(Mission, Texas)-The 31-5A Co-Champs, Sharyland Rattlers (15-4-2) came on strong, along with the 30-mph winds, and blew past 32-5A Brownsville Veterans Memorial 4-0 in the Class 5A Boys Bi-District Championships on Thursday night. With the win, the Rattlers will advance to play Laredo Nixon or CC Veterans Memorial in the area playoffs on March 27th or 28th.
Kevin Zepeda made it look so simple as he scored three goals to lead the Rattlers. He scored one goal in the first half and two more in the second half. “Playing soccer in Texas is awesome. I’m a senior who came from Georgia. Now, here we are with my family. This is great,” said Zepeda.
With tropical winds blowing in from the south, the Rattlers still had three shots to goal in the first three minutes until Zepeda would punch it in with 30:32 left in the half. Juan Pablo Trevino added another shot, leaping into the air, scoring his first goal to make it 2-0 over Veterans with 9:02 left in the half.
The Sharyland Rattlers are looking to get to the University Interscholastic League State 5A Tournament after winning its first title in 2012. “We are taking one game at a time,” said head coach Jorge Guerra. “This is a tough bracket.”
In more games, the UIL State Champions from 2004, Brownsville Lopez (13-6) knocked off highly-touted, Valley View High School in a 3-2 victory in the first round on Thursday night at Lopez High School. With the win, the 32-5A Lobos will advance to the second round in the lower bracket and will meet 30-5A Laredo Martin in the area playoffs. Two Red Cards plagued the Tigers as they were left with nine players on the field with tempers flaring. The Lobos took advantage of the mismatch to advance. (HSSMImages)
