Huskies chalk up win, now going for two in a row
Juarez-Lincoln junior quarterback John Menchaca scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of last Friday’s 28-21 Huskies’ win over the Donna North Chiefs. Progress Times photo by Joe Vela.
After going 2-5 in Week 1, the seven football teams from the Mission, Sharyland and La Joya ISDs, the Big 7, improved to 4-3 in Week 2. The four winners were Sharyland High, Palmview, Pioneer and Juarez-Lincoln.
Of those four, the Palmview Lobos are the only team that has yet to taste the agony of defeat, thanks to their 35-14 win over the PSJA Southwest Javelinas in Week 1 and their 28-14 win over the Roma Gladiators last week. This week it was the Battle of the Lobos as the Palmview Lobos and the Brownsville Lopez Lobos faced off against each other at La Joya ISD Pack Stadium last night. Who emerged victorious? Unfortunately, the results of this game were not available at press time so we can’t say, but it’s a pretty safe bet it was the Lobos.
The 1-1 Pioneer Diamondbacks also played their Week 3 game last night. They traveled to Richard Flores Stadium in Edinburg to take on the 1-1 Edinburg North Cougars. Last week the Diamondbacks defeated the Rio Grande City Rattlers by a score of 21-14.
This week’s Progress Times game of the week is the 1-1 Mission Eagles at the 1-1 Sharyland Rattlers. Since that game is being previewed on our sports pages separately, we won’t be looking at that game here. Nor will we be looking at the Lobos’ or the Diamondbacks’ Week 3 games since they were played last night. We will however be taking a look at the Mission Veterans Patriots, the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies and the La Joya Coyotes Week 3 matchups.
Juarez-Lincoln Huskies at the Edinburg Economedes Jaguars
The 1-1 Juarez-Lincoln Huskies broke their 34 game losing streak last week when they defeated the 0-2 Donna North Chiefs by a score of 28-21. In that game, Huskies’ junior quarterback John Menchaca completed five of six passes for 49 yards and one touchdown. He also carried the ball 11 times for 88 yards and another touchdown. Junior running back Ramiro Olivarez and senior running back Victor Aleman scored the Huskies’ other two touchdowns, as they rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries and 54 yards on seven carries respectively.
Tonight the Huskies are traveling to Richard Flores Stadium in Edinburg to take on the 2-0 Economedes Jaguars. The Jaguars defeated the Donna North Chiefs by a score of 31-13 in Week 1 and the Brownsville Porter Cowboys by a score of 49-0 last week.
The Jaguars scored all six of their offensive touchdowns against the Cowboys last week on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Jon Carreon scored three of those as he carried the ball seven times for 96 yards. He also completed two passes on seven attempts for 41 yards.
While a lot has been made about the Huskies’ extended losing streak, the fact that in only his second game as the Juarez-Lincoln head coach, Daniel Cortez has already chalked up a win is huge! Will Cortez and his Huskies be able to make it two-in-a-row tonight? It’s entirely possible. And that new-found optimism is something that could very well lead to the Huskies continuing their winning ways in the weeks to come.
PSJA Bears at Mission Veterans Patriots
Last year, the now 0-2 Mission Veterans Patriots started their season with a 1-3 record. However, they went on to post a 4-1 District 16-5A II record, which was good enough to earn them a share of the district championship. They then went on to earn a Bi-district championship by defeating the Valley View Tigers by a score of 43-6. So while Patriots’ head coach David Gilpin may have preferred to be 2-0 instead of 0-2 going into tonight’s matchup against the 1-1 PSJA Bears, he judges his teams’ successes by how many gold balls they add to the trophy case at the end of each season and not by non-district records.
Even so, after losing a heartbreaker to the Mission Eagles in Week 1’s Battle of Conway by a score of 21-23 and coming up short against the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets last week by a score of 12-39, a victory tonight against the Bears would be sweet.
Against the Yellowjackets, Patriots’ quarterback Cameron Sarinana completed 17 of 38 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Sarinana also threw six interceptions. On the ground running back Benji Martinez carried the ball nine times for 58 yards to be the Patriots’ top rusher.
As for the Bears, they opened their 2024 season with a 34-0 win over the Pioneer Diamondbacks. In week 2 however, they fell to the PSJA North Raiders by a score of 11-21. In that game, senior Bears’ quarterback Myles Lopez completed 17 of 34 pass attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown. While the Bears’ defense did hold the Raiders’ quarterback to only one pass completion in seven attempts for eight yards, they gave up 323 yards rushing on 48 carries.
While it may seem hard to believe, the Patriots and the Bears have never played each other. The Patriots have played PSJA Memorial nine times, PSJA Southwest seven times and PSJA North twice. Against these three teams the Patriots have posted an impressive 15-3 record. Will the Patriots’ dominance over PSJA teams continue tonight? Only time and the final score will tell.
Brownsville Pace Vikings at La Joya Coyotes
The 0-2 La Joya Coyotes will be hosting 2-0 Brownsville Pace Vikings at La Joya ISD Pack Stadium tonight. This will be the Coyotes’ third straight game against a Brownsville team and their only home game of the season until Week 6.
Last week the Coyotes came up short against the Brownsville Lopez Lobos by a score of 13-31. In that game, the Lobos’ senior quarterback Guadalupe Ramirez completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 295 yards and three touchdowns. The Coyotes’ defense also gave up 170 yards rushing on 28 carries.
The Vikings opened the season with a 44-21 win over the Hidalgo Pirates in Week 1 and a 23-17 win over the Bishop Badgers last week. Against the Badgers, the Vikings passed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 298 yards and one touchdown. Senior running back Adrian Sauceda led the way among Vikings’ rushers with 209 yards rushing on 31 carries and one touchdown.
With this being the Coyotes only home game this month, it would be nice to give the home faithful a victory. While the Vikings are certainly beatable, they’re going to be out to remain undefeated. Coyotes’ head coach Reuben Farias and his staff may have some tricks up their sleeves and if they work, the Coyotes could very well chalk up their first win of the season.