RGVSports.com
At McAllen, McAllen Memorial’s Campbell Speights scores three touchdowns and the Mustangs got back to the win column after two district losses with a 28-6 victory over McAllen High on Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“Our kids rose to the occasion and played pretty well,” McAllen Memorial coach Bill Littleton said. “It felt good to get a win after a couple of weeks and a couple of tough ball games that we lost. We lost a couple of tough games that we felt like we had a chance to win them both, but sometimes things don’t turn out the way you think they are.”
The Mustangs threw the ball often a week ago against PSJA High in Joseph Lara’s first start at quarterback. This week, the Mustangs were able to ground and pound against the rival Bulldogs.
“We were able to run the football,” Littleton said. “Last week we threw it a little, but this week we were able to run the ball. We were averaging about 7 yards a carry. That’s one thing they were giving us, so that’s what we took.”
McAllen Memorial is 2-2 in district 30-6A with games against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and PSJA North next before finishing the regular season against McAllen Rowe.
District 30-6A
La Joya High 20, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0: At La Joya, La Joya High didn’t let rivalry night turn into a trap game and shutout La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
“I knew going into the night the record that (Juarez-Lincoln coach) Tommy (Garcia) had, I think it was 0-3 in district, their boys were going to get ready to play,” La Joya coach Reuben Farias said. “They’ve always played us tough. They were on a mission to try to beat us and dethrone us.”
La Joya advances to 3-1 in district play, while the Huskies are 0-4.
Eddie Villarreal had two scores to led the way for the Coyotes on offense, but the tone was set by a strong defense that played what Farias likes to call “Coyote Football.”
“Coach (defensive coordinator Manuel) Flores does a great job with the kids,” Farias said. “He came up with a great game plan and the boys executed it and I’m very proud of them. We were bending, bending but when we had to make plays we did.”
Juarez-Lincoln running back Albert Martinez was held out of the end zone for the first time which means the first type the Huskies were shut out. It’s the third shutout for the Coyotes defense this season (Roma, McHi).
“It’s a big win for the school, the community,” Farias said. “Plus, just to keep us in stride for the playoffs to try to get a playoff berth.”
DISTRICT 31-6A
EDINBURG HIGH 24, EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 21: At Edinburg, The Bobcats (6-1, 2-1) jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but with an intense rivalry and a playoff atmosphere, the Jaguars (4-3, 1-3) were not going to go away without a fight.
Jonathan Martinez was big for the Jags, as they dug their way out of the early hole, and go back in front 21-14 at the half.
It all came down to a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats found the end zone on a 1-yard run from Heariln Benavides to go up for good.
DISTRICT 31-6A
WESLACO EAST 54, EDINBURG NORTH 0: At Weslaco: the Wildcats (4-2, 3-0) took care of business at home, shutting out Edinburg North (1-7, 1-3) at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
DISTRICT 31-6A
WESLACO HIGH 75, DONNA NORTH 3: At Donna, the Panthers (6-1, 2-1) rebounded from their first loss of the year in a big way, going on the road to beat Donna North (0-8, 0-5) by the largest margin of a Valley game this year.
DISTRICT 16-5A DI
LA JOYA PALMVIEW 30, PSJA MEMORIAL 22: At Pharr, the Lobos are in position for a playoff spot with two games to play after their win against the Wolverines (1-6, 1-5).
Donna High’s 9-6 loss to Brownsville Veterans on Thursday coupled with La Joya Palmview’s win slides the Lobos into the fourth playoff position at the moment.
“It was a team effort on both sides of the ball. We got some crucial stops and our offense kept moving the ball,” La Joya Palmview coach Margarito Requenez said.
Mario Chapa ran for two touchdowns while Carlos Peña and Jalen Ybarra tallied a touchdown apiece to pace the Lobos (4-3, 4-2).
“It was big to have Jalen back, since he had been out since the Donna (High) game,” Requenez said. “If we want to make the playoffs, we have to treat each of these games like playoff games.”
DISTRICT 16-5A DII
EDCOUCH-ELSA 40, LAREDO CIGARROA 0: At Elsa, the Yellow Jackets scored their first district win of the season in a convincing win over the Toros (0-7, 0-3).
Juniors Jay Cardenas, Edward Cardoza, Marc Barco and senior Isaac De Anda all scored rushing touchdowns on Friday.
“We set out a plan and we went out there and executed it,” Edcouch-Elsa interim coach Christian Navarro said. “Bottom line, the kids played to the ability that we know that they can play. We’ve been telling them that this was going to come. We just needed to follow through with our plans and everything will fall into place.”
Edcouch-Elsa (2-6, 1-3) won its first game since a 36-7 non-district win over Edinburg North on Sept. 21.
DISTRICT 16-4A DI
GRULLA 28, HIDALGO 14: At Rio Grande City, Grulla (3-4, 1-0) got our in front 12-0 to start the game, but the Pirates (2-6, 0-2) weren’t done yet.
Hidalgo scored just before half, and again just after half to take a 14-12 lead.
“Coach Stumbaugh is doing a great job over there, he had his kids ready for this game tonight,” Grulla coach Abel Gonzalez III said. “Right after they scored, we mounted a long 10-play drive that went probably 75 yards. It was an important drive, we knew we had to answer back. And we did.”
The drive set up a touchdown from senior quarterback Dillen Salinas to junior receiver Jesse Garza, their second combined touchdown of the night.
Vidal Lopez tacked on his second score of the night to ice the game.
“It was a physical ball game,” Gonzalez said. “Hidalgo has gotten better and better as the season progressed. Last week, they played Zapata real close, so we knew we were in for a tough ball game. … Our kids responded man, they played hard.”
DISTRICT 16-2A DII
LA VILLA 43, BENAVIDES 16: At Benavides, the Cardinals (4-3, 2-0) jumped out to a lead and cruised to a big road win to stay undefeated in district play.