CLASS 5A DI
EDINBURG VELA 31, WESLACO EAST 9: At Edinburg, the SaberCats surged past the Wildcats with three second half touchdowns in their Region IV-5A DI bi-district playoff game Friday at Richard Flores Stadium.
East (6-5, 4-2) took advantage of Vela miscues early on with a safety on a high snap into the end zone and a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alex Martinez after a fumble set the Wildcats up with a short field for a 9-0 lead.
Vela (10-1, 6-1) would go on to score 31 unanswered points, however, as running back Jamal Polley ran for touchdowns from 7 and 33 yards out. Fellow running back Dimas De Leon added a 56-yard touchdown run off left tackle and Luis Garcia drilled a 31-yard field goal.
The SaberCats defense got in on the scoring action as linebacker Robert Cantu pressured East’s quarterback, leading to an errant throw that was gobbled up by defensive lineman Branden Cantu for a pick-six.
Edinburg Vela advances to Round 2 to take on Corpus Christi Miller (11-0, 7-0). District 14-5A DI champion Miller took down Laredo Martin 77-0 on Thursday to advance to the area round.
CLASS 5A DII
MISSION VETERANS 43, VALLEY VIEW 6: At Mission, the Patriots cruised past the Tigers on Friday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission behind five Braden Luedeker touchdowns.
Luedeker ran for two scores and threw three touchdown passes — two to Abel Lucio and one to Obed Marin. Running back Edward Martinez added a 14-yard touchdown run.
Valley View got on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a 18-yard touchdown pass by Nathan Garza to Jason Gomez
Mission Veterans (7-4) moves on to the area round to face San Antonio Pieper (10-1). Pieper won its bi-district playoff game 33-0 against San Antonio Sam Houston.
CLASS 4A DII
PORT ISABEL 42, ROBSTOWN 38: At Port Isabel, the Tarpons (9-2, 3-0) scored the go-ahead touchdown from 7 yards out with fullback Tristian Garcia. The Tarpons defense had 3:48 to keep the Cotton Pickers out of the endzone, but Robstown did not make it past the 50.
The back-and-forth win by the District 16-4A DII champs sets up a meeting with Navarro as the Tarpons return to the area round again under head coach Tony Villarreal.
CLASS 2A DI
LA VILLA 26, THREE RIVERS 24: At Premont, the Cardinals held off a late surge by the Bulldogs on Thursday to punch their ticket to the area round for the second time in three years. The Cardinals built a 14-8 halftime lead before tacking on two more touchdowns in the second half. The Bulldogs threatened with two fourth quarter touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to down the Cards.
La Villa quarterback Brandon Felix threw a pair of touchdown passes to Rey Perez from 41 and 51 yards out. The duo also added rushing touchdowns with a 64-yard scoring run in the first quarter by Felix and a 6-yard run in the fourth by Perez.
Felix finished 4-for-9 with 118 yards passing and 135 yards rushing, while Perez caught two passes for 92 yards and ran for another 52 yards.
La Villa advances to the area round to face Weimar (9-2, 4-1). Weimar defeated Junction 55-0 on Thursday in their bi-district playoff matchup.
