La Feria ready for regional quarterfinal date with Bandera

SAN ANTONIO - The La Feria Lions aren't scared.

And they're not nervous, either.

Heading into their Class 3A Division I regional quarterfinal against Bandera tonight at the Alamodome, the Lions are focused on springing what most would call an upset over the Bulldogs.

"We're relaxed. We preach having fun to our kids," La Feria head coach Elifonso Esquivel said. "But we're gonna show up ready to play and ready to win the ballgame."

For a team that was 1-4 at the midway point of the season, the Lions have certainly turned things around.

La Feria's offense began to click.

Raul Bowman (1,430 yards, 13 TDs) and Colie Long (567, 5 TDs) showed confidence running the offense. Wideouts Aaron Villalon (34-710 yards) and Julio Martinez (32-496) stepped up as reliable targets during the regular season.

Then the defense started to mature and improve.

Linebacker Stephen White stepped up his game and those around him began to as well.

As result, the wins began to pile up as the Lions finished the year at 5-5.

"We told the kids about 5-6 weeks ago if we worked hard, we'd be playing at the Alamodome," Esquivel said. "They worked hard and had a lot of dedication and now we're Bi-district champs."

Then last week, the Lions were in a defensive battle with the Robstown Cotton Pickers.

That bi-district contest was at a 0-0-deadlock heading into the final quarter.

Kicker Brian Vasquez nailed a field goal to give the Lions a lead they never relinquished in a 3-0 win.

Michael Fonseca and Bowman each had interceptions to end Picker drives and preserve the win.

That win is along the lines of the recipe they'll have to follow to beat Bandera (7-3).

After a 0-3 start, the Bulldogs come in winners of seven straight games before their bye last week.

Bandera averaged an impressive 42 points and 437 yards offensively (262 of those rushing) per game.

Quarterback Cole Hubble is tops in the San Antonio area with 3,459 yards (1,960 passing, 30 TDs; 1,499 rushing 16 TDs) of total offense. He is a heavy D-I recruit.

The Bulldogs' top wideout is Cole Hicks (44-854, 15 TDs).

"They're one of the better teams we've faced," Esquivel said of Bandera. "But we feel they haven't faced an offense or defense like ours."

And while ratings systems and prognosticators are picking against the Lions, that doesn't bother Esquivel and his squad.
It serves at motivation.

Armando Garza covers sub-4A football for Valley FreedomNewspapers. He can be reached at armandog@valleystar.com.