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Brownsville Porter turned the ball over four times in the first half Thursday, leading to three touchdowns for Donna North’s defense, as the Chiefs ran away with a 46-16 win at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
Donna North defensive back Oscar Salas returned two fumbles for touchdowns and intercepted a pass that was also returned for a score to give the Chiefs the advantage in the first half and that’s all they needed for their first win in District 32-5A this season.
“Our defense worked hard this week,” Donna North coach Matthew Rokovich said. “We made some big plays and when you do that stuff, when you’re intense and run to the ball … making something big happen is huge.
“Our defensive coordinator (Cesar Castillo) did a tremendous job preparing for this game … I couldn’t be happier with them.”
Porter gained 497 yards against Donna North’s defense and still fell short. For North, Alex Salas scored twice and Tony Gomez rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chiefs rushed for 262 yards in all. Donna North is 2-4 overall, 1-2 in district.
“It’s a great feeling,” Rokovich said. “We have to win four games to make the playoffs, that’s one. Next week, we come back and have a great opponent in Pace. They’re a tremendous football team and it’s going to be a war, I guarantee it.”
DISTRICT 31-5A
LAREDO NIXON 71, MISSION VETERANS MEMORIAL 45: At Laredo, Mission Veterans Memorial senior quarterback Diego Hernandez tied the Rio Grande Valley single-game TD passing record with seven touchdowns, but it was not enough against a Nixon team that thrashed the Patriots on the ground.
Mission Vets was within 50-45 late in the third quarter, before the Mustangs scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away. Eric Ybarra and Daniel Ledesma scored three touchdowns apiece for Nixon.
Hernandez’s seven TDs has been accomplished six times before by Valley quarterbacks. The most recent time was 2007, when La Villa’s JD Cisneros accomplished the feat twice in the season. Three other RGV quarterbacks have thrown seven touchdowns in a single game: Brownsville Porter’s Billy Garza, McAllen High’s Steven Vallecillos and Mission High’s Lupe Rodriguez (twice).
Mission Vets has lost two games in a row and is 3-2 in District 31-5A, 4-3 overall. Nixon is 6-0, 4-0 in district, and faces Rio Grande City next week.
CLASS 6A
DISTRICT 30-6A
LA JOYA PALMVIEW 30, McALLEN ROWE 28: At McAllen, Palmview pulled through in a tight game to hand Rowe its first loss of the season.
The Lobos improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in district, winning for the third time in their past four games. The Warriors dropped to 5-1 overall, 1-1 in district.
The game was tied 14-14 at halftime before Palmview built a 9-point lead down the stretch. Rowe pulled within 2 points on two different occasions in the fourth quarter but could never retake the lead.
DISTRICT 31-6A
EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 35, PSJA HIGH 14: At Edinburg, Mike Medellin returned from a hamstring injury to ignite the Jaguars’ second straight win.
The senior running back sat out last week’s 34-9 loss to PSJA North and scored on Economedes’ opening series Thursday. Medellin sat out the second half as the Jaguars’ defense shut out the Bears (2-4, 0-3) over the last two quarters.
“Obviously both the offense and defense complemented each other,” Economedes coach Gabe Peña said about his team, which improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in district. “Whenever that happens, we’re going to be successful. I’m really pleased with the work and the effort they put forth.
“We were able to get Mike some touches. He’s still not at 100 percent, but he’s such a competitor. It’s just one of those things that nature has to let play out, and fortunately he’s done what it takes.”