By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
“Bye Week” is by no means a week of idleness for Brownsville football teams in District 32-6A and District 32-5A.
All six of the city’s public-school squads have open dates this week as they gear up for next week’s start of 32-6A and 32-5A competition.
The only Brownsville team in action will be St. Joseph Academy (3-0), which plays host to Pharr Oratory (1-2) in the “Holy Bowl” on homecoming night at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Canales Field. The only other Metro-area team playing will be Port Isabel (3-0), which travels to Valley View (0-3) for its fourth of five non-district games at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The Bloodhounds and Tarpons collide in non-district action next week at Port Isabel, and both appear likely to enter their matchup with undefeated records.
Area teams enjoying byes this week are Brownsville Veterans Memorial (2-1), Los Fresnos (2-1), Hanna (1-1), Pace (1-2), Porter (1-2), Lopez (0-3) and Rivera (0-3).
Porter coach Tom Campos already has told his players to not even begin to think about taking it easy this week because there’s no game.
The Cowboys, just like all other teams, have plenty to work on to get ready for district.
“We have experienced three different types of teams/games (in non-district) and have learned where we are proficient and what our weaknesses and deficiencies are,” Campos said. “The bye week gives us time to rest, but not be lazy, and to take time to refocus on our process and our goals. More importantly, it gives us a full two weeks to prepare for our first District (32-5A) game (against Donna North on Sept. 25).”
At Porter, there’s a strategically placed poster for the players to see with an admonition in the words of ancient Japanese monk Yoshida Kenko regarding inactivity and the temptation to lose focus and become lax during a week such as this one. In part, it reads, “A man who fails even for a short time to keep in mind the preciousness of time is no different from a corpse.”
“That’s something we have posted in our locker room,” Campos said.
Even the teams that are on an upswing are not about to let down with district so close to starting. Brownsville Veterans boasts a two-game winning streak with victories over PSJA North (30-23) and Edinburg High (41-0) after an 0-1 start. The Chargers open 32-6A action against Harlingen South on Sept. 26.
“I see our team as focused on improving in all areas,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “We struggled in our first two games with losing the turnover battle, but we came out on top last week (against Edinburg High) in large part because of our defense’s aggressiveness, which led to creating six turnovers.
“Offensively, we feel we have quality depth that will serve us well during a tough district schedule,” Cantu added. “We’ve played three quarterbacks, four running backs and eight wide receivers, all of them a considerable amount of time, and all have proven capable of making positive plays.”
Another team on the upswing is Pace. The Vikings won their first game of the season last Friday, a 53-22 victory over Lopez. Pace wants to keep the momentum going as it gets ready to face Mercedes in its 32-5A opener on Sept. 26.
“For us, it’s very important (to have the bye week),” Pace coach William Deen said. “It’s a great opportunity to fine-tune what we’re doing and clean things up. We want to correct our mistakes and things like that.
“It’s also about getting healthy and staying in game shape,” Deen added. “It’s not just (working on) certain areas, it’s everything.”
Hanna is coming off a win, too, but it’s not exactly what the Golden Eagles had envisioned since their game Saturday with Donna High was canceled due to inclement weather. That means their final non-district game was a 23-14 win at Mission High on Sept. 5. Hanna next opens 32-6A action against San Benito on Sept. 27.
There was initially a thought of trying to hastily arrange a non-district game for this week against another opponent to replace the contest against the Redskins, but Hanna coach Rene Medrano said that possibility no longer exists.
“We’ve closed the book on that chapter (of non-district games),” Medrano said. “Now we’re focusing (exclusively) on San Benito.
“Having the bye week, obviously it gives us a few more days to prepare for our district opener,” he added. “(We’ve got more time to) put in the game plan and make sure everyone knows what to do. It’s also a time to get everyone healthy.”
Meanwhile, Rivera hasn’t found the win column yet, but the Raiders are drawing some positives from the fact that they’ve played perhaps the toughest non-district schedule in the Valley this season. They’ve been competitive against three strong teams, Weslaco East (3-0), Edinburg North (2-1) and Sharyland High (3-0), the Valley’s top-ranked team. If not for a 15-14 overtime loss, Edinburg North would be 3-0 as well.
The Raiders are using the bye week to prepare for their 32-6A opener against another highly regarded team, Harlingen High, on Sept. 26.
“All three of them are playoff teams and maybe a little more,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said of his team’s first three opponents. “(Having played them on somewhat even terms,) it’s going to make us a better team and give us some confidence.
“We’ve been making a lot of mistakes, and we just need to get them corrected (during the bye week),” he added.