By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
It’s been a tough season for Porter and it didn’t get any easier against Mercedes.
The Cowboys’ offense moved the ball well, but didn’t get into the end zone in a 54-0 loss to the Tigers in a District 32-5A game on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
To add insult to injury, Porter quarterback Ramiro Martinez — already playing quarterback after freshman quarterback Kevin Garcia was lost to injury — exited on a stretcher by EMS in the fourth quarter, but it’s not known for what type of injury or if he’ll be able to play in the season finale next week.
“Ram’s a tough kid, I love that kid,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “That kind of took the air our of our offense … now we’ve had to move a running back to quarterback. It’s tough. We’ve lost a handful of players already and seems like every other game we’re losing another one.
“Ram’s a good one, he does a lot for us.”
Porter (0-9, 0-6 in District 32-5A) rushed for 209 yards on the night, but it convert those yards into points or match the passing game by Mercedes (7-2, 5-1), who had senior quarterback Marc Ledesma throw for 236 yards and four touchdowns to clinch a postseason berth for the Tigers.
“It’s exciting to know we’re back in the postseason and keep that streak going,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “For these seniors, their season will continue and they’ll have more opportunities.
“It was an overall team victory.”
The Cowboys junior running back Ulises Guzman led the team with 67 yards on the ground and senior running back Jose Villalon finished with 55 yards rushing.
After Porter punted after its first drive, Mercedes used a 35-yard punt return for a short field. And three plays later, sophomore running back Sonny Vela scored on a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 6:59 left in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Tigers used quick scoring drives to pull away. Marc Ledesma hit senior receiver Luis Gonzales on a 49-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-0 after the point after attempt was blocked with 6:33 left in the second.
Mercedes continued to find the end zone on its next possession as Marc Ledesma hit his brother senior Matthew Ledesma on a 62-yard catch-and-run for another touchdown and pushed the edge to 20-0 with 4:08 left in the second.
After another Porter punt, the Tigers quickly moved down the field again and capped it off as Marc Ledesma hit senior receiver Ryan Reyes on a 2-yard catch for another score and extended the lead to 27-0 less than a minute before the break.
Matthew Ledesma began the second half with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and later in the third quarter, Roger Adame III returned a Porter fumble 30 yards for another score to take a 40-0 lead midway through the third.
“The offense was explosive and we’ve been close this year (scoring) defensively,” Adame Jr. said. “Roger was able to get it into the end zone and special teams was too … those are always big game changers.”
In the fourth quarter, Marc Ledesma hit junior receiver Leeroy Garcia on a 34-yard touchdown pass and later junior running back Alex Ramos found the end zone after a 18-yard run to make it 54-0 with 4:02 left in the final quarter.
Matthew Ledesma finished with three catches for 131 yards and a touchdown and a kickoff return for another score for the Tigers.
Mercedes has plenty of momentum heading into the final week of the season and into the playoffs.
“We still have things to fix and we have to go back to work before the postseason,” Adame Jr. said. “Right now it’s all about momentum and playing well at the right time … it will carry us into the playoffs. The team that carries a lot of momentum, the team that’s playing well has a greater opportunity to continue playing in November and hopefully December.”
For Porter, it’s been a struggle to score, especially how well it has moved the ball for the majority of the season.
“We have one game left, the kids spirits are up … but it’s unfortunate we can’t catch a break,” Uresti said. “Offensively we move the ball up and down the field, but we can’t finish a drive this year for some reason. We’ve moved up a few guys and we’ll see what we’ve got left (next week).”
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.