Donna spoils McAllen Memorial's playoff plans

DONNA — Ivan Estrada kept shaking his head.

“I can’t believe it,” Donna’s junior defensive back said after his team’s stunning 24-21 come-from-behind win Friday night during The Monitor’s Game of the Week at Bennie La Prade Stadium.

Estrada picked off Memorial quarterback Matthew Kaufmann, who threw an uncharacteristic four interceptions in the game, with 55 seconds left, setting up a game-winning 27-yard field goal as the clock expired by Fernando Sanchez.

At halftime most wouldn’t have believed Donna (7-3 overall, 5-2 district) was going to win. The Redskins trailed 21-0 at intermission to a team that had everything to play for. Memorial needed to win by 10 points to advance to the playoffs. Instead, Rio Grande City will be the fourth 30-5A representative.

The Redskins, who already clinched a playoff spot last week, and their proud tradition stood strong in the second half as they scored 24 unanswered during the final two quarters to make sure there wouldn’t be a Mustangs celebration on their field.

“We just told ourselves this is our hometown and this is our homecoming,” Redskins quarterback Alahn Yanez said.
“We just kept telling each other to believe.”

Donna insists it was not concerned by what Memorial needed to do to get in the playoffs. Yanez said the team could have cared less about their role as spoilers but instead wanted a full steam of momentum heading into the postseason.

“We played to have no regrets at the end of the year,” Redskins coach Manny Moreno said. “It had nothing to do with the motivation of (Memorial) of what they had to do. We have been working hard since last November to get to this point.”

Whether Donna admits it or not, it played the role as spoiler well. The Redskins, who had only 41 yards of total offense at halftime, controled the clock in the second half and limited the Mustangs to only 95 second-half yards and only 65 yards passing in the game.

The Redskins tied the contest on a 27-yard TD pass from Yanez to Erin Perez with 2:25 left in the game. On the ensuing possession, Estrada came up with his pick, helping to end what was suppose to be a playoff season for the Mustangs.

Memorial (6-4, 3-4) was picked by many to win the district but could not win the close ones, losing their four games by a combined 22 points.

“It is very disappointing,” Mustangs coach Bill Littleton said. “We expected to be in the playoffs. We expected to be contending for a district title. Yeah, it is disappointing.”

Peter Rasmussen covers District 30-5A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448.