By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The Pace Vikings don’t mind turning on the “Friday Night Lights” one day early.
Counting today’s 7 p.m. game at Sams Memorial Stadium, they’ve played just as many times on Thursday as they have on Friday this season.
It will be Pace’s third Thursday game of 2018 as opposed to three contests on Friday when the Vikings (4-1, 4-0 District 16-5A Division I) go against La Joya Palmview (3-2, 3-1) at Sams.
“ We’re pretty used to it,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said of playing on Thursdays. “This is the last Thursday game this season for us, though.”
Pardo said the coaching staff has made the necessary adjustments when the Vikings play a day early.
“ Because it’s a short week, we don’t do as much hitting,” he said. “We do (additional) teaching more than anything else.”
Besides today’s Pace-Palmview game, there are four area teams playing Friday. Brownsville Veterans Memorial takes on Porter at Sams in 16-5A Division I action, while in a pair of non-district contests, Grulla is at Port Isabel and Hidalgo is at St. Joseph Academy. All of those games kick off at 7:30 p.m.
Area teams enjoying byes this week are Rivera, Hanna, Los Fresnos and Lopez.
Pace will be attempting to win for the fifth straight week when the Vikings go against Palmview. Last week, the Vikings won 48-32 at PSJA Memorial and Palmview won 28-27 in overtime at home against PSJA Southwest.
Pardo said the Lobos are a dangerous team with a solid run-based offense featuring running backs Mario Chapa (542 yards, seven TDs) and Carlos Pena (304 yards, three TDs).
“ At 3-1 (in district), they’re right behind us (in the standings),” the Pace coach said of Palmview. “We’re going to try to not get surprised by them.”
The Vikings have some playmakers of their own, including sophomore quarterback Jose Banda, who enjoyed his best outing in a varsity role last week against PSJA Memorial. Banda passed for 248 yards and four TDs while rushing for 78 yards and two more scores. Banda completed his first 11 passes in the game, finishing 12-of-16 for 185 yards in the opening half.
“ He’s really coming around,” Pardo said of Banda. “Sometimes we forget he’s a sophomore. He’s doing better and throwing better.”
The PI-Grulla matchup gives the Tarpons (2-3) a chance to follow up their decisive 37-0 triumph last week at SJA. Grulla (2-3) suffered a 55-42 setback at Rio Hondo last week.
Grulla boasts a productive ground game with running back Vidal Lopez (405 yards and three TDs) and quarterback Dillen Salinas (372 yards and four TDs) leading the way. The Gators rank as the top offensive team in District 16-4A Division I by averaging 398.4 yards per game.
Port Isabel averages 290.8 yards per game on offense and is sparked by workhorse running back Brayan Medina (700 yards, four TDs), who ranks as the top rusher in District 16-4A Division II.
The Tarpons own a 5-1 edge in their all-time series with Grulla.
The SJA-Hidalgo game at Canales Field matches two teams coming off different results last week. The Bloodhounds were shut out in a decisive manner by the Tarpons, while the Pirates captured their first win in two seasons under second-year coach Monty Stumbaugh, previously Port Isabel’s coach.
Hidalgo downed Progreso 10-7 at Bill Pate Stadium to improve to 1-4 on the season. SJA is also 1-4 with its lone win coming against Progreso 26-0 on Sept. 7.
The Bloodhounds and Pirates have been frequent opponents over the years. In their most recent meeting, SJA won 42-10 at Hidalgo last season.
SJA, Port Isabel and Grulla are all are playing their final non-district games of the season before having an open date next week and starting their respective districts on Oct. 19.
Hidalgo opens 16-4A Division I action at home against Zapata on Oct. 12.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess