(Los Fresnos, Texas)-It was an emotional win for Weslaco head football coach, Roy Stroman as he watched his team defeat the Los Fresnos Falcons 42-23 (5-2, 1-1) in the High School Sports Magazine’s Game of the Week presented by McDonald’s of the Rio Grande Valley at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
With the win, the Panthers (7-0, 2-0) will meet Brownsville Rivera (1-5, 0-2) next week at Bobby Lackey Stadium. “We were able to battle out of the trenches as a team and picked up this win tonight,” said Stroman. “Our offensive and defensive linemen made the big plays happen.”
Los Fresnos struck first by intercepting Weslaco QB Andres Sepulveda and that led to a score by Los Fresnos QB Robert Pineda from 15-yards out to take a 7-0 lead over the Panthers. But, that lead did last for long. On the ensuing kickoff, Weslaco Ryan Gonzalez returned the ball 96-yards, untouched, zigzagging into the endzone to make it 7-7. That score would stand at the half.
The second half belong to Weslaco RB Eli Rodriguez as he rushed for almost 300-yards scoring on touchdown runs of 66, 57, 68, and 75-yards. Rodriguez finished the night with 307-yards rushing.
He was simply, amazing! Rodriguez made it look simple too. Following his lineman, Rodriguez shifted gears and found daylight on a 66-yard touchdown on a hand off by Sepulveda to the left, sprinting down sidelines with 11:05 to put Weslaco up 14-7 over the Falcons.
Los Fresnos responded right back. WR/DB Jayson Rodriguez returned the kickoff to the 40-yard line. The Panther defense held the Falcons to a punt with 9:45 left in the third. The ball took a bounce and the Falcons recovered the fumble at the Weslaco 14. Two plays later, Jayson made a spectacular, deflected, touchdown catch to tie the game at 14-14.
That score did not faze the Panthers. On the next drive, Rodriguez sprinted to his second touchdown of the night on a 57-yard touchdown run to put Weslaco up 21-14.
Late in the fourth quarter, Los Fresnos was not done. WR Jayson Rodriguez made a great catch from 41-yards from scramble throw from QB Pineda to the Weslaco one-yard with 7:41 left to play. RB Gael Pineda punched it in to make it 23-28. On the next drive, the Panthers were forced to punt, but Los Fresnos Rudy Moreno botched the catch and the Panthers recovered the ball. Two plays later, Panther QB Sepulveda took the ball up the middle to make it 35-23. “This win was huge! This was the battle of the trenches,” Stroman told his team after the game. “You guys overcame adversity tonight.”
Dynamic Duos! Weslaco HS QB Andres Sepulveda hands off the RB Eli Rodriguez as they defeated Los Fresnos 42-23 on Friday night. (HSSMImages/DeLeon)