(Brownsville, Texas)-The 16-5A Division I Champions, Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are headed to the University Interscholastic League’s 5A Division I Area Championship after eliminating the 15-5A Division fourth place team, McAllen Bulldogs (7-3) 55-20 at Sams Stadium on Friday night. “This is a great win for our program and I just love playing in this weather,” said rookie Chargers head football coach, JC Ramirez.
With the win, the Chargers (9-2) will play on Friday night at Corpus Christi Buccaneers Stadium at 7:30 p.m. against 14-5A CC Veterans Memorial (8-3) in the area playoffs. The Chargers have won the outright District 16-5A title and the 5A Division I Bi-District Championships. “I am very proud of the way our kids played and how our staff had them ready to play. Our offensive coordinator, Mike Evans did a great job of seeing how they were defending us and calling the plays that worked for us,” said Ramirez.
From the get go, the McAllen Bulldogs could not get things going in the right direction. On the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs downed the ball at their own one-yard line and were forced to punt, giving the ball to the Chargers at their own 38-yard line. Chargers QB Storm Montoya would punch it in from three-yards to take a 7-0 lead. Still, the Bulldogs could not overcome the Chargers punishing defense as they were forced to punt five times in the first half as they trailed 35-0. “Defensively, I am proud. Offensively, we had over 560 yards of total offense with RB Gilbert Trillo leading our team with four touchdowns and one interception,” added Ramirez. Right before the half, McHi QB Joaquin Valdez spotted WR Max Alvarez open for a sprint to the end-zone for 60-yards to trail Veterans 35-7.
McHi head football coach Patrick Shelby watched his team fall to Brownsville Veterans in the 5A Division I Bi-District finals. (HSSMIMages/DeLeon)