Brownsville Rivera never figured out how to stop Weslaco East’s Lupe Moron.
Moron led the Wildcats to a 41-28 season-opening win on Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville. Moron rushed for 250 yards and four touchdowns to lead East.
“He’s tough. Coach (Mike) Burget told me they had a transfer running back over there that if he gets in the open, it will be hard to stop him, kind of like (former Rivera running back) Jacquil (Evans),” Rivera coach Tom Chavez said. “The defense played well, we just had a hard time with (Moron).”
The Raiders got off to a quick start thanks to their defense. The Rivera offense turned the two forced fumbles into 14 points, the first touchdown, a 10-yard run by quarterback Danny Elizondo and two minutes later, Elizondo hit tight end Edward Rubio on a 10-yard strike for a quick two score lead.
Weslaco East answered almost as quickly. Running back Angel Flores took a pitch 76 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to cut the deficit in half. After a Raiders punt, the Wildcats tied the score at 14 with a 79-yard burst from Moron early in the second quarter.
Then things started to fall apart for the Raiders late in the first half. After a botched punt return gave the ball back to the Wildcats, Moron scored again from 2-yards out.
On the ensuing kickoff, a miscommunication on the return left the Raiders deep in there own territory. A few plays later, they were forced to punt. Weslaco East blocked it and Eban Lopez recovered it and scored from 15 yards out to give the Wildcats a 28-21 lead before halftime.
“He knew our quarterback (Daniel Rivas) was banged up. He’s normally a running quarterback, so (Lupe) put the challenge on his shoulders,” Burget said. “He said, ‘just give me the ball and we’ll be ok,’ I guess I believe him now.”
Moron, the transfer from La Villa, seemed to fit just fine within the higher football class.
“Everybody challenges him that he was coming from a (Class) A ball club, I told him it doesn’t matter,” Burget said. “We knew the young man could play football, he had a great night and I’m happy for him.”
LA JOYA PALMVIEW 46, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 14: At La Joya, Palmview running backs Freddy Villarreal and Jose Bernal scored three touchdowns apiece and the Lobos beat visiting Lopez in the season opener for both schools.
Backup running back Danny Segura another one, and John Alaniz led the defense, recording three sacks and five tackles for a loss.
“We finally came together as a team,” Palmview coach Margarito Requenez said. “We finally played the way I expected to play. I know it’s still early in the season, but what I see so far from the two scrimmages and this game, we’re destined for success.”
CORPUS CHRISTI LONDON 26, MONTE ALTO 6: At Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, the Pirates led 20-0 heading into the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils dropped their season opener.
London had 232 rushing yards and amassed 280 total. Monte Alto had 105 total yards.
Hector Carlos led Monte Alto with 53 yards and a TD on six carries. He scored on a 50-yard run. QB Frank Rojas completed 5 of 9 passes for 44 yards, all to receiver Danny Perez.Mitch Moore led London with 92 yards rushing and a TD.
London was playing its first varsity game since 2012. It did not field a team last year because it did not have enough kids to play.
EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 35, BROWNSVILLE HANNA 13: At Edinburg, Hanna scored the game’s first 13 points before Economedes scored 35 unanswered to win the season-opener for both teams.