EDINBURG — Scoreless midway through the second and with Edinburg North keying on the run, Los Fresnos head coach David Cantu decided to let his freshman quarterback, Robert Piñeda, air it out.
Piñeda responded with a near-perfect performance to end the half, going 8-of-9 for three touchdown passes to help lead the Falcons past the Cougars 21-6 during a Region IV-6A DI bi-district contest Friday at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
“Edinburg North is so good in the run that finally I had to have some guts and call some pass plays,” Cantu said. “All of a sudden, we had three passing touchdowns. That’s just how it worked out. (Piñeda) was playing eighth-grade football last year. Tonight, he led the Falcons to a playoff win. I’m super proud of him.”
The Falcons advance to the Region IV-6A DI area round, taking on San Antonio Brennan at a date, time and location to be determined. The Cougars finish the year with a 8-3 overall mark, capturing their first district title since 2001 along the way.
The Falcons’ 21-0 outburst during the second half was sparked by timely defensive plays, forcing back-to-back punts and leading to touchdown passes from Piñeda to Thomas Sandoval and Josh Limon.
An interception by senior defensive back Joshua Munoz, his second of the night, led to the exclamation point by Piñeda to end the half, finding Limon for a 41-yard touchdown, their second connection in less than a minute.
“It’s been a great connection with Josh (Limon),” Piñeda said. “We used to play 7-on-7 together back in the day when I was in eighth grade. Now we’re playing on the same varsity team. Our connection has been getting better every week, I’d say, every day really.”
Piñeda finished 10-of-16 for 117 yards and three touchdowns, adding 13 carries for 26 yards. Limon paced all receivers with four catches for 68 yards and two scores.
Early during the third, the Cougars found a spark in running back Chris Barrera, who burst free down the middle for a 40-yard score to make it 21-6 with 9:27 left in the quarter.
Barrera finished with six carries for 45 yards. Junior Ulysses Melendez chipped in 22 carries for 82 yards, and Oscar Campos added nine carries for 55 yards.
The Falcons’ defense buckled down after the score, holding the Cougars off the board the rest of the night. Los Fresnos allowed just 224 total yards, holding the Cougars to 2-of-11 on third down and forcing five turnovers.
Linebacker Frank Quintero delivered a lights-out performance, forcing a pair of fumbles during the contest, including one inside the 5 to keep Edinburg North out of the end zone.
Munoz snagged his third interception with 16 seconds left to set up his offense in victory formation.
“Our defense really stepped up tonight,” Cantu said. “I’m really proud of our defense. It has been rough because we had zero experience coming into this. It is nice to see the improvement and to be able to beat a district champ like Edinburg North. As they say, big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games,” Cantu said. “They did that tonight. We’re just thrilled. We’re happy to be in the position. We respect Edinburg North so much. That is why tonight means so much more.”
