Top Moments of the Year nominations

The 2008-09 athletic season for the Rio Grande Valley was filled with timeless moments that not even an expensive Canon camera could capture and do justice.

While there are a myriad of these small times in space that most will never forget there are seven that mounted above the rest and it started at the beginning of the year.

In the early stages of the football season Edcouch-Elsa Deep South Texas a shocker by knocking off Valley nemesis Calallen 14-7 as quarterback Erik Nino found tightend Artie Tanguma for a 7-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game.

The Yellowjackets final second heroics gave the Valley its first win over Calallen since 1990 when Harlingen High accomplished the feat.

"Even though we finally did the impossible, this win was for the entire Rio Grande Valley," Tanguma said after the stunning win. "It did not come easy for us, but in the end, we got the job done."

In the playoffs the La Feria football squad showed the heart of a Lion by dismantling Bandera 31-14 in the second round of the postseason despite being a heavy underdog to the Bulldogs.

Switching venues to the hardfloor the Hidalgo girls basketball teams and Santa Rosa boys put themselves in the record books earning trips to state with last second thrillers at their regional championships.

With the game knotted up at 36 all Lady Pirates Jessica Olvera went to the line with just less than three second to go in the game missing the first of two attempts.

Then on her final free throw she calmed her nerves enough to rattle in arguably the biggest free throw in the history of girls basketball in the Rio Grande Valley as Hidalgo went on to beat No. 3 West Oso 37-36 earning a trip to Austin.

From one big shot to another Santa Rosa's dream run was kept alive against University City Randolph as Mark Hopkins found Jacob Garcia beyond the arc hitting 3-pointer as time expired to send the game into overtime.

The momentum from the buzzer beater helped the Warriors defeat the Ro-Hawks 63-62 and to this day its something coach Johnny Cipriano still relives.

"I've watched that shot on tape so many times," he said. "You still get chills and all those feelings watching it but actually being there was unbelievable. I remember seeing the Ro-Hawks best player and he looked at the scoreboard and his teammatea as if he didn't know what was going on."

Even through basketball season the moments kept rolling with McAllen high defeating Weslaco in double overtime to a capacity crows at the UTPA Field House.

Brownsville Pace's Sergio Rios' two come-from-behind races at the regional track meet for the 300-meter and mile relay where in the final turn he came from the back of the pack to earn trips to state. Another spectacle came during the meet as well when Rio Grande City's Stephen Saenz smashed a record mark not just once but five times.

Also, Brownsville Lopez holding off a feirce comeback as Spring Klein Oak down 4-1 lead forced the game into a shootout where the Lobos won in dramatic fashion as goalie Mauricio Lugo blocked two shots that booked them to Austin.

Louie Vera writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at 956-982-6663 or via e-mail at lvera@brownsvilleherald.com