Chavez-led Tigers reign over Lions in Old 83 beatdown

MERCEDES — If Mercedes quarterback Albert Chavez plays only two quarters, it usually means things are going well for the Tigers.

And things went REALLY well for the home team on Friday night.

Chavez and the Tigers stormed out to a 42-0 halftime lead and never looked back as they coasted past La Feria, 47-14, at Tiger Stadium.

The senior signal-caller totaled 322 total yards (237 passing) and accounted for five touchdowns (three passing) before getting the second half off. Included were 85 yards rushing for the senior.

“Albert’s a tremendous athlete, but he’ll be the first to share the credit,” said Mercedes head coach Mike Uribe, who tallied his first win as a head coach. “We knew that we had to improve on last week’s performance by minimizing mistakes and controlling the tempo. And we did a great job of doing that.”

Mercedes (1-1) stunned La Feria (0-1) from the get-go as the fireworks show commenced. The Tigers churned out 344 yards on offense. After a run and two straight motion penalties to start the game, Chavez hooked up with Jonathan Ayala in stride for a 90-yard TD bomb. Sergio Lerma’s point after made it 7-0 Mercedes.

La Feria punted again, and Chavez later dashed in from six yards out to make it 14-0 Tigers with 7:04 to go in the first. Another Lion punt gave it back to Chavez and the offense and they promptly went to work.

This time it was Nathan Alvarado hauling in a 36-yard strike from Chavez, putting Mercedes at the 1-yard line. Then Ruben Sosa dove in from a yard out to make it 21-0 still in the first quarter.

It was more of the same in the second stanza as the Lions were shell-shocked.

Chavez called his own number on a nice 22-yard TD romp up the middle. Then he hit C.J. Alvarado for a 14-yard scoring strike. The last Chavez connection came just before intermission, when he hit Ayala for a 10-yard TD, making it 42-0 going into the locker room.

“They (Mercedes) got out to a fast start, and they’re a good team. My hat’s off to them,” La Feria head coach Elifonso Esquivel said. “We had some mental breakdowns early, but the kids didn’t pack it in.

"We learned a lot tonight.”

To the Lions’ credit, they didn’t pack it in and they came out fighting in the third.

Quarterback Justin Rodriguez hit a diving Gilbert Jimenez for a 37-yard touchdown.

Later, however, the Tigers tackled a Lion punt returner in the end zone for a safety and a 44-7 edge with 11:47 to go in the game. Mercedes’ Lerma later nailed a 20-yard field goal to finish the home scoring.

The Lions’ final score of the night came when Rodriguez hit Jose Martinez over the middle for a 45-yard TD.