PHARR — Sharyland High junior Iker Urueta recorded a first-half hat trick and the Rattlers steamrolled the PSJA Southwest Javelinas 9-0 during a District 31-5A contest Wednesday at PSJA Southwest in Pharr.
The victory moves the Rattlers to 2-0-0 in district play, an improvement from last year’s 0-1-1 start to the year.
“I mean it is the perfect start,” Sharyland High head coach Jorge Guerra said. “Sometimes I tell the kids that right now it doesn’t matter how we get them, but we just need to pick up points. We’ve picked up six our first two games, so we’re happy.”
Sharyland High came out red hot during the first half, taking a commanding 3-0 lead just 14 minutes into the game behind goals from Furkan Coban, Carlos Lopez and Urueta.
Just 11 minutes later the Rattlers found paydirt again, with Urueta blowing past the defense for his second goal of the half.
Urueta wasn’t done yet, stopping on a dime and demonstrating his crafty footwork to lose a defender before drilling the ball into the back of the net to secure the first-half hat trick.
The junior forward’s three goals bring his season total to five through just two district games.
“The key to my hot start is just the motivation from my dad,” Urueta said. “I’m just super happy with my team too because they give me the support and everything. I just hope I can keep going with this start. I thank God for giving me the speed and ability to be able to play like this. I just got to keep practicing and practicing because practice brings progress.”
The Rattlers followed their first-half scoring barrage with an almost as explosive second half, with four more players netting goals to take home a dominating 9-0 victory over their district rival.
Seven different players scored goals during the win, with Juan Castillo, Juan Pablo Trevino, Eliab Alvarez and Gonzalo Gandaria each adding a score during the second half.
The Rattlers have now outscored their first two district opponents 13-2, with eight different players scoring at least once this year.
“I think we’re exceeding expectations early on,” Guerra said. “I knew coming in it was a totally different team from last year with only three starters coming back. I also knew that we were going to be a solid team defensively, but I wasn’t expecting us to score 13 goals in our first two games. We’ll take them though.”
The Rattlers (2-0-0) continue district play at 6 p.m. Friday, hosting Edinburg Vela at Richard Thompson Stadium in Mission. The Javelinas (1-1-0) will look to get back in the win column against Valley View (0-2-0), taking on the Tigers at 6 p.m. Friday at Tiger Stadium in Hidalgo.
