BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
The Valley View football team is dealing with something it hasn’t faced all season: adversity.
The Tigers are dealing with adversity in the form of a 35-28 loss to Sharyland Pioneer in Week 7, their first defeat of the season after a program-best 6-0 start.
“We talk about being a family a lot. After the game, I said that we win as a team and we lose as a team,” Valley View coach Elifonso Esquivel said. “What we need to do starting then is regroup. They’ve been very humble since Day 1, so it (losing) didn’t hurt us because they believe in what we’re teaching. They’re united. They’re together.”
The Tigers (6-1, 2-1) were without safety/wide receiver Javier Lopez in the second half of Friday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Lopez is the team leader in interceptions (six) and receiving yards (454).
“Javi hyper-extended his knee last week, so we thought we should keep him out just to play it safe,” Esquivel said. “He should be 100 percent for Friday night. We’ve been very fortunate with injuries this season.”
Lopez will return for Valley View’s road contest at Mercedes (2-4, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Valley View’s Tigers have met Mercedes’ Tigers seven times in their history with Mercedes winning six of them.
Mercedes occupies the fourth and final playoff spot in District 16-5A Division II. A win for third-place Valley View would inch those Tigers one step closer to more history.
“Every game in our district is tough,” Esquivel said. “Mercedes is an established program and this one is going to be very important for us. If we win, there’s a chance that this could help clinch a playoff spot for us, which has never been done in our history. The kids realize how important this game is and they’ve showed up to practice this week with the right attitude.”