District 16-5A DII studs off to hot starts
BY BRYAN RAMOS
STAFF WRITER
Leading the Rio Grande Valley in passing, rushing and tackles through two weeks of high school football is a trio of playmakers from District 16-5A DII.
Sharyland Pioneer’s offense failed to cross the 300-yard passing mark during a 5-5 campaign last year, something the program became accustomed to after six seasons of standout play from former quarterbacks Jacob Rosales and Eddie Lee Marburger.
Junior quarterback Julian Valdez helped the Diamondbacks (2-0) return to form last week with 371 passing yards, 57 rushing yards and six total touchdowns during a 40-27 win over Rio Grande City. Through two weeks, Valdez leads all Rio Grande Valley quarterbacks with 616 yards and seven touchdowns and has completed 43-of-64 passes.
Pioneer head coach Eddie Galindo said Valdez has become a team leader who has improved his decision-making by taking what defenses give him.
“There was never a question of his toughness. He didn’t get to play freshman year (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and his sophomore year we threw him in the fire,” Galindo said. “He learned from the school of hard knocks. He’s a tough kid, and he’s finding a way to get it done.”
PSJA Memorial’s Ozzy Flores is the only runner across the RGV to rush for 200 yards in each of his team’s first two games. The senior running back leads all ball carriers in the area with 47 carries for 406 yards, an average of 8.6 yards per rush attempt.
The bruising back has been the engine that has made the PSJA Memorial (1-1) offense go.
“The big deal for Ozzy is he’s a very physical runner. He’s a downhill runner, and he’s going to get you 5 yards pretty much every time he touches the ball,” PSJA Memorial head coach Will Littleton said. “Going through the offseason, I told Ozzy over and over he had an opportunity to be one of the Valley’s leading rushers, if not the leading rusher, not only through his talent, but he has a very big, strong, athletic offensive line in front of him and a couple quarterbacks that do a good job of getting him in great plays and giving him a chance to be successful.”
While those two standouts have gotten the job done on the offensive side of the ball, Mission Veterans (2-0) senior linebacker Luis De Hoyos owns the title as the current top tackler in the RGV.
Through two games, De Hoyos has tallied 39 total tackles with 14 solo tackles, 25 assists, two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception.
During the Patriots’ 27-20 Game of the Week win against McAllen Memorial last Friday, De Hoyos helped bottle up the Mustangs’ daunting rushing with 22 total tackles and multiple fourth-down stops.
“Luis De Hoyos is one of the best football players I’ve been around, and this is my 33rd year,” Mission Veterans head coach David Gilpin said during the preseason. “The guy is just a machine at everything he does. He does not understand choking back a little bit, he doesn’t understand half-speed in everything he does. I don’t care if he’s in the weight room, he’s on the field, conditioning — what a leader Luis De Hoyos is. He’s a two-time all-state guy, and he’ll leave here as the leading tackler ever.”
BULLDOGS BOUNCE BACK
McAllen High (1-1) turned to sophomore quarterback Joaquin Valdez during the second half of the Bulldogs’ 21-13 season-opening loss against Edinburg High. He provided a spark for the team, but it was too little, too late as the Bulldogs dropped to 0-1.
Last week, head coach Patrick Shelby elected to start Valdez at quarterback, and he delivered with 179 yards, two touchdowns and, most importantly, he kept the Bulldogs’ offense on track. The result was a 26-7 win.
Next for McHi is its final non-district test against Mercedes (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at Tiger Stadium in Mercedes.
MIRELES RETURNS TO RGV
Leo Mireles III was a standout on the football field for Roma during his playing days before eventually becoming head coach at Rio Grande City in 2019.
Now, Mireles is set to return to the RGV as the head coach at Laredo LBJ. It’s his second year with the program after helping lead Rio Grande City to a share of a district championship in 2019.
Laredo LBJ will be in the Valley for three consecutive weeks with a non-district clash against PSJA Southwest at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Wolves then face Edinburg Economedes on Sept. 16 in Edinburg and La Joya High on Sept. 23 in La Joya.
