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McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights ran for 260 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns as the Mustangs clinched the District 30-6A title with a 69-21 win against La Joya Palmview on Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
As a team, Memorial racked up 701 yards of total offense.
“It was a really good team effort,” coach Bill Littleton said. “Palmview came out and played hard, and our kids responded well. We had the same old M.O. that we’ve had all year long.”
The Mustangs had offensive production from all over the roster. Emilio Mendez had nine carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, Eric Guerrero had three rushes for 73 yards, JoJo Williams had two carries for 75 yards with a touchdown, and Jonathan Sanchez had five rushes for 50 yards.
Sanchez also completed 3 of 6 passes for 84 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown to DJ Johnson.
Memorial led 42-21 at halftime before pitching a second-half shutout. Sam Hinojosa and Ricky Miner were the standouts on defense, Littleton said.
“We changed the way we were playing some stuff with our kids and changed a few techniques and a few keys that we read,” Littleton said. “It seemed to help us in the second half.”
Memorial moves to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in district, while Palmview drops to 4-5, 2-3.
MERCEDES 52, PSJA SOUTHWEST 0: At Pharr, the Tigers won for the sixth time in their last seven games in clinching a District 32-5A playoff berth.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Gomez threw for four touchdowns, and Mercedes also got touchdowns from running back Isaac Vela and a defensive score from lineman Marcos Mendoza as Southwest (3-6, 2-4 32-5A) was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
Mercedes held an opponent scoreless for the second time this season and is giving up just 14.3 points per game.
“The boys just did a tremendous job,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “We’re just playing really well in all aspects. We wanted to make sure we started fast, and we did. We’re playing good football.”
The Tigers (6-3, 5-1) built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Joe Garcia caught two touchdown passes, and Matthew Ledesma and Brandon Gutierrez also caught passes for scores.
Aldo Garcia added a field goal just before halftime for a 24-0 lead.
“You have to be hitting on all cylinders going into the playoffs, and we are,” Adame said. “The offense is in a real good rhythm right now. They’re all on the same page, they’re reading the defense and being smart with the football.”
Mercedes closes its regular season at home next week against Brownsville Porter.