Rivera Raiders continue to roll along

Note: This was the sixth installment in a series called "40 Days of Football" which first appeared in The Monitor on July 28, 2006.

BROWNSVILLE -- Perhaps the most consistent program in Brownsville, the Rivera Raiders have probably made the biggest splash in their short 16 years than any other Tip of Texas team in that span.

Guided mostly by head coach Tom Chavez until 2004, the Raiders made eight postseason trips and won four bi-district championships since 1990.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the school's young life was the quadruple-overtime loss to Victoria in 1996. That marked the end of a 9-1 regular-season campaign, and proved to be the longest known game in Texas high school football history. That game actually inspired a rule change by the University Ineterscholastic League the very next season.

Through the years, Rivera has proven a solid performer on the gridiron, knocking off two undefeated programs in the playoffs. Though the Raiders have changed coaches, the program is still one of the more respected clubs in the Valley.

IN THE BEGINNING

1990-93

Before Rivera began their tenure as a full-fledged varsity squad, the program started in the late 1980s with the eighth-graders at Perkins Middle School. From those humble beginnings, Chavez and his assistants began building the frame of Raider football.

"I was hired there at the Perkins then, starting with the eighth grade," Chavez recalled. "We did it right and got the program going. We were coaching them at the eighth grade (level) like they’re high school kids."

Current Brownsville Lopez coach and former Chavez assistant Valentin Montemayor agreed.

"It was a good experience," Montemayor said. "You gotta know the history of it, they did it right. They progressed. It was three years before they started the varsity."

Treating them like high school athletes proved to be the difference. With an upstart program, Chavez and company led the Raiders out of the blocks to a 4-6 overall record while competing in Class 4A. Some of those victories came against district competition, which gave the Raiders an outside shot of making the postseason.

But with only two teams advancing to the playoffs then, Rivera was left out of the running, but it was a remarkable beginning for the Raiders, nevertheless.

The following year, Rivera showed they didn't want to wait around another year for the playoffs, flopping their 1995 record for a 6-4 mark in 1996, and qualified for the postseason in only its second year of play. And even though they embarked on their first playoff journey, the Raiders seemed like seasoned veterans when they took on Gregory-Portland in a bi-district matchup.

"And actually, that was my class when it just got started," Chavez said of the eighth-graders he first started working with at Perkins.

Both teams fought valiantly, but Rivera fell short to the traditional South Texas power, and was sent home early with a 49-40 defeat.

During that second breakout season, the Raiders were paced by running back Pete Coronado. Coronado tallied 1,449 yards in 10 games, and scored 19 touchdowns for Rivera. Coronado's 338 yards in a victory against Los Fresnos that year still stands as a Sams Stadium single-game rushing record.

After the '91 season, the Raiders then went two years without making the playoffs. But when they did, they were in a completely different class — literally.

THE MIDDLE AGES

1994-99

Rivera finished 5-3 overall in 1994, earning a spot in the playoffs in District 32-5A, and claimed their first of seven postseason appearances in Class 5A.

The Raiders were paired up against another traditional South Texas power, Edinburg High, and again managed to put up a fight associated with a well-versed playoff contender. The Raiders fought the Bobcats to a 21-19 defeat, but again managed to walk off the field with pride and confidence.

The year 1995 was a minor hiccup for the Raiders, as they missed the postseason, but the following year proved to be one of the most memorable in Rivera's short time.

In 1996 the Raiders barreled through the regular season, beating everyone but four-time District 32-5A champion Harlingen High, and closed with a 9-1 regular season record and seeded second in the district.

The Raiders, underdogs in their first round against an undefeated McAllen Rowe squad, pummeled their opponents, 35-14, before facing the Victoria. The Stingarees would become the Raiders' playoff rivals soon after that.

Second round game against Victoria at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi would eventually become a historical point in Texas high school football. The game, a 44-38 quadruple overtime loss to Victoria, was the most overtimes played in Texas.

"We couldn't get over them," Chavez recalled. "We went through the four overtimes and the kids were tired. And I think they made a rule after that."

In the end, the game seemed like a shootout, but that's anything but what had transpired over the course of the first four quarters.

The two teams, with Victory holding a10-3 led late in the fourth quarter, were in a heated defensive struggle. But with 3:50 left to play in the game, Raiders quarterback Jesse Alvarez hit George Hite on a 77-yard strike that knotted things up at 10 apiece.

On Victoria's next offensive possession, Stingarees quarterback Robert Mejia was intercepted by Rivera defender Romuliss Lopez, who took the INT to the Victoria 24 yard line with 2:47 left on the clock.

Two plays later, Gerald Neal took the handoff 21 yards to paydirt and gave Rivera a 17-10 lead with 93 seconds left to play in the game.

A bobbled kickoff return left Victoria on its own 5-yard line to start the final possession of the game. But a few quick strikes later, and the Stingarees were in position to tie things up again.

An 11-yard run by Mejia, followed by 26 and 49-yard passes gave Victoria a touchdown and the extra point made it 17-all with no time remaining.

In the overtime periods, both teams scored during the first three extra series, so it came down to a fourth and Rivera had the first possession.

But on that series, Alvarez was intercepted by Victoria linebacker Brandon Grunewald, who returned the ball 83 yards for the winning touchdown and a final score of 44-38.

"Everybody remembers that, and you can't forget the four overtimes when we played Victoria," Chavez said. "And the next year we went to the (second) round against Victoria again."

The history-making quadruple overtime game — believed to be the first-ever in Texas high school football lore — was an inspiration for some changes, Chavez said.

For the 1997 season, the UIL decided that after two overtimes, each team would need to attempt a two point conversion in hopes of making the game a bit shorter.

"Our game was the longest (high school game) in the history of the NCAA rule," Victoria coach Mark Reeve told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in a 1997 interview. "They changed the rule partly because of our game. It’s a record that may never be broken.

"Going for two adds more difficulty — especially for a team like us that thinks in terms of scoring and then kicking the extra point."

With the historical loss behind them, Rivera moved on the next year.

In 1997, after finishing 7-3 in 32-5A, the Raiders drew District 31-5A champ, PSJA North. PSJA North was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Valley that season, but Rivera showed why the playoffs evoke such clichés like throwing records out of the window.

"We did that twice," Chavez said, referring also to the underdog victory over Rowe the year before.

Rivera controlled the line of scrimmage, and pounded away against the North defense to roll to a grueling 14-7 victory in a bi-district playoff.

"We beat PSJA North at McAllen Stadium," Chavez said. "What was memorable about it was … I think they beat us 48-6 and they beat the heck out of us (in the regular season)."

It was a sweet victory for the Raiders, but the feeling turned sour seven days later.

Waiting for them in the second round for the third-straight season was the Victoria Stingarees. The Raiders, like the first two meetings, dropped an area playoff game to Victoria, this time to the tune of 36-7.

In 1998, sporting an 8-2 overall record, Rivera again found it's way to the postseason. Having claimed a share of the District 32-5A title with Weslaco, the Raiders were paired up against Donna in a Division II bi-district playoff, and blitzed the Redskins for a 31-6 victory.

But the road again ended two-deep for the Raiders, as McAllen Rowe finished off Rivera with a 33-6 whipping.

In 1999, behind another 9-1 regular-season mark, the Valley’s No. 1-ranked Raiders were again preparing to set up against Donna. The Raiders went into the game owning the Redskins, having won all of their previous five meetings, including a 42-7 victory at Sams Stadium earlier that season.

The Raiders that year were stacked. The offense, led by quarterback Joe Gonzalez, averaged 391.8 yards and 39.8 points per game, and led the Valley in both categories. Gonzalez had passed for 1,510 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight picks that season. Joe Berlanga was his go-to guy, hauling in 36 catches for 555 yards and nine TDs.

In the backfield was running back Abel "Half-Pint" Garcia, who tallied 1,440 yards and 19 touchdowns in 10 games.

Though the Raiders were the No. 2-seed in the postseason (they lost a 14-13 heartbreaker to San Benito in the 32-5A opener, and then won their last four contests by an average of 42 points), they were the top-ranked team in the RGV.

That year, Rivera pushed the tally to six-straight over Donna, winning 31-14.

The Raiders then hammered Laredo United South 21-0 at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission before bowing out to San Antonio Marshall 27-21 in a Division II regional semifinal game.

Rivera managed to qualify for the postseason from 1995-99, winning a few ballgames before being knocked out of the running.

MODERN TIMES

2000-present

The Raiders then went on a two-year playoff drought, going 6-4 in 2000 and 7-3 in '01, before returning to the limelight.

But the return to the postseason wasn't a pleasant one. The Raiders qualified twice in the 21st century, in 2002 and '03, but failed to win one playoff matchup in those trips.

The Raiders lost to McAllen High 48-14 in '02, and PSJA North 28-14 in '03. Both games were bi-district games.

It was, however, tough to be a team playing in 32-5A in the new millennium, as the district proved to be arguably the toughest in the Valley up until 2005.

The Raiders went 8-2 in 2004, but despite their record, were left out in the cold and missed out on a post-season trip. That year, the school's only head football coach left town and headed for Donna to take over a program that was suffering through a public relations nightmare.

Chavez's replacement was a familiar face to the program, however, as longtime assistant Salvador Hernandez took over. Under Hernandez, the Raiders again opened up 2005 well-enough, but faded when the 32-5A schedule began. Rivera finished 2005 with a 6-4 overall record, and a 3-4 32-5A mark that left them at least one game shy of a possible playoff run.

But year in, and year out, the Rivera Raiders can be counted on to be contenders in District 32-5A.

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Oscar Gonzalez Jr. is the District 32-5A beat writer for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4443.

Note: These are highlights in the history of Rivera High School.

MASCOT: Raiders

SCHOOL OPENED: 1996

FIRST GAME: Sept. 2000

FIRST WINNING SEASON: 1991

FIRST DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP: 1998

FIRST PLAYOFF WIN: 1996, a 35-14 victory over McAllen Rowe

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: None

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS: None

FIRST COACH: Tom Chavez

COACHES SINCE: Salvador Hernandez 2005-present.

YEAR-BY-YEAR

1990: Rivera is 4-6 overall opening up in District 32-4A play.

1991: Rivera is 6-5 overall, making the playoffs in only its second season at the varsity level. South Texas power Gregory-Portland outlasted Rivera in the Raiders first-ever playoff game, 49-40.

1992: Rivera is 4-5 overall.

1993: Rivera is 7-3 overall.

1994: Rivera is 5-3 overall, and advances to the state-playoffs for the first time as a 5A school. Rivera then is bounced by another South Texas power, Edinburg High, 21-19.

1995: Rivera is 4-5 overall.

1996: Rivera goes 9-1 in the regular season, and then posts their first-ever playoff victory after crushing McAllen Rowe 35-14 in a Division II bi-district game. Then they were eliminated in a quadruple overtime game, 44-38, against Victoria.

1997: Rivera is 7-3 overall, and then posts a playoff victory over District 31-5A champion and previously undefeated PSJA North, 14-7. The Raiders then fall again to Victoria, 36-7.

1998: Rivera is 8-2 overall, and again goes two-deep in the 5A Division II playoffs, ousting Donna 31-6 in the bi-district round, then falling to Rowe, 33-6. The Raiders also tied for the 32-5A crown with Weslaco, their first in school history.

1999: Rivera is 9-1 overall, and makes its furthest penetration in the playoff bracket, beating Donna 31-14, Laredo United South 21-0 before falling to San Antonio Marshall 27-21 in a Division II regional semifinal.

2000: Rivera is 6-4 overall.

2001: Rivera is 7-3 overall.

2002: Rivera is 7-3 overall, and advances to the 5A Division II bi-district round, where they were beaten by McAllen High 48-14.

2003: Rivera is 6-4 overall, and loses a 5A Division II bi-district playoff game against PSJA North, 28-14.

2004: Rivera is 8-2. Arguably one of the toughest races in District 32-5A history, the Raiders were one of the best teams in the Valley this year, but failed to make the postseason in a heated race.

Longtime Rivera coach Tom Chavez leaves the Raiders to take over as head coach and athletic director at Donna. His longtime assistant Salvador Hernandez takes over.

2005: Rivera is 6-4 overall.