footballgal
09-26-2008, 10:06 AM
Plenty of competitive games to go around in sub-4A
Lyford-La Feria headlines tough slate
By ARMANDO GARZA
RGVSports.com 956-430-6255
LA FERIA
— Let the games begin!
Right off the bat, four important games dot the District 32-3A schedule.
Lyford at La Feria is one of those games.
The Bulldogs (2-1) were off last week and have won two straight thanks to some big offensive numbers.
Coach Jaime Infante’s team is rolling right now with backup quarterback Noe Valdez at the controls.
“Right now we feel good going into district,” Infante said. “We hope we’re where we need to be. We just need to come out and execute.”
Valdez’s 894 yards passing leads the Valley, and 12 different Lyford receivers have caught passes.
The pass-happy spread attack has created problems for Bulldog opponents, and will be the x-factor for Lyford.
“We’ve been able to get Noe some quality reps,” Infante said. “He’s gotten steadily better.”
La Feria comes off a 54-28 trouncing of Santa Rosa in the Battle of FM 506.
The Lions (1-2) had their best offensive output of the year, cranking out 517 yards.
“The kids are fired up and ready to go,” La Feria coach Elifonso Esquivel said. “We’re peaking at the right time offensively and we’ve gotten some good experience on defense. We’ve seen improvement.”
The Lions got big games from running back Randy Rodriguez and solid play from quarterbacks Raul Bowman and Colie Long.
Port Isabel at Hidalgo Another game with huge implications has Port Isabel taking on Hidalgo at Bill Pate Stadium.
The Tarpons were off after giving Valley No. 1 Edcouch-Elsa a game of it before falling in the second half.
PI (1-2) has gotten progressively better with each week, and that has head coach Monty Stumbaugh pleased.
“They’re a good football team that can score a lot of points. We know it’s gonna be a tough ballgame,” he said. “Everybody wants to start 1-0. There’s no off week in this district.”
The Tarpons have seen their ground game flourish with RB Joe Vega (207 yards) and Roli Alaniz (112). Quarterback Kyle DeMoss had his best outing of the season against E-E.
As Stumbaugh alluded to, the 2-1 Pirates set their scoreboard on fire by blasting Falfurrias 71-7 last Tuesday.
Quarterback Steve Pedraza tossed a schoolrecord six touchdown passes for the Pirates, who’ve won two straight games, scoring 118 points in the process.
Zapata at Rio Hondo Look for Rio Hondo to come out spirited after their big win over 5A school Laredo Alexander last week.
The Bobcats (2-1) downed the Bulldogs 49-42 thanks to solid defense and a steady ground game.
Joseph Vela, Jacob Martinez and Trevor David combined for 371 yards rushing.
“We’re ready to roll. Everybody’s excited off a pretty big win last week,” Rio Hondo coach Rocky James said. “We’ve only practiced outside one day due to the rain, just like everybody else. But the kids are eager to go outside and hit somebody.”
It’ll be two extremes in two weeks for the Bobcats’ defense.
With the pass-happy Bulldogs in the rearview mirror, they’ll focus on the run-oriented Hawks and their slot-T attack.
The Hawks are unbeaten at 3-0 but have not played a team of the Bobcats’ caliber.
“They have a very good football team and we have our work cut out for us,” James said.
The trio of George Gutierrez, Isaac Patterson and Sergio Quintanilla have proved solid for Zapata.
“They’ve got two big backs and a speedy back,” James said. “We love playing against the run.”
District 32-A
Santa Maria at Agua
Dulce
The Santa Maria Cougars are off to the best start in school history at 4-0 and will look to build upon that when they take on the Longhorns.
Santa Maria has played against larger junior varsity teams but has come out on top each time.
“We’ve been facing spread offenses since the first day of practice,” Santa Maria coach Lupe Perez said. “Agua Dulce gives us the slot-T offense to worry about. But we’re going in with the expectations of winning.”
Andy De La Rosa has established himself as a dual threat at quarterback, and he’s surrounded by plenty of playmakers.
“It’s huge,” Perez said. “This game is important for us and it’s our biggest game of the year.”
Armando Garza covers sub-4A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at armandog@valleystar.com.
http://images.onset.freedom.com/rgvsports/k7scag-laferia.gif
http://epaper.valleystar.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=VMS/2008/09/26/17/Img/Pc0170100.jpg
Lynn Hermosa/Valley Morning Star
La Feria quarterback Raul Bowman fires a pass against Santa Rosa last week. The Lions host Lyford tonight in their district opener
http://www.rgvsports.com/articles/game_2855___article.html/games_santa.html
Lyford-La Feria headlines tough slate
By ARMANDO GARZA
RGVSports.com 956-430-6255
LA FERIA
— Let the games begin!
Right off the bat, four important games dot the District 32-3A schedule.
Lyford at La Feria is one of those games.
The Bulldogs (2-1) were off last week and have won two straight thanks to some big offensive numbers.
Coach Jaime Infante’s team is rolling right now with backup quarterback Noe Valdez at the controls.
“Right now we feel good going into district,” Infante said. “We hope we’re where we need to be. We just need to come out and execute.”
Valdez’s 894 yards passing leads the Valley, and 12 different Lyford receivers have caught passes.
The pass-happy spread attack has created problems for Bulldog opponents, and will be the x-factor for Lyford.
“We’ve been able to get Noe some quality reps,” Infante said. “He’s gotten steadily better.”
La Feria comes off a 54-28 trouncing of Santa Rosa in the Battle of FM 506.
The Lions (1-2) had their best offensive output of the year, cranking out 517 yards.
“The kids are fired up and ready to go,” La Feria coach Elifonso Esquivel said. “We’re peaking at the right time offensively and we’ve gotten some good experience on defense. We’ve seen improvement.”
The Lions got big games from running back Randy Rodriguez and solid play from quarterbacks Raul Bowman and Colie Long.
Port Isabel at Hidalgo Another game with huge implications has Port Isabel taking on Hidalgo at Bill Pate Stadium.
The Tarpons were off after giving Valley No. 1 Edcouch-Elsa a game of it before falling in the second half.
PI (1-2) has gotten progressively better with each week, and that has head coach Monty Stumbaugh pleased.
“They’re a good football team that can score a lot of points. We know it’s gonna be a tough ballgame,” he said. “Everybody wants to start 1-0. There’s no off week in this district.”
The Tarpons have seen their ground game flourish with RB Joe Vega (207 yards) and Roli Alaniz (112). Quarterback Kyle DeMoss had his best outing of the season against E-E.
As Stumbaugh alluded to, the 2-1 Pirates set their scoreboard on fire by blasting Falfurrias 71-7 last Tuesday.
Quarterback Steve Pedraza tossed a schoolrecord six touchdown passes for the Pirates, who’ve won two straight games, scoring 118 points in the process.
Zapata at Rio Hondo Look for Rio Hondo to come out spirited after their big win over 5A school Laredo Alexander last week.
The Bobcats (2-1) downed the Bulldogs 49-42 thanks to solid defense and a steady ground game.
Joseph Vela, Jacob Martinez and Trevor David combined for 371 yards rushing.
“We’re ready to roll. Everybody’s excited off a pretty big win last week,” Rio Hondo coach Rocky James said. “We’ve only practiced outside one day due to the rain, just like everybody else. But the kids are eager to go outside and hit somebody.”
It’ll be two extremes in two weeks for the Bobcats’ defense.
With the pass-happy Bulldogs in the rearview mirror, they’ll focus on the run-oriented Hawks and their slot-T attack.
The Hawks are unbeaten at 3-0 but have not played a team of the Bobcats’ caliber.
“They have a very good football team and we have our work cut out for us,” James said.
The trio of George Gutierrez, Isaac Patterson and Sergio Quintanilla have proved solid for Zapata.
“They’ve got two big backs and a speedy back,” James said. “We love playing against the run.”
District 32-A
Santa Maria at Agua
Dulce
The Santa Maria Cougars are off to the best start in school history at 4-0 and will look to build upon that when they take on the Longhorns.
Santa Maria has played against larger junior varsity teams but has come out on top each time.
“We’ve been facing spread offenses since the first day of practice,” Santa Maria coach Lupe Perez said. “Agua Dulce gives us the slot-T offense to worry about. But we’re going in with the expectations of winning.”
Andy De La Rosa has established himself as a dual threat at quarterback, and he’s surrounded by plenty of playmakers.
“It’s huge,” Perez said. “This game is important for us and it’s our biggest game of the year.”
Armando Garza covers sub-4A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at armandog@valleystar.com.
http://images.onset.freedom.com/rgvsports/k7scag-laferia.gif
http://epaper.valleystar.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=VMS/2008/09/26/17/Img/Pc0170100.jpg
Lynn Hermosa/Valley Morning Star
La Feria quarterback Raul Bowman fires a pass against Santa Rosa last week. The Lions host Lyford tonight in their district opener
http://www.rgvsports.com/articles/game_2855___article.html/games_santa.html