RGC beats La Joya, gains playoff berth

RIO GRANDE CITY — The celebration began with 3:48 remaining when the Joe R. Sanchez public address announcer reported the score: Donna 24, McAllen Memorial 21.

Those words sent the Rattlers’ faithful into a frenzy because that Donna win, coupled with Rio Grande City’s pending victory on Friday against La Joya, meant one thing: Playoffs.

The Rattlers’ 42-21 victory against La Joya was a foregone conclusion. The Rattlers had gained full control of their contest by halftime. La Joya lost four fumbles, and the Rattlers scored touchdowns off three of them.

The only drama remaining was whether Donna could find a way to climb out of a 21-0 hole.

“I’m still in shock,” said senior running back Freddy Lopez, who rushed for 236 yards, scoring on runs of 30 and 86 yards on 13 carries. “I can’t believe Donna pulled it out. My mind is blank. This feeling is indescribable.”

Rattlers coach Jesus Lozano was getting text updates from the Memorial-Donna game. He kept the updates to himself, leaving his players in the dark.

“We didn’t say anything,” Lozano said. “Right before half, I heard Memorial was up 21-0. We didn’t worry about it because we needed to focus on what we had to do first.”

In order to gain the fourth and final available playoff spot from District 30-5A, Rio Grande City (5-5, 4-3 district) needed to beat La Joya, and Donna needed to defeat McAllen Memorial by at least 10 points.

Word spread quickly among the Rattlers faithful at the 5:38 mark that Donna had tied the score at 21. Several fans gave each other thumbs-up signs and several others began a “Rio” chant.

“This just feels good for the kids and the community,” Lozano said. “We’ve had an up-and-down year. We started off with a lot of injuries, but things came together for us.”

Lopez’s two long runs gave the Rattlers a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Rio Grande City added another score, a 5-yard TD reception by Javier Peña to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.

The Coyotes (1-9, 0-7) cut that lead to 21-7 on a 14-yard TD run in the second quarter by Lee Ramirez, who engaged in a good rushing battle with Lopez. Ramirez finished with 183 yards on 17 carries. He added a 30-yard TD run in the third quarter that pulled La Joya to 28-13.

Rio Grande City answered with big-play touchdowns on two of their next three series, including a 39 yard run by Cris Guerra (his second score on the night) and a 31-yard TD catch by Arnold Chapa.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the playoffs,” Lopez said. “We wanted to finish off the game first. It’s a great feeling. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”

David Hinojosa covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442.