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PSJA High junior quarterback Trey Guajardo passed to senior receiver Nathaniel Miranda to put the Bears ahead in the first quarter, and they never looked back in a 23-0 win against the PSJA North Raiders on Friday at PSJA Stadium.
“It’s like I told the kids against Southwest, normal two-school towns play their rivals once. We have three schools that we consider our rivals,” PSJA High coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “So I tell the kids, throw the records out the door. They are going to get up for you. Defensively, we played a great game. Our offense struggled a little bit in the first half, but in the fourth, we picked it back up.”
The Bears (5-0, 2-0) picked up a field goal in the second quarter to take a 9-0 lead to halftime. Guajardo completed passes to seniors Joachim Almaguer and Nathan Sanchez in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for the Bears.
The story of the game was the PSJA High defense shutting down the PSJA North (0-5, 0-2) running game.
“They became a little bit predictable with their run game,” Rodriguez said. “They were able to move the ball on us a little bit, but we bent, but we didn’t break. We had a lot of crucial stops on fourth down, and we didn’t give them too many opportunities. … Our defense has been good for us all year, and tonight was no different.”
DISTRICT 30-6A
McALLEN MEMORIAL 63, MISSION HIGH 28: At McAllen, the Mustangs are starting to remind everyone that they are head and shoulders above the rest of their district. They provided fireworks on homecoming night for their fans.
“Our running game was really good tonight,” coach Bill Littleton said. “Our offensive line was really good, and our running backs hit the holes hard.”
Campbell Speights turned in another multiple-TD performance, and Sean Skaugen and Emiliano Cruz also found the end zone with their legs.
Ace Chavez scored a punt return TD.
Littleton gave a hat tip to the play of the Eagles, who he said were tough opposition even in the loss.
“I thought they played extremely well. They had no quit in them tonight,” Littleton said. “For a game that we had a comfortable lead in, we never felt like we were comfortable.”
LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 31, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 21: At La Joya, the Huskies overcame turnovers to knock off their sister school. Juarez-Lincoln had four turnovers but still outscored the Huskies.
Juarez-Lincoln snapped a two-game losing streak and got back on the right path. The Lobos dropped to 0-2 in district play.
“Anytime you play a rivalry game, records go out the door, and it was close,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Tommy Garcia said.
Adonis Barillas scored his first TD of the season after joining the team late. Elias Gutierrez, Albert Martinez and even left tackle Julio Monsivais, who fell on a fumble, put up points for the Huskies.
DISTRICT 31-5A
SHARYLAND HIGH 35, ROMA 14: At Roma, senior Blake Klein caught two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Sharyland High to a 35-14 victory. Quarterback Edgar Longoria and running back Danny Escalera each ran for a touchdown for the Rattlers.
The win gives Sharyland a four-game winning streak since its season-opening defeat at Weslaco East and a flawless 3-0 record in District 31-5A. Roma checks in at 0-6 and has lost its fourth district game in four tries.
RIO GRANDE CITY 38, LAREDO CIGARROA 3: At Laredo, Rio Grande City got two touchdown passes from quarterback Jason Perez to wide receivers Edgar Chapa and Demencio Venecia. The Rattlers also registered another defensive touchdown, as defensive lineman Ivan Reyes intercepted a pass and ran it back for six.
The Rattlers improve to 5-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in district, while the Toros dropped their third district game in three tries.
DISTRICT 32-5A
EDCOUCH-ELSA 27, DONNA HIGH 7: At Elsa, Yellow Jackets quarterback Albert Trevino’s confidence under center continues to improve after throwing a touchdown to sophomore Jared de los Santos in a win over Donna High.
“It was a mixture of things,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “Albert had a great game that we named him our player of the game. He’s getting more comfortable in the pocket, which is a good thing for us. But overall we had a great performance offensively.”
Running back Jorge Gomez also registered another 100-yard rushing game on the ground with one rushing touchdown for the Yellow Jackets (4-1, 2-0). Donna High fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in district play.
NON-DISTRICT
LA VILLA 52, BENAVIDES 20: At La Villa, senior Zach Gomez made his debut with the Cardinals in impressive fashion.
The quarterback who transferred from Mercedes scored twice, had another called back and orchestrated a few more to lead the Cardinals (1-5) to their first win of the year on Friday.
“Everybody was excited,” La Villa coach Daniel Perez said. “We have been playing some bigger teams. These guys were more on our level. They had about 20 guys. They were going both ways just like us. It was good to play some similar competition. Our team was excited. They had a different energy level today.”
Gomez wasn’t the only one who got rolling for La Villa. Freshman running back Christopher Rivera and junior quarterback Rey Felix also sparked the Cardinals offense.
“It was very important to get some momentum before district play,” Perez said. “A lot of times, when things don’t go your way, the kids don’t want to be there. The good thing is our kids have been coming every day. We have been stressing hard work and they have been coming.”
Friday was Gomez’s first game with La Villa. Gomez participated in preseason with Mercedes this year, but withdrew from the team on Aug. 7, according to his Twitter account.
BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH 42, HIDALGO 10: At Hidalgo, the Bloodhounds improved to 3-3, and the Pirates dropped to 0-6.