By ANDREW CRUM | Staff Writer
Pace had its chances, but turnovers were costly and it couldn’t overcome a deficit against Sharyland Pioneer.
The Vikings committed three turnovers, but scored late in the fourth quarter to pull within six points. Unfortunately, they ran out of time as the Diamondbacks held on and came away with 34-28 Week 2 win Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Gabriel Zapata scored three touchdowns — two on catches and one on the ground — the last of which got the Vikings back in it with 3:23 left in the game.
Zapata scored on a 9-yard run after coming into the game to play quarterback after Randy Aguilar was shaken up after a scramble in the fourth. Zapata finished with 29 yards on three carries and a touchdown and caught 10 passes for 147 yards and two scores.
The Vikings (1-1) nearly pulled off the onside kick, but the ball slipped away. Pace’s defense wasn’t able to get a stop or force a turnover and Sharyland Pioneer (1-1) ran out the clock.
“I’m proud of my kids, but that’s a great team over there,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said. “(Sharyland Pioneer is) good on offense. We knew they were going to give us trouble … we made some adjustments, but we made some crucial mistakes here and there … three turnovers and two missed assignments on defense that broke long runs on us.”
Pace took an early lead after Aguilar fired an 8-yard strike to Zapata for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:07 left in the opening quarter.
Pioneer used its hurry-up offense to tie the game less than three minutes later after capping its drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Rosales to Roel Cajero.
After a Vikings punt, the Diamondbacks took a 14-7 edge after Logan Harris found space and scored on a 59-yard run with 3:08 left in the first.
After Pace fumbled in its own territory, Pioneer took advantage. Harris scored again, this one a 37-yard scamper for another touchdown and gave the Diamondbacks a 21-7 cushion with 9:09 left in the second quarter.
“We wanted to (get off to a quick start),” Diamondbacks coach Jason Wheeler said. “But I felt we were a little sluggish in the first half at times.”
The Vikings got one back with 4:58 left in the first half as Aguliar found Zapata again for a 6-yard touchdown pass to pull within seven. That score held up through halftime.
Pioneer then pulled away in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns. Michael Benavidez scored on a 1-yard run and later Rosales hit William Proctor on a 14-yard scoring pass to give the visitors a 34-14 advantage with 4:25 left in the third.
“I challenged the kids that the third quarter was important and to come out with intensity,” Wheeler said. “I thought we played well in the third quarter, but it seemed like we ran out of gas. Give Pace credit, they have a good football team … they kept fighting and tried to get back into it.”
Pace wasn’t daunted and went back to work. Aguilar connected with Brandon Zapata on an 8-yard touchdown toss with just a couple seconds left in the third to shrink its deficit to 34-21.
After the teams traded punts, Pace was driving deep into Diamondbacks territory until a fumble stopped the drive at the Pioneer 10-yard line. The Pace defense responded, however, as the Diamondbacks slowed offensively and were forced to punt, giving the hosts another shot. Gabriel Zapata finished the drive with his touchdown run to pull the Vikings within 34-28, but they wouldn’t get another chance.
Aguilar finished with 197 yards passing and the two TDs. Brandon Zapata caught two passes for 17 yard and a score and added 52 yards on the ground.
Wheeler was happy his Diamondbacks bounced back from a loss in Week 1 to McAllen Memorial (41-24).
“We need to learn how to finish better, but we did what we needed to do to win the game,” he said. “It wasn’t pretty at times, but I don’t look for style points anymore as a head coach. I’ll take it … but we have to get better, try to improve and move on.”
Rosales finished with 199 yards through the air with his two scores and added 29 yards rushing. Harris racked up 158 yards on the ground and two TDs for Sharyland Pioneer.
Despite the loss, Pardo was happy with his team’s performance as it continues to improve.
“These kids play hard, I think they’re finding their identity and realizing they can be pretty good,” he said. “That’s what I want, for them to gain confidence. They’ll know how to win because they’ve been in tough games.
“We’ll build on that, we have a week off and then we’ll go from there.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.