District 16-4A DII teams scrambled to find non-district opponents for Week 6 and 7 during the realignment because of their four-team district.
Port Isabel (5-1) had the opportunity tonight to host a team from Mexico, Correcaminos UAT. The team from Tamaulipas had to picked up by the Tarpons at the border.
Port Isabel won the game 66-6.
“They were really good sports about everything, I was really impressed with them,” Port Isabel head coach Tony Villarreal said. “They were high class people. I loved their sportsmanship and their effort.”
Villarreal was happy that some of the backup players received reps tonight as district and playoff looms.
“We got a lot of work in with them,” Villarreal said. “Our No. 2’s have not played much because we have been in some tight ball games. So, it was really good for our No. 2’s to play alot, we needed that.”
WESLACO EAST 48, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 7: The Wildcats (2-4, 1-1) bounced back from a close home loss in Week 5 with a win on the road in Brownsville over Brownsville Lopez (0-6, 0-2).
“I do not think we have played bad all year,” Wildcats head coach Mike Burget said. “We are 2-4 and a lot of people are always counting Weslaco East out. The thing is, when I put together my schedule as a head coach, I am not going to put together games that are easy to win. I have never done that.”
The Wildcats opened up with Los Fresnos (6A), PSJA High (6A), Edinburg Vela (5A, perennial powerhouse) and Edinburg High (6A) in non-district.
“All I wanted to do is get better,” Burget said. “I feel like we have gotten better and better, I really believe that our team is starting to click a little bit. Tonight, we made some changes on offense and defense.”
“My coaching staff do a heck of a job, here at East we have built something and we want to play the best. I feel like we have played the best to start the year off and I think it is going to help us down the road,” Burget said.
Burget singled out the performances of Ashton Guajardo and Alex Martinez on offense. The two were key in the passing game.
BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH 41, SAN ANTONIO CHRISTIAN: It was a wild one at Canales Field in Brownsville.
With a minute left San Antonio Christian went up 37-34 on a fourth down touchdown pass. A great return on the kickoff set up the Bloodhounds (4-1, 2-0) with an opportunity. St. Joseph quarterback Ethan Gallegos found Juan Pablo Vidaurri open and the receiver took it to the house.
“A win is a win at the end of the day,” Bloodhounds head coach Tino Villarreal said. “We are going to take it. The one thing that I will walk away with today is, is that I am really proud of our boys for their fight, resilience and the fact that they never gave up. That speaks volumes to them. We just have to do a better job at coaching.”
Competing in TAPPS Division II District 3, the Bloodhounds take on Austin Regents in Week 7.
“We are a young team with very few seniors, but they are big leaders for the young guys,” Villarreal said. They are figuring out how to compete and how to win games. That is an important foundation for us. Hopefully, we can improve every week from here on out. We have really tough opponent next week, so the theme of the week is going to be compete.”
SANTA ROSA 21, ODEM 20: Another big District 16-3A DII win for the Santa Rosa Warriors.
Santa Rosa (5-1, 2-0) knocked off last season’s district champion. Junior quarterback Bryan Rojas found Julius Olmedo for the go-ahead touchdown.
“A lot of hard work put into this, from our boys to our coaches,” Warriors head coach Joe Marichalar said. “Also, from the community, school and the administration. To be at this place, it is a lot of hard work. Getting a victory against a real tough team, it feels good, but a lot of hard work is still ahead for us.”
The defense and a couple of key onside kick recoveries were key for the Warriors victory, Marichalar said.
The Warriors face Taft in Week 7, at Taft. The Greyhounds defeated Odem in Week 5 by a score of 33-26.