By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
It took a quarter to warm up, but the Pace offense got going and didn’t stop.
The Vikings offense scored 28 second half points and took advantage of Porter’s struggles and defeated the Cowboys 42-21 in District 32-5A action Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Pace scored four rushing touchdowns, two from Christian Resendez, in the second half after a pair of touchdowns through the air in the first half.
“We got to spread the ball around in the run game, which is something we hadn’t done in the past,” Pace coach William Deen said. “We threw the ball good early in the game when we needed to. All three of our backs scored, so it’s nice when that’s happening. It means that everyone is getting touches, so you’re getting fresh legs in there.”
A change at quarterback helped spark the Pace offense. Arturo Vilano did it through the air and with his legs.
Vilano completed 5 of 11 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 124 yards on 16 carries for the Vikings.
“We felt like we needed to make a change,” Deen said. “So we did (with Vilano) and it paid off tonight.”
The Pace defense forced two Porter turnovers, a fumble recovered by A.J. Garay and later an interception by Osvaldo Canales.
Vilano found Luis Rodriguez on a 41-yard pass play that initially bounced off another receiver before Rodriguez caught it and scored to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead. On Pace’s next drive, Vilano found Armando Morales on 12-yard slant for another touchdown and Pace took a 14-0 lead into the break.
“Just missed opportunities,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “We got inside their 30 three times, zero points in the first half. We knew coming it was going to be their pass game that we were going to have to look out for, but they made a change, started a different quarterback that was more of a runner and he did a good job. Especially in the first half when there was the threat to run, we had to focus on that as well.”
Porter finally got on the board in the second half. George Gutierrez scored on a 3-yard run to cut the Vikings lead in half, 14-7.
But the Vikings answered. After Porter was unsuccessful on an onside kick, Pace took it 45 yards, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Felix Calderon to take a 21-7 lead. Resendez would run for 91 yards and two touchdowns and Lee Cortez added 45 yards and another score in the second half for Pace.
“They were gashing us on defense,” Campos said. “Our defense struggled tonight with their run game. Their O-line did a good job against our D-line and we couldn’t stop them when we needed to.”
Porter would score twice in the fourth quarter. David Pacheco scored on a 16-yard run and later Frank Alvarado found Armando Payan on a 65-yard strike for another touchdown, but it wasn’t enough.
After a much deserved Gatorade bath for Deen, he said it was the opportunities in the second half that allowed them to pull away.
“We felt we needed to get more touches in the second half,” he said. “Porter has a good football team, that offense grinds out the clock and they kept the ball away from us (in the first half). Obviously when we did we were able to get the offense rolling.
“It’s a district win and obviously it’s a rivalry anytime you play another Brownsville school. It’s a big win.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.