Local squads look to advance as football playoffs underway
With more than pride on the line as high school football playoffs make way, local squads showed that they were ready to play.
Hometown teams, such as the PSJA Bears and PSJA North Raiders, proved they want to continue building on the success that they showcased during the regular season. The Robert Vela SaberCats also persevered and remain undefeated as they took home a dub.
PSJA 55, Harlingen 28
Quarterback Myles Lopez had a mega day, throwing for 450 yards and five touchdowns as the PSJA Bears won its bi-district playoff matchup against Harlingen 5528.
PSJA will play Cibolo Steele at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Class 6A DII area round matchup at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio. Cibolo Steele is 10-1.
Lopez, a senior, also added 41 rushing yards. He tossed two scoring passes to Caleb Salas, who caught 11 passes for 217 yards. Ryan Vallejo also scored on an aerial attack and hauled in 9 passes for 211 yards. Emiliano Fraga and Jorge Alanis also caught scoring passes and Alanis scored two rushing touchdowns.
The Bears’ offense exploded for 610 total yards to improve to 9-2 on the season, their only two losses coming to powerhouses PSJA North and Brownsville Veterans.
Edinburg Vela 58, Harlingen South 27
The SaberCats gave up a season-high 27 points and still won by 31 to remain undefeated with a 58-27 win over Harlingen South.
Vela, 11-0, will host Smithson Valley (9-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Jonathan Flores rushed for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Geoffrey Lefevre passed for three touchdowns and 260 yards. The SaberCats tallied 538 total yards.
Harlingen South exploded for a whopping 733 yards of total offense, 395 of them on the ground.
Dylan Anaya scored two touchdowns and gained 199 yards rushing, and teammate Alvin Edwards added 152 yards and found paydirt once. Luiz Orozco scored the Hawks' other touchdown.
Lefevre added two scores rushing. He connected with six different receivers during the game, including two scores to Juan Garza and one to Jonathan Flores. Garza led the receiving corps with 77 yards receiving on three catches.
Defensively for Vela, Sergio Briones, Devin Caballero, Derek Rodriguez and Nick Guevera all hauled in interceptions for the SaberCats.
PSJA North 43, Palmview 3
The Raiders improved to 10-1 with a 43-3 romping of Palmview. North has outscored its past two opponents 91-9 since the 2827 overtime loss to Flour Bluff.
PSJA North will face New Braunfels at 7 p.m. Friday at Calallen Stadium in Corpus Christi.
Workhouse Ethan Guerra gained 128 yards on 13 carries and scored twice for the Raiders. Seven different running backs had at least two carries apiece and three of them surpassed 55 yards rushing in a balanced rushing attack. Guerra also caught a 22-yard scoring strike from quarterback Daren Garcia. The Raiders totaled 437 yards of offense.
Playoff Schedule
Below is the complete Valley Area Round football playoff schedule beginning Thursday.
Thursday Class 6A DII
• PSJA High vs. Cibolo Steele, 7 p.m. at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio
Class 5A DII
• Mercedes vs. Alamo Heights, 7 p.m. at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi
• Edcouch-Elsa vs. Boerne, 7 p.m. at Shirley Field in Laredo
Friday Area Round Class 6A DI
• Weslaco vs. San Antonio East Central, 7 p.m. at Shirley Field in Laredo
Class 6A DII
• Brownsville Veterans vs. New Braunfels Canyon, 7 p.m. Friday at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio
Class 5A DI
• PSJA North vs. New Braunfels, 7 p.m. at Calallen’s Wildcat Stadium in Corpus Christi, 7 p.m
• Smithson Valley at Edinburg Vela, 7 p.m.
Class 5A DII
• Pioneer at Corpus Christi Miller, 7 p.m. at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi, 7 p.m.
Class 4A DII
• Port Isabel vs. Lago Vista, 7 p.m. at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville
Class 3A DI
• Rio Hondo vs. Universal City Randolph, 7 p.m. at Tuloso-Midway HS
Class 2A DII
• La Villa vs. Granger, 7 p.m. at Lion Stadium in Kenedy
TAPPS DII Regional Finals
• Brownsville St. Joseph vs. Houston Second Baptist, 7p.m. at Edgewood ISD Stadium in San Antonio
Saturday Class 6A DI
• Los Fresnos vs. Buda Johnson, 3 p.m. at the Alamodome in San Antonio