Falcons advance after routing Cowboys

The Los Fresnos Falcons punched their ticket to the playoffs in impressive fashion.

Los Fresnos racked up 631 yards of offense while the defense held Porter in check as the Falcons crushed the Cowboys 75-34 on Friday night at Sams Stadium.

Coach Scott Ford and the Los Fresnos Falcons will play host to Edinburg North at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Leo Aguilar Stadium.

"It feels good," Ford said. "We knew we needed a win to get in and our goal is to compete for championships, and we get that opportunity next week."

Quarterback Eric Castillo had 294 yards of offense and four touchdown passes, completing 6 of 7 throws for 113 yards. The junior quarterback also ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns and had runs of 74 and 62 yards late in the second quarter to give the Falcons a 49-7 lead.

Falcons senior quarterback Emilio Hernandez was efficient through the air, completing 9 of 16 passes for 169 yards and two scores, including the final touchdown of the game for Los Fresnos. He completed a 7-yard toss to Kristian Martinez for a 75-28 advantage with 7:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Martinez also had a solid game for the Falcons, running for 103 yards on six carries. It included a 64-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage in the second half.

Porter scored its second touchdown of the game two drives later, when Luis Alvarez recovered a fumble from Castillo in the end zone.

Cowboys offensive lineman Chris Cortez dove in from 1-yard out for a touchdown, and quarterback Mark Gonzalez hit Josh Garza in stride for a scoring reception, giving Porter consecutive scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

Porter’s Charlie Quintero led the Cowboys in rushing with 176 yards, which included a 44-yard touchdown with 2:38 remaining in the fourth quarter for Porter’s final points of the season.

"We played a very good football team," Porter coach Roberto Valdez said. "We didn’t quit and fought to the last second. That’s all I wanted out of them."

Aaron Rangel was the leading receiver in the game with nine receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

Porter opened its scoring with a 98-yard kickoff return by Dago Vidal with 7:29 before halftime.

Louie Vera covers District 32-5A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at lvera@brownsvilleherald.com.