(Roma, Texas)-The Roma Gladiators (7-0, 2-0) continues to surprise teams as they defeated Sharyland Pioneer (6-1, 1-1) 48-41 in the High School Sports Magazine’s Featured Game of the Week. With the win, the Gladiators will now play the last undefeated team in 16-5A DII, the PSJA Memorial Wolverines (7-0, 2-0) next Thursday night at PSJA Stadium in a pivotal showdown for sole possession of first place.
Down by 15-points at the half, the Roma Gladiators marched down the field with senior running back Isaac Lozano to score the winning touchdown on a 22-yard run, bringing all Roma fans to their feet, celebrating their win. Lozano had a big night rushing for five touchdowns. “We just kept pushing,” said Lozano. “This was a big win for our team tonight.” He finished the night with 30 carries for 285 yards. His teammate, RB David Galan added another 131 yards on the ground with two more scores and QB Ediel Garcia rushed for 96-yards. “We talked to our players at halftime and told them they had to step it up. This win is very big for our community and we redeemed ourselves from last year’s double overtime loss to Pioneer,” said Roma Head Coach, Frank Villanueva.
The Diamondbacks were up 34-19 in the first half but were held scoreless in the third quarter until Pioneer QB Julian Valdez broke loose on a 75-yard score to make it 41-40 in the fourth quarter. Pioneer will play host to PSJA Southwest (1-6, 0-2) next Friday night. (HSSMImages/Ruiz)
