Second-half comeback pushes Weslaco past Los Fresnos, into 6A playoffs in The Monitor’s GOTW

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by Andrew McCulloch

WESLACO — The Weslaco High Panthers took over deep in their own territory offensively looking to build onto their newly-acquired lead over Los Fresnos with time ticking away during the fourth quarter.

A short run for a minimal gain on first down and a sprint out of bounds on second generated groans from the home sideline that quickly subsided, as Weslaco senior running back Jesse Hernandez took a third-down handoff up the middle, spun out of a tackle and sprinted 68 yards to the end zone.

Hernandez’s touchdown, the longest play of the game for either team, pushed the Panthers past the Los Fresnos Falcons 24-18 and back into the Class 6A Texas high school football playoffs in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday afternoon at Bobby Lackey Stadium.

“Start fast and finish faster has always been our motto, and that’s what (Hernandez) did there in the fourth quarter to seal it for us. I’m very happy for him,” Weslaco High head coach Roy Stroman said.

“These coaches did a tremendous job of adjusting and in the second half, the kids executed. I thought we had a pretty good game plan, but they coach well too and everything is about adjustments. Our kids executed today.”

The victory marks Weslaco’s second straight victory over Los Fresnos (2-3, 2-3), both of which ended the Falcons’ season. The Panthers (3-1, 3-1) won the teams’ last matchup 35-28 in the 2019 Class 6A DI bi-district playoffs.

“They fought to the very end. I’m proud of their effort,” Stroman said. “They had a great attitude in practice this week. The seniors knew if we don’t win this one, that’s it. Our guys and our team play well when our backs are against the wall and we were down at halftime. We haven’t been down at halftime in a while, but they didn’t give up, they had a great effort and I’m just glad we came out with the victory.”

The start of the game, however, favored the Falcons after a dominant first quarter.

After forcing Weslaco’s defense to a quick three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, Los Fresnos drove into the red zone and ran nearly 10 minutes off the clock before settling for a 40-yard field goal.

The Panthers’ offense was forced into another three-and-out that carried the game to the end of the first quarter, and then Los Fresnos running back Matthew Padilla raced for a 50-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter in a drive that took 12 seconds to give the Falcons’ a 10-0 lead early.

That’s when the Panthers offense started to click.

Senior quarterback Rodney Garza scored Weslaco’s first touchdown on a QB keeper inside the 10-yard line, but it was the Panthers defense that began to buckle down that helped the team keep it close heading to halftime.

The Weslaco defense tallied three fourth-down stops on three tries on the afternoon and also recovered a critical fumble to keep the team close despite entering the half trailing 10-7, the squad’s first halftime deficit of the season.

“Those guys have been doing it all year long and this is the year that we’re going to lean on them,” Stroman said. “They know it and they want that pressure and they showed it today creating some turnovers and stopping them on fourth down.”

Then the Panthers offense came to life during the second half.

The team scored right out of the gate after a defensive stop to start the third quarter as Garza connected with Israel De Leon giving Weslaco a 14-10 edge, its first lead of the game. The Panthers added another short field goal in the third to take a seven-point lead.

The squad’s defense continued to pitch a shutout for most of the second half before Hernandez burst up the middle and into the end zone for the score that ultimately sealed the game with about 2 minutes to play.

Los Fresnos senior running back Chris Resendiz, District 32-6A’s leading rusher entering the contest, scored the Falcons’ first touchdown of the second half with 15 seconds to play and the team secured a successful two-point conversion, but not the ensuing onside kick.

As a result, Weslaco won its second straight win-or-go-home game over Los Fresnos and advanced to the Class 6A bi-district playoffs for the third season in a row. The Falcons’ season ends, while The Panthers will have 32-6A’s second playoff seed in the University Interscholastic League’s Class 6A DII Texas high school football playoffs and a bye week to prepare for their bi-district playoff matchup, their first road game of the season.

“We’ve got four goals here: contend for a district championship; make the playoffs, which we did tonight; practice on Thanksgiving, which we did this week; and then we want to play into December,” Stroman said. “Right now we’re going to enjoy this one and then we’re going to see what’s going on with (District 31-6A) and we’ll see what we can do to adjust and move forward.”

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