With three teams left, District 31-5A rules the postseason

Ask PSJA head coach Mel Rios and he'll tell you just how tough District 31-5A really is.

Rios' Bears came in fifth place in 31-5A this season losing to the second through fourth place teams by a combined score of five points.

PSJA High lost to Edinburg North by three points, 31-28 in a nailbiter from the start.

The following week, the Bears lost to the Edinburg High Bobcats 33-32 in overtime.

Then in Week 10 with the Bears officially out of the postseason, PSJA High went for the win late in the game but came up short on the two-point play for the 21-20 loss.

The Bears' only sizeable loss came to Harlingen, 45-12, in Week Seven.

So it doesn't surprise Rios to see three of those four 31-5A teams still playing in the third round of the postseason.

"You need to maintain a high level of focus and you have to play at a high level to be consistent week in and week out," Rios said. "There is no room for error.

PSJA North head coach Bruce Bush made an even stronger case for 31-5A, which at one point this season had four teams ranked in the Valley Freedom Newspapers' Top 10 Poll.

Bush's Raiders take on New Braunfels on Friday at noon at the Alamodome in a Class 5A, Division II regional game.

"This district has very good football teams," Bush said. "You just have to look at the fact that our No. 4 team (Edinburg) beat the district champion from 32-5A (Brownsville Hanna). And our No. 3 team (Edinburg North) just beat the district champion from 30-5A (Sharyland). Our four and three teams beat the other district champions. That's says a lot about our teams and players in this district."

Pharr North's only loss this season came to Harlingen (42-14), the Valley's consensus No. 1 team all season.

The Raiders (11-1) then defeated 32-5A second-place team Brownsville Pace and Eagle Pass in the postseason.

Edinburg North was the third place team in 31-5A and has scored 84 points in two postseason wins against perrennial postseason teams, Los Fresnos and Sharyland.

The Cougars (9-3) take on San Antonio Brandeis at the Alamodome on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a Class 5A, Division II regional game. It's the Coogs first time in the third round.

EN's only losses were to the Cardinals (61-17) and a three-point loss to the Raiders (38-35). The Cougars also lost to Sharyland in Week One (24-10).

"Being in this district made everyone of us better," Cougars head coach Roy Garza said. "If you survivied this district, you were battle-tested."

The Bobcats were the fourth place team and fell short of the third round in a loss to Del Rio on Saturday.

But before its exit from the postseason, Edinburg pulled off a great upset in defeating the resurgent Hanna Eagles at Sams Stadium last week in a bi-district clash.

Edinburg (6-6) lost to the top three teams in 31-5A, plus area finalist Sharyland and playoff qualifier McAllen during the regular season.

Finally there's the Cardinals.

From the beginning, HHS was the team to beat and they lived up to the billing outscoring its district opponents 360-71.

In the postseason, the Cardinals ousted 32-5A's San Benito (41-21) and San Antonio Southwest (21-14) on Friday.

Harlingen (12-0) takes on Austin Westlake on Friday at 4 p.m. at the Alamodome in a rematch of last season's Class 5A, Division I regional game.

As Cards head coach Manny Gomez prepared for the Chaps, he reflected on what District 31-5A's accomplished so far.

And he's not the least bit surprised that three teams from what turns out to be the Valley's best district remain alive in the playoffs.

"We've played in 32-5A and 31-5A is a lot more physical," Gomez said. "It's the meat grinder district. There's a lot of hard-nosed football players in this district. And the playoffs are physical. That's why we've excelled in the playoffs."

Eladio Jaimez covers District 31-5A for Valley Freedom Newspapers.