Scrimmage Roundup: Dube shines against Hanna

McALLEN — Behind two Trey Dube touchdowns, McAllen High defeated Brownsville Hanna 24-21 in the controlled portion of the teams’ scrimmage and 7-0 in game simulation Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Standouts for the Bulldogs were offensive lineman Brian Saenz and wide receiver Ben Griffith. On the defensive side of the ball, D-linemen Zander Aguilar and Patrick Snelling shined for McHi.

“I though we looked darn good,” Bulldogs coach Tony Harris said. “We executed, for the most part, pretty well. We need to take care of the ball better on offense. I was impressed with our effort and our execution."

Of concern for the Bulldogs is the injury of sophomore quarterback Garrett Thomas. Thomas sprained his ankle on the first play of the scrimmage. Last season, the Bulldogs struggled with injuries.

Thomas is competing with junior Justin Salinas for QB duties. Harris said he is concerned about Thomas and that he will be evaluated as the team prepares for Week 0.

The Bulldogs open the season at 7:30 p.m. next Friday with a home game against PSJA Memorial.

SAN BENITO 2-14, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 2-0; LA JOYA PALMVIEW 3-7, LA FERIA 3-7: At Mission, despite coming up short against San Benito, Palmview coach Manuel Flores was pleased with his team’s offense during his team’s two scrimmages for the most part.

Lobos QB Javier Femat impressed his coach. Flores said the signal caller is learning to be patient in his decisions.

“I was kind of a repeat of our last scrimmage,” Flores said. “We kind of missed some wide open passes. We need to be able to get that timing down.”

EDINBURG HIGH 7, McALLEN ROWE 2: At McAllen, Steve Guerrero threw two touchdowns to lead the Edinburg to a resounding victory. Bobcats coach Joey Caceres said his first team outscored Rowe’s first team 6-0.

In a season of high expectation, Caceres said the scrimmage was an indication of what the Bobcats are capable of.

“Inexperience should with our team but they are growing fast,” Caceres said. “They relaxed a little bit and fortunately we got rolling, and our kids were hard to stop.”

MISSION HIGH 14-0, MERCEDES 0-0: At Mercedes, the Eagles’ offense looked impressive as it accumulated 260 yards of total offense in one half and cruised to a win over the Tigers in the live portion of the scrimmage.

Eagles quarterback Gilbert Gonzalez scored the first touchdown of the game as he ran it in from nine yards out with 4:57 left in the first quarter giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead. The touchdown run was set up with Gonzalez connecting on a 49-yard strike which got them inside the red zone.

Gonzalez was impressive through the air in the live scrimmage as he threw for 123 yards on 9 of 15 passing.

In the controlled portion of the scrimmage, both teams couldn’t punch it in offensively as they battled to a 0-0 tie.

PSJA NORTH 6, BROWNSVILLE LOPEZ 1: At Sams Stadium, the Raiders ran away with the free portion of the scrimmage to head into Week 0 on a winning note.

The teams first played a controlled portion, which PSJA North took 2-1. The first units had 20 plays, followed by 15 for the second units.

The Raiders took the two-quarter free portion 4-0, but the Lobos had two interceptions that could have been returned for touchdowns blown dead, as per a pre-game agreement between the coaches.

“It was a good workout for both teams,” Lopez coach Valetin Montemayor said. “They’re a ball-control offense and they pretty much kept us off the field.”

The Lobos also had a couple of drives get into the red zone but eventually fizzle out.

They open the season next week at Harlingen High. PSJA North will hit the road to face Donna.

“Now it’s for keeps,” Montemayor said.

BROWNSVILLE PACE 2, EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 1: At Brownsville, the Vikings hit for two touchdowns to beat the Jaguars in the final tune-up before Week 0.

After a short controlled portion, the two teams played three full quarters of game action.

The Vikings got their touchdowns on a two-yard run from Steven Torres and a pass from Dustin Hernandez to Joseph Rena.

“It was a good scrimmage,” Pace coach Rene Medrano said. “The kids played hard, I was proud of them.”

Pace opens its season next week at Edinburg North while Economedes will host McAllen Rowe.

EDCOUCH-ELSA 14-6, PORT ISABEL 7-0: At Port Isabel, behind Brandon Montoya’s five rushing touchdowns, E-E pounded Port Isabel in their scrimmage.

The squads then played two live quarters. The ‘Jackets won withstanding an improved effort from the Tarpons.

“You don’t know what to expect, but we’re pleased with our first scrimmage,” E-E coach Joe Solis said. “But I feel like we kinda lost focus in the live part. We need to play four quarters and stay focused.”

Early on, E-E looked like it had plenty of focus and whatever else Solis wanted.

The ‘Jackets moved the ball with ease up and down the field and scored on their first five possessions.

Montoya, who previously played linebacker, shined in his tailback debut as he showed speed and some nifty moves.

“He’s shown us a lot of potential,” Solis said.

The Tarpons, meanwhile, struggled from the onset, especially in the controlled portion. They went several possessions before recording a first down and showing some flashes.

It looked like more of the same in the live portion, as E-E marched down and took a 14-0 lead.

La Maquina had the ball on the move again before PI’s C.J. Boyd stepped in front of a pass and ran it back for a touchdown to cut it to 14-7.

That gave the Tarpons life as the defense forced a couple of additional turnovers and showed inspired play.

But E-E’s defense was salty as well and prevented PI from knotting up before the scrimmage ended.

“We need to come to play,” PI coach Monty Stumbaugh said. “We had a couple kids out and it hurt us. But they (E-E) came to play. We came to practice.

I liked how we finished and the kids played hard. But we just can’t be waiting for someone to make a play to light a fire in us.”

LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 7, CORPUS CHRISTI MILLER 0; LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 0, LAREDO NIXON 0: At La Joya, the Huskies scored one touchdown in two halves of open scrimmages against Miller and Nixon.

The Huskies’ only score came in their first scrimmage, against Miller, when Jesse Rodriguez found Eric Hernandez for an 11-yard touchdown. The Huskies actually had more scoring chances in their matchup with Nixon, but lost two fumbles in scoring range.

“We moved the ball well but it’s a matter of executing,” Huskies coach Aaron Garcia said.

The Huskies open the regular season Thursday night when they play host to Raymondville.

ROMA 28, LAREDO LBJ 14: At Roma, the Gladiators’ offense flourished in its final preparation before the start of the regular season in a three-quarter live scrimmage. The teams played to a scoreless tie during the controlled portion of the scrimmage.

Quarterback Exiquio Gonzalez threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Gladiators. Two of Gonzalez’s TD passes went to Eric Ramirez, who had over 100 yards receiving. Isaac Martinez also had over 100 yards receiving and caught the other Gonzalez TD pass.

The Gladiators open their season with a game next week at Laredo Martin.

BROWNSVILLE PORTER 4, LAREDO MARTIN 3: At Laredo, the Cowboys used a solid ground attack to earn the victory.

Robert Vidal scored for 60 yards out, with Jose Luis Barcenas also adding a score on a bootleg from 30 yards out.

Mark Gonzalez and Joel Garza split time at quarterback for the Cowboys, who are still going through an open competition for the job.

“Our offense started clicking a little bit today, we were able to run and open up holes,” Porter’s first-year coach Hector Garcia said. “Overall offensively, we looked a lot better and a little bit sharper this time around. We still got a lot of work to do.”

Garcia mentioned the Cowboys had a number of drops and had difficulty wrapping up the Tigers behind the line of scrimmage.

But, Barcenas did have two interceptions and with the run game being successful, offensive coordinator Alberto Leal was able to work in more of the passing game, including a bit of shotgun.

“I was pretty happy with our performance,” Garcia said. “Hopefully we’re moving in the right direction.”

RIO HONDO 27, HIDALGO 20: At Hidalgo, Rio Hondo played solid on both sides as the Bobcats edged the Pirates.

The Cats got a big night from quarterback Juan Puga, who threw three touchdown passes, two to Jorge Bermudez. Ben Perez also caught a TD.

“Juan did a tremendous job and he grew up big time tonight,” Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James said. “The offensive line never quit and they played very well.”

Standouts for Rio Hondo’s defense included cornerback Sergio Perez, who had two interceptions. Good play also came from Danny Gomez III, Freddy Gonzalez and John Luna.

“We cut down our mistakes on defense and we were ready to play,” James said. “We came out and played hard-nosed football and we’re ready for the season.”

SANTA ROSA 6, BROWNSVILLE VETERANS 0: At Santa Rosa, the Warriors opened up the offense and were impressive against Brownsville’s newest high school.

Santa Rosa got big touchdowns from Aaron Ramirez, Omar Ramirez and Aries Villanueva on a big night for the offense.

“Our backfield looked good and we were just clicking on offense,” Santa Rosa head coach Josh Gonzalez said. “But our defense also stood out and did a good job.”

The Chargers, meanwhile, are in their first year of competition and will be a varsity program in 2012.