HARLINGEN — The NFL season might still be a few months away, however the highly anticipated gridiron showdown between the RGV Vixens and the Harlingen Honeys will be played this Saturday at Victor Park Field.
The Vixens enter the contest with an impressive 4-0 conference record, defeating the Weslaco Jags 78-47, the Clovers 46-20, and the Phoenix 74-26 along the way.
The team also picked up another victory last Saturday after the Dynasty forfeited a game.
Nevertheless, the Vixens have been breezing past their competition, outscoring opponents 198 to 93 through their first three games.
Offensively, the team is led by Samantha Escandon, who has scored 69 points and has rushed for 323 yards thus far. Not far behind is teammate Bailey Najer, who has scored 40 points and has 118 yards rushing for the team.
On defense, Carolina Herrera has led the team with 16 unassisted tackles, 28 assisted tackles and three interceptions. Along with Herrera, Sofie Carrizales has also made her presence known on defense. This season, Carrizales has amassed 18 unassisted tackles and two fumbles caused.
However, in a game with this much at stake records and stats are throw out the window, and finding the motivation for this game will not be hard to come by.
Earlier in the season the Honeys walked away with an 18-6 victory, but the Vixens are hoping for a different outcome this time around.
“We’ve been waiting for this game pretty much all season and we knew this game was coming and we’re ready to show what we’ve got,” said Vixens linebacker Monique Montemayor. “We got some new girls on this team that have really made a name for themselves and we got a lot of veterans that are returning.
“Our first game was new for us because we were just coming together as a team and now we’re finally clicking together as a team. In the first game we were just getting our feet wet and getting back into the grove of things after some injuies. Now we are just ready to show Harlingen and the Rio GrandeValley what we can do for womens football.”
The Honeys, on the other hand, are also motivated to replicate the first result between the two. The Honeys enter the contest with a 2-2 record this season, posing victories over the Generals (12-6) and the Phantasy (32-0).
Offensivly, the Honeys are led by Tonya Castillo, who has rushed for 158 yards, 46 passing yards and five touchdowns.
On defense, Victoria Vento has 16 solo tackles, 23 assisted tackles and one interception.
“Our motivation is to shut them down,” said Harlingen Honeys’ Ashley “Venom” Romero. “This game is not in our division but we still like to make sure that we come together as a team and to prove people wrong.
“Coming into this game records don’t mean much because we play in two different divisions and we play against different quality teams.”
While both teams play in the Icon Women’s Football League, the Honeys play in Division I while the RGV Vixens play in Division II.
According to the IFWA website, the association decided to break the league into two divisions to increase competition and development.
