By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Accomplishments by high school teams and individual athletes had a big influence on voting by The Brownsville Herald sports staff in determining the Metro area’s top sports stories of 2014.
The Herald’s Metro coverage area includes Brownsville, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel.
Considering the fact that high school football is king in Texas, it comes as no surprise that particular sport has earned the distinction of being No. 1 on The Herald’s list of top 10 sports stories for year just completed. Specifically, strong finishes on the football field by the Rivera Raiders and Los Fresnos Falcons stood out.
Here are the top 10 Metro-area stories for 2014 with a summary to go with each selection:
1. THREE DEEP
It’s not all that common for a Brownsville football team to go too far in the state playoffs, particularly in recent years, so when Rivera rebounded from an 0-5 start to earn a share of the District 32-6A title and advance to the third round of the postseason before finishing 7-6, it was pretty big news.
Along with the Raiders, Los Fresnos went three rounds deep in the playoffs as well and finished 9-4. It was the first time the Falcons advanced that far in the postseason since their 12-1 season of 2008.
By November, it had become a season to remember with some thrilling finishes for Rivera as the Raiders’ 42-35 victory over San Benito on the final weekend of the regular season helped create a four-way tie for the 32-6A championship. The Raiders somehow came up with late-game heroics to win as they prevailed over PJSA North 49-42 in bi-district and over McAllen High 36-29 in overtime in the area round.
A spectacular season that captivated the city ended Nov. 28 in a 42-14 loss to San Antonio Brandeis in the regional round of the playoffs.
“I’m real proud of these guys,” said Rivera’s Tom Chavez, who was named All-Valley coach of the year. “They could have given up a long time ago and just played out the rest of the season, but they hung in there. Once we got a little success, we got more confidence in each other, and we started playing better.”
Los Fresnos showed it was a team that could never be counted out when it rallied from a 34-14 second-half deficit to win 35-34 at PSJA North on Sept. 12. Once the Falcons got to the playoffs with a share of the 32-6A title, they defeated Edinburg North 42-7 in bi-district before edging Del Rio 13-12 in the area around. The Falcons’ season came to an end Nov. 29 in a 50-19 loss to San Antonio Reagan in the regional round.
“I’m excited where we’re going,” Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley said. “We have a good program and it’s coming along, hopefully we can build upon it next year.”
2. SHARING THE SUCCESS
Lopez’s boys and girls were District 32-5A soccer champions, and, in April, Lopez became the first South Texas school to advance both of its teams out of the Valley to the Region IV-5A Tournament in San Antonio during the same season.
The Lady Lobos, the Valley’s No. 1 team, saw their memorable season come to an end in the regional semifinals to finish 21-1, thanks to their best showing in school history, and the Lobos won an all-Brownsville regional final against Rivera 3-2 to advance to the UIL state tournament for a third time. The Lobos finished 22-3-1, losing 3-2 to eventual state champion Fort Bend Clements in the state semifinals at Georgetown on April 17.
“It’s a great feeling that both (Lopez) teams are going (to the regional tournament) because all season we’ve been there supporting them when we could, and they’ve been there supporting us,” Lady Lobos goalkeeper Alondra Barrientos said. “Yes, we’re a family, and as a school we’re united.”
3. THE LAST HURRAH
Knowing this would be the final school year for the NAIA sports program at the University of Texas at Brownsville, the Ocelots were determined to make their last seasons their best. Due to UTB’s merger with the University of Texas-Pan American to form the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, which is scheduled to open in August 2015, the Ocelots are giving way to UTRGV’s NCAA Division I athletic program that will be based in Edinburg.
UTB’s stellar showings in volleyball and men’s soccer in early December brought national recognition and pride to Brownsville. In volleyball, the Ocelots (34-5) were NAIA runners-up at the national tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, while the soccer team (24-1) also finished as an NAIA runner-up at its national tournament in Florida.
The volleyball team was coming off its 37-0 season and national championship of 2013. The men’s soccer team had never made it to the final 16 of the national tournament before.
“What all the guys and myself did this season was something special,” said Victor Parreiras, a senior midfielder and team captain on the soccer squad. “It’s something that will stay with me forever. I would just say thanks to the community for supporting us. I felt it, we all felt it, and we did our best.”
4. REPEAT STATE CHAMPION
Port Isabel’s Daniella Murchison, a junior, repeated as Class 3A champion in the shot put at the UIL state meet at Austin in May. She won with a toss of 44 feet. Murchison also finished third in the discus, recording a throw of 128 feet, 3 inches.
Murchison accomplished her goal of getting a medal in both events and became only the fifth Valley female athlete to win back-to-back state championships in track & field, and the first since 1993.
“I know I have a lot of supporters and that people are noticing what I’m doing, so it just feels great to know people are seeing all the work and effort I’m putting into it,” Murchison said.
5. CO-CHAMPS AGAIN
For the second straight year, Los Fresnos and Brownsville Veterans Memorial finished as district co-champions in volleyball with 13-1 league records. While Brownsville Veterans (34-12) advanced three rounds in the playoffs for the first time, Los Fresnos (37-11) reached the fourth round in mid-November to make it back to the regional tournament in San Antonio for the first time since 2011.
Los Fresnos’ Becky Woods, having completed her 30th year of directing the Lady Falcons with 566 wins to her credit, was named All-Valley coach of the year.
“My kids deserve the award,” Woods said. “I wish every one of my kids could be All-Valley.”
6. A SEASON TO REMEMBER
The Lady Bloodhounds were led by senior captains Silvia Perez and Hannah Carillo. Other important contributors to the team as freshmen were Valeria Tapia and Diana Garcia.
The team was directed by veteran coach Cynthia Martinez, now in her 17th year of guiding the Lady Bloodhounds with Tapia and Garcia back on the squad this season.
7. RAIDERS RUN TO STATE
The Rivera boys cross country team won district for the first time, finished third in Class 6A at the regional meet in San Antonio and qualified for the first time to go to the UIL state meet at Round Rock in November.
Running for the Raiders were Cristian Machuca, Jonathan Herrera, Anthony Garza, Manny Guerrero, Ruben Chapa, Jose Villanueva and Jesus Gonzalez.
“It’s a great feeling to reach our goals,” said Arturo Hurtado, who has coached at Rivera since it opened in 1988. “It’s been a while (for us to go to state as we took girls previously). We’ve talked about it since the beginning of the season (in August). As we went through the season, these boys started running more aggressively and believing in what they could do. I’m just very happy for them.”
8. THE STREAK ENDS
A 31-7 victory over “Battle of Southmost” rival Lopez on Sept. 5 at Sams Memorial Stadium allowed the Porter Cowboys to snap a 25-game losing streak in football dating back to 2011.
It was a night at Sams when the Porter Nation could finally smile.
“There was a good crowd (for Porter) there at the game, and I think they may have been a little surprised because for three years (that the streak has existed) we’ve been losing,” said Aaron Aguilera, a defensive tackle for the Cowboys. “We were all pretty happy (after the game), but we still knew we had to come to practice (early) Saturday (morning). We celebrated (among ourselves), but not that much.”
9. GOING HIGHER
Lopez, daughter of SJA athletic director Teddy Lopez, said the presence of her teammates helped a lot.
“It really gives me a spark to not only motivate myself and go higher, but it also motivates me to keep the team alive because the team was really what helped me at the state meet,” she said. “Everyone (from the team) was right there at the fence (watching), and I believe it was just a great (example of) team support. I believe if you have great team support that you have a great chance (to do well).”
10. (tie) MASL TEAM DEBUTS
Brownsville welcomed its first Major Arena Soccer League team Barracudas FC. The team played its first game Oct. 26 at the Monterrey Flash, falling 15-6, but won its next game, which was its home opener, 12-11, over Saltillo Rancho Seco on Nov. 1. The Barracudas play in the same league as the Dallas Sidekicks and other fairly well-known indoor soccer teams around the country.
Players for the Barracudas include former Brownsville high school standouts Moises Gonzalez of Lopez, Edgar Acuña of Porter and Lopez, and Miguel Davila of Pace.
10. (tie) ONE OF THE BEST
Gaby Garza was still technically an eighth-grader in early August when she clocked the third-fastest time in Valley history in the 300-meter hurdles by a female athlete from deep South Texas at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation state meet in College Station.
Just a week or so away from beginning her freshman year at St. Joseph Academy, Garza won her event in 44.13 seconds, setting a TAAF state record for her age division and also posting the all-time third-fastest time by a Valley female athlete, said Carlos Vela of San Juan, who compiles the Valley’s track & field bests.
The only Valley female athletes with better times in the event are Edinburg Economedes’ Leigha Brown, who ran a 42.98 in 2013, and Harlingen South’s Zariah Noyola, who was clocked at 43.80 in 2010.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess