CORPUS CHRISTI — A fourth-down stop, a Jaime Martinez interception and some tough running in the second half delivered an area-round win to the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans defeated Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial 17-7 on Friday night at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi to win a second straight area-round game.
The Chargers had not beaten the Eagles, the defending Region IV-5A champs, in the schools’ short histories, but it was Brownsville Veterans’ night.
“This my first time with the Chargers against CC Vets, and so, we are 1-0 in 2023 and that is all that matters right now,” Brownsville Veterans head coach JC Ramirez said. “I could not be prouder of the amount of support we got from Brownsville. I looked up in the stands for a split second and there was a lot of people up there.”
“I am very happy for the support. And I apologize in advance to all of our fans that had plans to go out of town for Thanksgiving. We need you Friday when we play the next game.”
The Chargers closed out the game when Alvin Trevillion punched in a touchdown with less than two minutes left after some heroic stops by Brownsville Veterans on defense.
A stop on fourth down kick-started Trevillion’s touchdown drive. The Eagles elected for an inside handoff, but their running back was met by a host of Chargers at the line of scrimmage.
Ramirez elected for a timeout before the play, something Ramirez said he usually does not do.
Martinez was surprised too about the timeout.
“We brought the big defensive line and stopped that. It was a good feeling,” Martinez said.
The Eagles were threatening on the prior drive, too, only to have Martinez, a senior linebacker, come up with an interception.
“I saw the quarterback scramble and saw a guy kind of bounce off and I thought ‘oh he is going to throw to this guy’ and he did,” Martinez said. “I saw it happen and I picked it off. Probably the best highlight of my career.”
Chargers senior running back Gilbert Trillo gave his team the lead during the third quarter after the Eagles took a 7-3 edge. Trillo found space down left sideline for a 27-yard touchdown.
“The run I had was because of my blockers,” Trillo said. “Alvin did a great job going down the field for me. It was just special, a special drive.”
Ramirez also praised his offensive line for their work.
Brownsville Veterans kicker Roman Reyna nailed 20-yard field goal to give the Chargers a 3-0 halftime lead after both defenses came to play during the opening two quarters.
Ramirez knew the game plan was great Friday night, but was proud of how his team executed. Ramirez said the Chargers have been playing well against pass offenses after getting a little bit exposed by PSJA High in non-district.
The Chargers’ win sets up a rematch of last season’s third-round meeting against PSJA North.
