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La Villa senior quarterback Zach Gomez tied a Valley record with nine rushing touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 59-40 win over Freer on Friday night at Buckaroo Stadium in Freer.
“Zach had an outstanding night,” La Villa coach Daniel Perez said. “He played really well. He ran over some guys and made some plays all night long.”
Only three players in the state have ever scored more than nine touchdowns in a game.
Gomez tied Edinburg Vela’s Robert Guerra, who ran for nine scores last year in Week 1 against Victoria East.
After a back and forth first half, La Villa (3-5, 2-0) got the lead just before halftime, 26-21, and used the momentum to pull away in the second half against Freer (4-5, 0-3).
The Cardinals got this win after a bye week last week.
“The bye week was really big for us,” Perez said. “We had a lot of injuries that we were able to get rest for.”
DISTRICT 30-6A
MISSION 24, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 22: At Hidalgo, Mission got a late first-half field goal from kicker Rene Rodriguez that turned out to be enough to top La Joya Palmview. The Eagles were without a full game from quarterback Damian Gomez, who was limited by an injury.
“Tito (Horacio Moronta V) ran the ball well at quarterback, and he also threw a touchdown pass, a long one to Sebastian Gonzalez,” coacy Koy Detmer said. “It was an all-around team effort. Defense stepped up and got some turnovers, made some stops.”
The Eagles improve to 2-3 in district play and slide back into playoff position with only a bye and McAllen High left on the schedule.
“Somebody can get you every game,” Detmer said. “In order to get a win, you have to be on top of your stuff and go play well.”
Palmview had a chance to win the game on a 50-plus yard field goal. The kick had the distance but missed wide.
LA JOYA HIGH 24, LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 10: At La Joya, the Coyotes pulled off a stunning result in a rivalry game against the Huskies.
Coach Reuben Farias said his team carried momentum from a strong defensive performance against Memorial to play a similar shutdown game.
The Huskies entered the game with one of the top offenses in 30-6A, but La Joya High has been the district’s best defense all season.
“We know that they want to pound the ball,” Farias said.” We put a challenge on our defense. We told our boys, ‘If you can compete the way you compete against Memorial, you’ll be OK.’”
Trey Perez scored a defensive TD with a pick-six on a screen pass attempt by the Huskies.
Irving Zamora caught a TD pass for La Joya High. Eddie Villarreal scored a rushing touchdown and went over 100 yards on the ground.
DISTRICT 31-6A
EDINBURG HIGH 30, EDINBURG NORTH 14: At Edinburg, the Bobcats (4-4, 3-2) led 14-0 at halftime before continuing to roll in the second half against the Cougars (3-5, 2-3).
DISTRICT 32-6A
WESLACO EAST 42, BROWNSVILLE RIVERA 7: At Weslaco, Weslaco East pounded Rivera at home to improve to 3-2 in the ultra-competitive 32-6A.
“With two games left, it was a very important win for us,” coach Mike Burget said. “Anytime you beat a Tom Chavez coached team, I know he’s having a down year, but he’s one of the greatest coaches to come through the Valley.”
“Our defense has played like this all year long. Our defense has been lights out this week, against Harlingen, against Los Fresnos, held them to just one touchdown.”
Richard LeFevre tossed three TD passes to build on an impressive senior campaign. Hector Saenz was on the receiving end of two of those passes.
Fullback Randy Cardoza also got in with a rush.
DISTRICT 31-5A
MISSION VETERANS 26, RIO GRANDE CITY 24: At Rio Grande City, Mission Veterans jumped out to a 20-0 lead on the road, stumbled down the stretch and held on to beat Rio Grande City.
“We were moving the ball. We scored on our first four possessions and got a couple of stops defensively,” Mission Veterans coach David Gilpin said. “But then they (Rio) put a little bit more pressure on us. Most of the time, they’d rush three, and sometimes they’d bring four. They did a good job with their outside linebackers coming up anytime Landry (Gilpin) tried to run it outside. We had a couple drops and penalties that hurt a couple of drives.”
The Patriots (8-0, 6-0) nursed a 26-7 lead before the Rattlers made things interesting.
“When you come off the bye week, you’re never sure how your kids are going to react,” Gilpin said. “Our energy level wasn’t where it needed to be, and Rio’s energy level was sky high. They were ready to play. They came after us. We were lucky we got out ahead of them.”
Patriots quarterback Landry Gilpin threw two touchdown passes — one each to junior John Aguilar and sophomore Mikey Garcia — and ran for a score. Running back Danny Cantu also had a rushing touchdown.
Mission Veterans will face Sharyland High next week while Rio Grande City (5-4, 4-3) heads into its bye week.
SHARYLAND PIONEER 22, VALLEY VIEW 7: At Hidalgo, Sharyland Pioneer stayed in the playoff hunt with a road win.
Pioneer (4-4, 3-3) kept pace in fifth place with Laredo Martin, which also won its third district game in six chances with a 27-20 triumph against Laredo Cigarroa in Laredo. Both teams are now half a game behind Rio Grande City (4-3 in district) for fourth place in District 31-5A.
Pioneer will host Martin next Friday night.
DISTRICT 32-5A
DONNA HIGH 21, DONNA NORTH 10: At Donna, Donna High outlasted rival Donna North for the program’s fourth win over its sister school in four seasons.
“Anytime you beat the sister school, it feels good for about 365 days,” Donna High coach Ramiro Leal said. “There’s a sense of pride whenever we get together and our kids know they don’t want to be the first team to lose in this game. They rose to the occasion.”
Donna sophomore quarterback Alex Sanchez connected on a touchdown pass with receiver Daniel Nino, who caught his team-leading fourth TD reception of the season. Sanchez and running back E.J. Alvarado ran in one touchdown in on the ground each.
Donna improved to 4-4 overall with a 2-3 district record while Donna North fell to 1-7 with a 1-4 mark in District 32-5A.
DISTRICT 16-4A DI
LA FERIA 46, HIDALGO 0: At La Feria, Hidalgo (0-8, 0-2) couldn’t find the firepower to keep up with La Feria (5-3, 2-1).
DISTRICT 16-4A DII
PORT ISABEL 54, PROGRESO 30: At Progreso, the Red Ants (1-6, 0-3) fell to the Tarpons (2-5, 1-2) in a district clash.
DISTRICT 16-3A DII
ODEM 59, MONTE ALTO 7: At Monte Alto, the Owls (5-3, 3-0) soared to a lopsided win over the Blue Devils (2-6, 0-3).