By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The district showdown one year ago between Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Rivera was quite memorable, particularly for Chargers quarterback Marcus Castillo.
The two teams squared off Oct. 4, 2013, at Sams Memorial Stadium in the fourth District 32-5A game of the season for each of them.
In one of the city’s most entertaining football battles of 2013, the Chargers prevailed over the Raiders 49-45 in overtime after holding first-half leads of 14-0, 21-7 and 35-16. The Raiders valiantly fought back to tie the game at 42 with 1:32 left in regulation after trailing by 19 points at intermission.
For Castillo, then a sophomore who was in the midst of his first season as a starter, it was a memorable night because he pretty much came of age as the Chargers’ QB during that game, passing for 293 yards and six touchdowns, with four of them going to wideout Zeke Marks.
“It was a memorable game for me,” said Castillo, the 2013 All-Metro newcomer of the year. “It was a blessing for me that I threw those passes (so accurately) and that all my team came out and supported me and did their jobs. Everything kind of came easy for me in that game, and it’s led me on to where I am now.”
Added Chargers coach David Cantu, “Rivera’s defense did an unbelievable job of stuffing our running game that night, and, in essence, they were daring us to throw it. It was basically in Marcus’ hands at that point to prove that we could throw it, and he did.”
The game’s outcome seemed to give Brownsville Veterans an inside track to the playoffs. But ironically, as things turned out, Rivera was the team to advance to the postseason. The Raiders finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in 32-5A with the Chargers and Hanna Golden Eagles at 4-4, and Rivera edged the other two teams on a points differential tiebreaker for a spot in the playoffs.
Rivera made the most of its postseason opportunity, upsetting District 31-5A champion McAllen High 33-21 in the bi-district playoffs before falling to powerhouse Laredo Alexander 56-0 in the area round.
Exactly one year later, the Chargers (3-1, 1-0 district) and Raiders (0-4, 0-1) are meeting again, this time as District 32-6A opponents, at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sams with the stakes no less important.
Also, on this week’s slate of games involving Metro-area teams, it all starts at 7 p.m. Thursday with a District 32-5A contest at Sams between Donna High (1-2, 0-1) and Pace (1-3, 0-1). At 7:30 p.m. Friday in 32-6A action, it’s Los Fresnos (3-1, 1-0) at San Benito (2-2, 1-0), Hanna (1-2, 0-1) at Harlingen High (2-2, 1-0) and Harlingen South (1-3, 0-1) vs. Lopez (0-4, 0-1) at Sams. Also at 7:30 p.m. Friday in 32-5A action, it’s Porter (2-2, 1-0) at Edcouch-Elsa (2-2, 1-0).
Metro-area teams with open dates this week are St. Joseph Academy (4-1) and Port Isabel (5-0).
Rivera coach Tom Chavez expects another close battle with the Chargers, but maybe not so high scoring this time.
“Whenever two Brownsville teams play, all bets are off,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who they are.
“Veterans has some wins under its belt, and it sounds like they’re a pretty good team,” he added. “I think we’re getting better. We want to get some wins under our belt, too. We haven’t experienced that yet, and I hope we do soon. If it’s going to be high scoring (again Saturday), I don’t know. Both teams have been playing pretty well on defense.”
Chavez hasn’t forgotten last year’s game with the Chargers.
“I remember it well,” he said. “We were down by quite a few points at halftime (35-16), but we woke up (in the second half), and things started to click.”
Rivera QB Danny Elizondo, then a junior, broke loose on a 42-yard scoring run down the right sideline to pull the Raiders to within 42-40 with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Elizondo completed a two-point conversion pass to Mario Mendez to tie the score and send the game to OT.
The Raiders went first in extra time and had to settle for Isidro “Chelin” Martinez’s 41-yard field goal and a 45-42 lead. Martinez had converted field goals from 45 and 24 yards earlier.
Brownsville Veterans then prevailed on its sixth play of OT, thanks to a 14-yard pass from Castillo to a wide open Marks in the end zone. The referees had both teams line up so the Chargers could kick the extra point, making it 49-45.
“Maybe it will be a 2-0 score this time,” Cantu said. “If so, I hope we’re the ones with two points.”