Raiders knock off Redskins

PHARR — PSJA North coach Bruce Bush used the word “redemption” when describing Friday’s 27-21 victory against Donna.

His Raiders avenged a heart-breaking one-point loss to the Redskins from last season. And one of his players got to make up for a defensive miscue that cost his team that game.

All in all, it was a fine night for the Raiders, who mixed in some key pass plays to go with a punishing running game that accounted for 345 total offensive yards.

Sophomore running back Alex Gutierrez scored both of PSJA North’s touchdowns in the second half — each from 5 yards — for the difference. Gutierrez’s final score with 8:36 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Raiders a 27-14 lead on only their second drive of the second half. PSJA North’s extra point attempt was blocked after that score.

“I thought we moved the ball better in the second half,” Bush said. “We missed some tackles and our conditioning is not quite there, but that’s to be expected early in the season. We hit some big passes, and that was key.”

The Raiders’ first score in the second half was helped by a 13-yard reception by Fernie Martinez from Noe Garcia on third-and-13 that put the ball on the PSJA North 48. Three successive penalties backed the ball to the 11 before Martinez helped pull the Raiders out of that hole.

Martinez came up with another big catch — a 12-yarder from Garcia — on fourth-and-10 that put the Raiders on the Redskins’ 8. Gutierrez capped it off two plays later with his second TD run.

Donna’s Alahn Yanez snuck in from 1-yard out on the ensuing drive to pull the Redskins to within, 27-21, with 5:39 remaining. The Redskins held the Raiders on the next possession, but couldn’t come up with a game-winning drive. PSJA North senior Javi Jaime picked off Yanez to secure the contest. Bush said Jaime got beat on a game-winning TD reception late in last year’s contest.

“I was so happy for him,” Bush said. “He had been thinking about that all week.”

The first half was punctuated with big plays. PSJA North’s Mario Guerrero scored on a 44-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Guerrero finished with a game-high 107 yards on eight carries.

Donna’s Erin Perez returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Raiders’ 42. A personal foul call moved the ball to the 27. Three plays later, Perez hauled in a 9-yard TD pass fromYanez to tie the game at the 7:41 mark of the first quarter.

PSJA North took a 14-7 lead when Garcia capped a 12-play, 90-yard drive with a 12 yard TD run midway through the second quarter.

Yanez tied the game on the next drive on a two-yard TD run. Jacob Balli, who finished with 106 yards on 17 carries, set up the score with runs of 21 and 12 yards on the drive.

The Raiders’ defensive stepped it up, yielding 62 of its 221 yards in the second half.