PHARR — PSJA High quarterback Jaime Lopez threw for nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Bears past the Brownsville Hanna Eagles 35-12 during a non-district contest Friday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
The victory marked the first win of the year for the Bears, snapping a mini three-game losing streak to start the year.
“We started off a little slow,” PSJA High head coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “I felt that our last two games were there for us to take, but we gave them away. Tonight that was the main message, don’t turn the ball over. First half we were lethargic, but second half the guys came out and played on both sides. Very happy to get this win at home on homecoming night. It is a start of us as we try to finish non-district play strong at home.”
Lopez finished 21-of-38 for 394 yards, throwing touchdown passes of 2, 80, 65, 50 and 20 yards.
Two wide receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark Friday, led by junior Ryan Vallejo’s game-high seven catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Emiliano Fraga added four catches for 116 yards and one score.
“During the summer Jaime and the receivers had a lot of throwing sessions,” Vallejo said. “It gives us that confidence during the game and we just turned up today. The coaches had to rip us a little to get us going after the first half. They did that and we came out in the second half and got going.
The Eagles clawed as time expired during the second quarter, with quarterback Ramiro Ruiz III calling his own number for the 1-yard score to make it 14-12 at the break.
PSJA High answered in dominant fashion, holding the Eagles to just 79 total yards and zero scores in the second half, and Lopez and Vallejo hooked up for three straight touchdowns to secure the win.
“We weren’t focused coming into this game,” Lopez said. “We knew we had to come out and score a lot of points during the second half because that’s what we do on the offensive side. We started off a little slow. We didn’t come out the way we wanted to, but we really stepped it up in the second half on both sides of the ball. We did what we were coached to do during the week.”
The Bears (1-3) close out non-district play at 7 p.m. Friday against the Brownsville Veterans Chargers (2-1) at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
The Eagles (1-3) return home for their non-district finale at 7 p.m. Friday against the Mission Veterans Patriots (1-3) at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
Photo Gallery: Bears defeat Hanna Eagles 35-12 in non-district play
