By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Tom Salazar came back to his old stomping grounds in Brownsville as Progreso’s head coach and added to his memories at Sams Memorial Stadium as the Red Ants prevailed over the Porter Cowboys 7-0 on Friday in a season opener for both teams.
“Like I told our guys before the game, ‘I’ve been here many years (as a coach in Brownsville ISD),’” said Salazar, who previously coached at Hanna, Porter and Pace, including a stint as the Cowboys’ interim head coach. “I have great memories recorded in my mind of beating the Harlingens, the San Benitos and the Weslacos (at Sams), and I wanted to get this one (against Porter).
“I’m getting old, but I wanted to remember this victory, and these guys did it for me,” he added. “I’ve had great games here. I was here (in BISD) for a whole 25 years, and this one’s going to stick in there because we were outnumbered. We only had 21 players.
“I told them they had to bond together like brothers and play no matter what. (I also told them) ‘We’re depending on you,’ and they came through.”
While each team came close to scoring at various times during the game, the contest turned on a play just before the end of the first half. A pass by Porter quarterback Frank Alvarado thrown deep downfield was picked off by Progreso’s Danny Munoz, a junior cornerback, and returned 69 yards down the sideline to the end zone.
Ulysis Salinas’ extra-point kick with 26.2 seconds left until intermission gave the Red Ants a 7-0 advantage that remained intact until the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“He’s an aggressive kid,” Salazar said of Munoz. “He just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and he’s got some speed.”
It was a night of turnovers for the Cowboys, who fumbled the ball away five times and also surrendered possession on two intercepted passes.
The loss overshadowed a standout rushing night by Porter’s George Gutierrez, who finished with 158 yards on 14 carries despite leaving the game for a brief time during the second half with an apparent injury.
Progreso QB Dagoberto Zamora was his team’s top rusher with 73 yards on 20 carries.
The Reds Ants missed a field goal from 27 yards at the end of the third period and had another one of 20 yards blocked by Porter’s Armando Payan with just under 5 minutes remaining. The Cowboys missed a field goal of 35 yards early in the second quarter.
Porter next plays “Battle of Southmost” rival Lopez in non-district action next Friday. Also next Friday, Progreso will be at home against non-district foe Hidalgo.