By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
A wet field and slick ball made for a sloppy game, but the Mercedes Tigers overcame the elements to clinch sole possession of the District 32-5A title after defeating the Porter Cowboys 41-19 on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“When we started this in January, I knew these kids had potential,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “We just needed to get it out of them.”
Mercedes (9-1, 7-0 in district) started the game deep in its own territory, lost several yards, narrowly avoided a safety and ultimately turned the ball over on downs on the 1-yard line after a botched snap on a punt attempt.
Porter coach Tom Campos was pleased with the ferocity his defense showed early on.
“We fought hard,” he said. “We knew the weather was going to play in our favor because they like to throw the ball.
“I thought we played with a lot of fire, raining or not raining. That first half we got after the quarterback, and that’s what we had to do.”
The following play, Porter’s Jonathan Leal punched it in to give the Cowboys (2-8, 1-6) the early 6-0 lead, but Mercedes quickly answered.
The Tigers drove down the field to pull ahead 7-6 after Rene Presas ran it in from 5 yards out, and Mercedes added another score early in the second quarter as Roel Garcia sprinted down the sideline for 46 yards, giving Mercedes a 13-6 lead at halftime.
“We knew with the weather coming in it was going to be kind of rough,” Adame Jr. said. “But once we got our motor going it really turned out good.”
Mercedes scored first to start the second half with a 9-yard run by Isaac Vela, but Porter answered minutes later as George Gutierrez carried defenders into the end zone from 11 yards out.
The Cowboys knocked on the door twice, but two David Pacheco fumbles — one in the end zone and again inside his own 40-yard line — neutralized any scoring threat, and Porter failed to keep up with Mercedes.
“Big plays make a difference,” Adame Jr. said. “That’s sort of been our forte all year on defense and on offense. We can score quick, and really turn games around and get the momentum going on our side.”
The Tigers scored 21 unanswered points and were too far ahead when Pacheco capped the season for Porter with an 11-yard touchdown run.
After the game, Campos looked back on the season, and though his team had a losing record, he was happy with the progress over previous years.
“(We made) huge strides,” Campos said. “Last year we scored in two games. This year we scored in all but two. That right there in itself is a victory for us.
“I was proud of (the seniors). We got off the 0-10 schneid two years in a row. I never spoke about how proud I was of the two wins until today. I’m proud that we got two wins. Of course we wanted more, but I told the sophomores and juniors they saw the hard work it took to get two, so we’ll have to double that in order to get more wins next year.”
As for Mercedes, the win sends them into the postseason on a high note, and Adame Jr. is excited with his team moving forward.
“I feel really good about this team,” he said. “We wanted to play in weather like this to see if we could produce, and with 41 points I think we can play anywhere with any team.”
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.