RGVSPORTS.COM
Rain nearly threatened Friday night’s Laredo Alexander-Sharyland High game at Richard Thompson Stadium.
Because it was a non-district contest, the game more than likely would not have been rescheduled. In fact, Sharyland coach Ron Adame had received word that Laredo Alexander was instructed to go home if the game had not started by 9 p.m.
Ultimately, the game was played. Kickoff got under way a little after 8:30 p.m., an hour after the scheduled start time. What followed was a 36-35 loss, snapping the Rattlers’ 26-game regular-season winning streak.
“I’m glad we got (the game) in,” said Adame, whose 23-game regular-season win streak also came to an end.
The Sharyland coach had long maintained that he tried scheduling the best competition available to help his team prepare for district. For the past two years, the Rattlers have posted consecutive 10-0 regular seasons. Having this blemish could very well be an afterthought for Sharyland, if it winds up enjoying playoff success.
“This is the toughest non-district schedule we’ve had in recent years,” Adame said. “We realized that the opponents that we set up our games with, they’re going to prepare us. And, you know, sometimes you learn more from a close loss than a blowout victory. We knew we needed to face teams that were going to challenge us and have us play at a high level. We’re hoping it pays off in the second part of our season.”
The loss inspired memories of another Laredo team — United — which the Rattlers beat 28-23 in Week 2. In that game, Sharyland milked the clock to preserve the victory. On Friday, the Rattlers had two fumbles in the fourth quarter, allowing Alexander to finish the game with possession.
“It was just on the flip side,” Adame said. “We were playing keep away (in the fourth quarter against United) and now the shoe was reversed. Coach (Joel) Lopez and Alexander did a good job of time management (in Week 4). It’s a tough loss but our guys bounced back, and Saturday they seemed to snap out of it. They realized it’s one game and we have a big one ahead. Our preparation for (Edinburg) Vela started Saturday morning.”
PALMVIEW’S ESCAPE
Despite losing starting quarterback Andrew Puente to injury after about 12 minutes of play and continuing to struggle with turnovers, La Joya Palmview managed to secure a 7-7 tie Friday against Roma.
Puente was lost to a high ankle sprain, and coach Mage Requenez said the Lobos offense struggled without him.
“It was tough after we lost our quarterback,” Requenez said. “We had to change our whole game plan.”
Backup quarterbacks Marcus Lopez and Aaron Gonzalez did not provide a comparable alternative, so Roma was able to load the box against Palmview’s rushing attack, which entered averaging more than 400 yards per game.
“We couldn’t throw with our backup quarterback, and Roma figured that out pretty quick,” Requenez said. “Instead of having just 7 in the box, they went to having 9 people in the box, and it was harder to run the ball.”
Regardless, Requenez said Palmview outgained Roma by a substantial margin, only to be done in by turnovers, which were also an issue in a Week 3 loss to Rio Grande City.
“A couple of fumbles really cost us again,” Requenez said. “I have no complaints on both sides of the ball. We played well. I think the score didn’t indicate how good we were playing. … We’ve just been shooting ourselves in the foot lately.”
Roma and Palmview were about to line up to begin overtime when lightning struck. Knowing the delay would be at least half an hour and not wanting to risk injury to his players in a non-district game, Requenez pushed for the game to end as a tie.
Palmview enters a Week 5 bye ahead of District 30-6A play looking to get Puente healthy and address the turnover issue.
“Just going back and working on some of the little things,” Requenez said. “Some things I think we’ve slacked off a little bit trying to concentrate and make sure we know our plays. The individual work that we have to do, we need to go back to it.”