By ANDREW CRUM | The Brownsville Herald
Rivera had its troubles early on and PSJA High took advantage.
The Raiders’ offense started out slowly and the Bears’ offense never let up, building a 31-point lead by halftime and held off Rivera in a 37-21 victory in a non-district game on Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“We came out flat and we’re a better football team than that,” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “It’s one of those things that happens sometimes. I told them (at halftime) to forget the first half and concentrate on the second half and try to turn it around … I know it’s going to be tough.
“I think it’s alright because there were a lot of lessons learned in this game.”
Rivera (1-2) was blanked in the first half, but scored 21 points in the second half. The Raiders got a 13-yard touchdown pass from Nico Blanco to Jesus Camarillo midway through the third quarter and added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter — a 1-yard run by Blanco and a 2-yard run by Humberto Gracia to cut the deficit, but it wouldn’t be enough after falling behind in the first half.
Blanco threw for 143 yards and a touchdown and ran for 133 and another score, but the Raiders had four turnovers throughout the game — three interceptions and a fumble — that stopped potential scoring drives.
PSJA High (3-0) used its efficient offense to score early and often, it scored on five straight drives to start the game and built a big lead by the break.
The Bears got it started with a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trey Guajardo to receiver Marco Guajardo for a 7-0 lead with 5:39 to play in the opening quarter.
After a Rivera punt, PSJA High drove to the 5-yard line, but settled for a 22-yard field goal from Johnathan Figueroa to push the lead to 10-0 with 2:25 left in the first.
After getting a short field because of a short Rivera punt, the Bears found the end zone again, Trey Guajardo hit Nathan Sanchez on a 14-yard strike to take a 17-0 edge with 11:47 left in the second quarter.
The Raiders fumbled on their next drive and PSJA High took advantage with as Trey Guajardo capped a 82-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 24-0 with 8:45 to go in the second.
Another punt by Rivera stopped another drive and the Bears got a 13-yard touchdown run from Nathaniel Miranda to extend the advantage to 31-0 with 1:44 left in the half.
“It was very important for us to start 3-0 and build the confidence and get going before we get into district,” PSJA High coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “We’ve been working very hard and (Rivera) was giving us a lot of little things in the first half and we took advantage and went into the half 31-0. We didn’t come out and play good football (in the second half) and (Rivera) executed and did a good job of adjusting in the second half … luckily we were able to come out with the win.”
PSJA High could only manage a pair of field goals in the fourth by Figueroa — a 39-yarder and one from 34 yards out — but the damage had already been done.
The Bears piled up 473 yards on offense, including 310 from Trey Guajardo through the air and a pair of touchdowns. JR Vasquez finished with 130 yards on the ground.
PSJA High now heads to its bye week with an unblemished record and plenty of confidence heading into district play.
“Being 3-0 builds their confidence and allows the community to rally around us,” Rodriguez said. “I could see it in their eyes, they were tired of losing. Our goal is to run the table, be 10-0 … we have high expectations for these guys and we’re holding them and our coaching staff to it.”
Despite the loss, Chavez was happy they way his team played after halftime. He felt the Raiders built some momentum as they also head into their bye week and prepare for district.
“Something good came out of it because of the lessons learned,” he said. “How we reacted and how we need to prepare for a football game and what needs to be done. I’m glad that it turned out this way because now they understand the disciple we need.
“Something bad happens, but something good comes out of it, that’s what I’m hoping.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.