Pace grinds past Rivera thanks to defensive pressure

Anytime crosstown rivals Pace and Rivera step on the gridiron it’s going to be a fight to the end.

Once again, they lived up to the billing.

Pace recoverd two critical fumbles during the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown and took away a touchdown from Rivera as the Vikings grinded through a 21-7 win over the Raiders on Saturday night at Sams Stadium.

"The defense, what can I say, they did a heck of a job," Pace coach Rene Medrano said after his team improved to 3-0 in District 32-5A. "The defense came to play tonight. They made stops when they had to and created turnovers when they had to. They won the ballgame for us."

Rivera coach Jim Helms said turnovers, which have plagued his team this season, did so again.

"We just can’t turn over over the ball three times to the team that’s leading the district," Helms said. "We’re playing them even-steven there, and we find ourselves in a hole because of the turnovers. Our kids played their hearts out and I hope they bring that same effort to the table when we play Hanna next Thursday, and we’ll see what happens."

The Vikings were relentless, shutting the Raiders out during the second half after a 7-7 halftime tie.

Pace’s defense allowed 199 yards of offense and created three turnovers. Raiders star Nate Nevarez was held to a 4 yards on the ground after racking up 190 last Thursday against Los Fresnos.

Pace took a 14-7 lead with its first drive of the third quarter, when Rodrigo Tostado hit Marc Guerrero for a 27-yard reception . Guerero dove the final 4 yards to score.

The Vikings looked poised to take a two-score advantage with two minutes left in the third quarter with a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line, but a bad exchange caused a fumble recovery by Rivera’s Jimmy Canchol.

On the ensuing play, Raiders quarterback J.J. Sanchez was crushed by Pace’s Johnny Moreno to force fumble, and Mike Trejo picked up the ball and ran it 15 yards for a Vikings score.

Down 21-7 late in the fourth quarter, Rivera looked to cut the deficit in half, getting to Pace’s 1-yard line, but Josue Govea fumbled and the ball rolled into the end zone. Diego Garza fell on it, ending the threat.

Pace opened the scoring on its second drive of the game, marching 80 yards on 15 plays before Tostado sliced through the Raiders’ defense for a 7-0 advantage at 1:25 in the first quarter.

The Raiders answered on their next driving, scoring on a five-play, 59-yard drive that was capped off by Govea’s 9-yard run up the middle.

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.