Meyer, Sharyland remain unbeaten with win over McHi

MISSION — Sharyland’s week of hard work paid off Friday night.

Sharyland won a critical District 30-5A game, defeating McAllen High 33-21 at Rattler Stadium.

It is only the second time the fourth-ranked Rattlers (5-0 overall, 4-0 district) beat the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1), who own the series advantage 4-2.

“It is pretty big,” Rattlers quarterback Scottie Meyer said. “Me personally, every time I have gone against McHi I have lost. We all wanted to accomplish this as a team. It wasn’t revenge. It was to show how good we could be.”

Meyer, starting in his second consecutive game as the Rattlers’ signal caller, showed how good of a passer he could be Friday night. Last week, he completed only 2-of-10 attempts. Against McHi, he was 11 for 13 for 168 yards and two touchdown passes, including a 20-yard TD pass to Chris Zuniga with 6 seconds left in the first half that gave the Rattlers a 21-7 lead.

On the first play from scrimmage, he connected with Ricky Mata for a 64-yard TD pass.

“I sought out to do better in my passing game,” Meyer said. “I think last week there a little too much of nervousness.”

He wasn’t too shabby on the ground either, rushing for 160 yards and two TDs. After the game, Rattlers coach Fred Sanchez would not say Meyer would be the permanent starter over Bobby Moran other than that it will be week to week.

“We are going to work both of them, and we’ll see how things go,” Sanchez said.

The Rattlers’ defense allowed 377 total yards but limited the Bulldogs’ big plays and stopped the visitors three times on fourth down.

“They made the plays and we didn’t,” Bulldogs coach Tony Harris said. “I think we tried to get it on fourth down three times and we didn’t make it. Those hurt us. That what happens in big ball games. Both teams come out slugging and see what happens.”

The Bulldogs were led by Trey Dube’s 202 yards and three TDs, including a 61-yard TD run. His third TD — a 2-yard run — pulled McHi to within 33-21 with 4:36 left in the game but the Rattlers ran out the clock.

“Our defense was a big factor in the game,” Sanchez said. “We slowed them down. They have some big playmakers. We held them on a couple of drives and on big fourth down conversions. It was a total team effort. We needed this.”

Peter Rasmussen covers District 30-5A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.