NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
McAllen Rowe has the same overall record it had at this point a season ago, but a 2-0 district record and the potential to move to 3-0 against Mission High yield excitement.
The Warriors haven’t been 3-0 since at least 2004, and their best seasons took place before the turn of the millennium.
Coach Bobby Flores stressed that the Warriors aren’t 3-0 yet, and they will be facing a tough Mission team that has an urgency to win and stay in the playoff hunt.
“We take it one game at a time. That’s what we’ve been stressing to the kids,” Flores said. “It’s a tough district. On any given night, any team can beat anybody.”
Last year, quarterback Jesus Sanchez went down to injury in Week 7, and Rowe went 1-2 in the team’s final three district games. This season, Sanchez was hurt in Week 2, but the Warriors’ offense has answered the bell in his absence.
Rowe has scored 148 points since sophomore Jonas Ortiz took over at QB.
Last week, in a 55-21 win over La Joya Palmview, Rowe’s defense got in on the scoring with a fumble recovery TD and an interception returned for a TD.
Rowe will need to be on its game as it faces a Mission team that wants to prove it is better than its 1-2 district record might indicate. Steven De Leon should be back in action for the Eagles. He missed last week’s game, during which the Mission defense gave up 303 yards on the ground to La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
Flores was rather direct when asked how to attack a disruptive player like De Leon: “Run away from him.”