By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The schedule maker isn’t doing the Pace Vikings any favors this week.
The Vikings are 4-1 overall and 4-0 in District 16-5A Division I football. They face quite a challenge in their 10-team district, and it’s not getting any easier for them as they play a road game at La Joya Palmview (3-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m. today after just playing Saturday and winning 28-22 at home against PSJA Memorial.
“It’s something that just so happened to come out that way on the schedule,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said of the fact his team has to play a Thursday road game after having a Saturday home game. “I would have preferred to have played that Saturday game on a Thursday or something like that, but that’s just the way the schedule came out.”
Regardless, the Vikings aren’t getting their usual full week of practice as they prepare for a tough district opponent.
Pardo is aware his team faces a playoff contender with a solid running game in Palmview.
“They do a great job rushing the ball,” Pardo said of the Lobos. “Their No. 21 (Carlos Pena) is a solid runner. Their quarterback (David Gonzalez) sparks them as well. If we can shut down their run game and limit our turnovers, we should be OK.”
Another 16-5A Division I game on tap at 7 p.m. today has Rio Grande City (4-1, 3-1) visiting PSJA Memorial (0-5, 0-4), so the Wolverines are experiencing the same short week as the Vikings.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium, 16-5A Division I action continues as Porter (2-3, 1-3) battles Brownsville Veterans Memorial (3-2, 2-2) in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week.
Teams from 16-5A Division I with open dates this week are Mission Veterans Memorial (4-1, 4-0), Lopez (0-5, 0-4), Donna High (2-3, 1-3) and PSJA Southwest (3-2, 2-2).
Also having open dates this week are teams from District 32-6A. Those teams are Hanna (2-3), Rivera (1-4), Harlingen High (4-1), Harlingen South (2-3), Los Fresnos (1-4) and San Benito (2-3). They begin 32-6A action next week.
Rounding out this week’s schedule for Herald-area teams are non-district contests at 7:30 p.m. Friday that find St. Joseph Academy (2-3) at Hidalgo (4-1) and Port Isabel (2-3) at Grulla (2-3).