 28-14 deficit going into the fourth.
Lobos running back Carlos Peña put the team on his back carrying the ball 12 times for 71 yards and two touchdowns in the final period, including a game-tying 7-yard run with 1:01 left. Peña finished the game with 25 carries for 218 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s one special kid,” Lobos head coach Margarito Requeñez said. “Any time he touches the ball he can take it to the house. It’s kind of sad that we haven’t had the conditioning that we should, and he gasses out a little bit too early. He plays tough. He tried bringing it home tonight, but we just fell short again.”
The Mustangs jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as they meticulously drove down the field behind their 4-man running back rotation, which combined for 350 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Lewis led all Mustangs running backs, finishing with 16 carries for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
“Those kids are all four good kids,” Littleton said. “We try to get them all some playing time.”
With the Mustangs offense, knocking on the door looking to take a 14-point lead, it was senior athlete Bobby Cantu who came up big for the Lobos as he picked off McAllen Memorial quarterback JP Cortez in the end zone.
The interception sparked the Lobos as running back Peña broke off an 83-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7 early in the second.
On the following drive, Lewis powered through the Lobos’ defense on a 56-yard run setting up the Mustangs on the 11-yard line. Sophomore running back Max Alaniz capped off the drive with a 7-yard rushing touchdown to put the Mustangs up 14-7 with 8:45 left in the half.
With 2:30 remaining in the half and needing a big play, the Lobos turned to Cantu again as quarterback Eddie Valdez found him streaking down the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14 at halftime.
“It’s a big one, but we didn’t play very well tonight,” Littleton said. “We weren’t very focused tonight. We gotta be a lot better focused and we gotta be ready to play if we’re going to try to contend for this zone.”
Up next for the Mustangs (3-1, 2-0) is a matchup against the McAllen Rowe Warriors on Nov. 20 when they will look to extend their three-game winning streak. The Lobos (0-3, 0-3) will look to snap their three-game skid when they play the same Warriors on Nov. 25 following a bye week.