BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Valley View knew it had a tough game coming when Brownsville Porter arrived for an early Friday evening district showdown.
As the RGV’s No. 1 team, the Tigers might not have expected to fall behind less than a minute into their game against the visiting Cowboys, but that was the predicament they had to deal with after Porter’s Xavier Mateos booted home an early counter-attacking goal.
The goal could have planted the seeds of an upset. Instead, it woke a sleeping giant as Valley View responded with six straight goals for a 6-2 win at Valley View High School in Pharr.
Valley View junior forward Jorge Amaya said that keeping composure in the face of a miscue was key to the win.
“We just play as one,” Amaya said. “We know that one mistake can cost us any game and we’re prepared for our errors. We know we’re not perfect, there’s going to be games where we are down by one and we have to build from there as a whole team and just make the best out of it.”
The home side didn’t take long to respond to the opening-minute shocker. Three minutes later, a corner kick was sent directly into the Porter 6-yard-box where freshman Pablo Torre’s head and the ball met.
Torre’s header crossed the goal line and the Valley View machine was up and running.
With 23:32 to play in the half, another freshman found the back of the net, this time Yonathan Castro, who simply blew the ball past the Porter keeper.
Amaya found his scoring touch less than three minutes later to take over the momentum and the match for good.
“It’s just a special feeling cause as a unit we’re bonding better each time,” Amaya said. “Every practice, every game we’re just ready for it and we know all the games are going to be high intensity and we’re preparing 100 percent for the games.”
After the halftime break, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas.
Midfielder Bryan Obregon opened the second stanza with a powerful goal that curved out of the reach of the keeper.
“It feels amazing when we start winning, but there are some times we start off losing, like today,” said Obregon, a junior. “All we need is to stay calm and to let it be, let it play.”
Valley View’s combined 12-3 results over Lopez and Porter have come without arguably their best offensive weapon, Mario De Los Santos, not on the field as he awaits a decision over his eligibility.
“We play as a team, we don’t play with one as a reference,” Obregon said. “We play as a team, that makes us feel stronger.”
Another returner from last season’s state semifinal team, Rogelio Saldivar, scored the team’s fifth goal and Casto scored his second to reach six. Adolfo Gonzalez scored Porter’s second tally.
Valley View improves to 3-0 in district play with back-to-back wins over perennial powerhouses Lopez and Porter. On Tuesday, the Tigers will replay last season’s Class 5A regional final when they visit Brownsville Veterans.
“We knew what we were getting into, we knew what kind of district it was,” Valley View coach Damian Magallan said through a translator. “We played the playoffs against Lopez last year and they took us to the very end. Still, we know that if we attack we’re going to be the better team. Attack, attack. That’s how you beat those teams.”