NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Physicality bruises but speed kills.
PSJA North took its first lead a minute and three seconds before halftime never looked back, steamrolling La Joya High 40-14 in the Monitor’s Game of the Week.
La Joya (6-2, 3-2) scored twice on methodical, hard-nosed rushing drives but PSJA North (5-3, 4-1) used big plays all night to take sole possession of second-place in District 30-6A.
North quarterback Iziaah Rangel had a breakout night to power past the visiting Coyotes. Rangel was the perfect definition of dual-threat as she showed off his arm but stole the show with his legs via two long touchdown runs from 75 and 89 yards, respectively.
“It took hard work, dedication,” Rangel said. “Each day we have to run sprints. Those extra sprints really counted.”
Rangel was untouched until the secondary on both plays. He hit similar spin moves on both long runs to bounce off would-be Coyotes defenders and find open field.
“(The offensive line) made it really easy by knowing their assignments and getting to where they need to be and just letting me do my thing,” Rangel said.
Rangel finished with 204 yards rushing.
The final score was hard to predict early. La Joya quarterback J.R. Rodriguez scored on the Coyotes first drive and burly running back Eddie Villarreal punched it in on the second drive.
Each time La Joya scored however, the Raiders answered right back. The first North touchdown came on a fake punt where Rangel found a wide open Arturo Beltran on the sideline.
The speedy wide receiver/running back made the only defender miss to score and foreshadow the type of night it would be for North’s offense.
Beltran scored again on a short run to bring his season total to 20 touchdowns. His second score gave the Raiders their first lead at 21-14 but the team never looked back on either side of the ball.
Coach Marcus Kaufman said as the game went on, his team corrected any little mistake to fine-tune the unit. He attributed the success to adjustments.
“Those types of things were happening because of all the coaches over here working their butts off trying to make sure these kids understand the schemes,” Kaufmann said. “We’re finally getting into a little bit of a flow over here where the kids understand exactly what we expect of them off the field, on the field, in the weight room.”
The second half was near perfect for North, which scored three times to put the game out of reach. First, Rangel hit Rolando Coronado from 8 yards for a passing score, then Rangel’s second big rush of the night went for nearly 90 yards.
The scoring was capped by freshman Isaac Gonzalez who broke free for a 41-yard score.
Rangel said his playmakers Beltran and Gonzalez can count on him for a breather.
“It was special also to give them a break too,” Rangel said. “They’ve been working hard for me and I wanted to show them I could run too.”
The Raiders defense was strong following the Coyotes second touchdown.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season and it felt good to shut down the best offense we’ve probably faced besides Bears,” junior defensive end Aaron Alvarez said.
The defensive line made an adjustment to keep La Joya’s Villarreal in check. Villarreal finished with 130 yards, most of came in the first two quarters.
Alvarez sacked Rodriguez to seal the win.
PSJA North will put its much-improved team to the test next week when it faces McAllen Memorial on the road.
La Joya will try to bounce back against McAllen Rowe, which fell against Mission High on Friday.