Total dominance. That’s the only way to describe the way the football teams from District 32-6A handled their counterparts from District 31-6A in the Class 6A bi-district playoffs this week.
District 32-6A had been expected to be one of the better conferences in the Valley this season, but it’s now clear just how much better.
It all started on Thursday when Los Fresnos ousted Edinburg North and Harlingen High bounced Edinburg Economedes.
True, both games were tight affairs, especially the Falcons-Cougars contest, which the Falcons won 19-14. But regardless of the narrow margins, the 32-6A teams ended up in the win column and advanced.
The domination continued on Friday night when the San Benito Greyhounds routed Edinburg High 47-10.
Right from the start, the Greyhounds looked like a team that deserved to be playing in the postseason while the Bobcats looked like a team that had not had a whiff of the postseason since 2011.
That’s not to say the Cats were not worthy of making the playoffs or didn’t deserve to be there. To their credit, they fought their way through their league and in the end finished with a very respectable 6-1 record, which was good enough for second place.
But after San Benito quarterback Erick Retta busted into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to put the Greyhounds up 20-0, it was clear that the Cats were in for a very long night.
Meanwhile, in the upper-Valley on Friday, the Weslaco East Wildcats proved that a 6-4 overall record out of District 32-6A means a heck of a lot more than a 9-1 record out of District 31-6A as they stunned Edinburg Vela 31-28.
East running back Roy Pedraza rushed for more than 300 yards and four scores, and the Wildcats’ defense thwarted a SaberCats’ offense that had been putting up NFL-like numbers all season long.
District 32-6A will now put its reputation on the line in the area round against District 29-6A, whose teams swept those from 30-6A.
Harlingen takes on Laredo United, which thumped McAllen Memorial on Friday 52-21.
San Benito, meanwhile, matches up against Laredo United South, which hammered La Joya Palmview 47-27.
Earlier in the season, United South beat Harlingen while United lost to San Benito.
Los Fresnos now takes on San Antonio Southwest, which crushed La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 33-17.
Finally, Weslaco East plays Del Rio, which cruised past McAllen Rowe 40-7.
If District 32-6A continues to exert its dominance this week, then all four of its teams would find themselves in the third round of the playoffs come Thanksgiving week.
The road beyond that remains rocky and could be the end of the line. Should Harlingen win, the Cards would get the winner between Austin Westlake and Converse Judson. San Benito, meanwhile, would play either San Antonio Churchill or SA Brennan if they survive this week. Pretty tough, huh? It gets worse.
Los Fresnos would live to take on either Lake Travis or Smithson Valley and East- should the Wildcats move on – would play the winner between Austin Vandergrift and Cibolo Steele.
So while District 32-6A may not prove to be the best league in the region, or even the area, depending on what happens this week, it is the best in the Valley.
Big deal?
Ask the Jaguars, Cougars, Bobcats or SaberCats if they wouldn’t love to have that distinction.
Dave Favila is the sports editor of the Valley Morning Star. Follow him on Twitter @dfavila
