By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
A strong second half lifted the Pace Vikings to victory.
Trailing 9-3 at halftime, the Vikings scored a pair of touchdowns during the final two quarters and kept the Donna High Redskins scoreless to win 17-9 in District 16-5A Division I action Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“Our offense pushed the ball down the field (in the second half) and we made some good plays on third and fourth down,” Pace junior wide receiver Ilijah Solis said. “That’s what helped us win.”
The Vikings improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in district. The Redskins are now 2-1 and 1-1.
Jose Banda bulled his way across the goal line to put Pace into the lead for the first time, 10-9, with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
Banda’s score on fourth down from the 1-yard line capped an 18-play, 61-yard drive that consumed all but 2:13 of the third quarter. The Vikings received the second-half kickoff and put together their impressive TD march. They converted fourth-down plays three times during the drive.
“That was a decisive play for us,” Solis said of Banda’s score. “It turned things around for us. It changed the momentum of the game.”
Pace coach Danny Pardo agreed.
“We were kind of stagnant in the first half,” Pardo said. “We just couldn’t get things going. Last week we started out slow and this week as well. One of these days we’re going to put together a whole game.
“We had that long drive to open the second half, and I think it might have affected Donna High and maybe broke their spirits a little bit,” Pardo added. “Our defense kind of fed off of it.”
A 12-yard sprint up the middle to the end zone by Brandon Zapata with 2:24 remaining made it 17-9 for the Vikings.
Zapata, playing both quarterback and running back, was the game’s top rusher with 103 yards on 17 carries.
The first-half scoring was all field goals with Geronimo Fragoso making three for Donna High and Jovany Garcia converting one for Pace.
Fragoso was successful on field goals of 27 and 40 yards to give the Redskins a 6-0 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Garcia cut the lead to 6-3 at the 8:37 mark of the second period by making a 22-yard field goal for the Vikings.
Fragoso’s 35-yard field goal with 3:44 to go before halftime made it 9-3 at intermission.
Pace was coming off last week’s 34-14 victory at Sams against Porter in its district opener. The Vikings opened the season Aug. 31 with a 20-17 overtime loss at Sharyland High.
Donna High began the season on Aug. 31 with a 58-6 triumph against crosstown rival Donna North before opening district with last week’s 30-14 victory at home against PSJA Southwest.
When the Vikings and Redskins played in district one year ago, Pace rallied in dramatic fashion to win 35-31 in Donna.
District 16-5A Division I competition continues next week. Donna High is at home against La Joya Palmview on Thursday and Pace plays at PSJA Southwest next Friday.
The Pace coach said Thursday’s win was an important victory for his team.
“I see about six teams vying for the four playoffs spots in our district, and Donna High is one of them,” Pardo said. “They’re not completely out of it, but they’ve got to really fight hard now. We were looking at the same situation. This win puts us in a better position (at 2-0 in district).
“That’s the way we were approaching this game,” Pardo added. “We wanted to win tonight so we could be a little more at ease in the district race as we go into the following games. I’m just glad we got this ‘W.'”