By MARIO AGUIRRE
Special to RGVSports.com
Coach Will Littleton almost didn’t recognize his PSJA Memorial team that took the field in Week 1.
Sure, Brownsville Veterans was worth the No. 2 distinction it earned in the RGVSports.com 5A/6A Preseason Top 10 Poll. But Littleton expected more from his squad that earned its first playoff appearance since 2011 last season.
What he implored his players to do in Week 2 was control the line of scrimmage and work on small-yardage gains, rather than focusing on highlight-reel plays. The Wolverines responded with a 36-28 victory over McAllen High on Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in a game that didn’t appear as close as the final score would indicate.
Emi Colunga scored three times on the ground — first on a 9-yard run, then on carries of 65 and 62 yards, respectively — to give PSJA Memorial leads of 15-0, 22-0 and 29-7 en route to its first win of the season.
“I think we were closer to ourselves tonight,” said Littleton, the fourth-year coach. “Obviously, Brownsville Veterans is a really good football team, but I didn’t feel like we played to our ability.”
Colunga, who rushed for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games last season, led the resurgence in the backfield, accounting for more than 200 of the Wolverines’ 372 rushing yards Thursday.
“He was big,” Littleton said. “He’s an explosive back. He averaged 9.2 yards per carry last year. But that didn’t happen for him last week. He tried to score every play instead of moving the chains. I told him to worry about getting 5 yards before getting 50 yards, and the big plays would happen. And it did.
“He ran more physical today, more down hill.”
Ranked No. 6 to start the year and now completely out of the poll, the Wolverines (1-1) look ahead to a bye next week before their District 15-5A DI opener Sept. 19 against visiting Weslaco East.
“First thing we have to do is get healthy,” Littleton said. “We had more injuries tonight than in the last few games combined (dating back to last season). Luckily, some are severe and some aren’t.”
Chief among those is quarterback Ryan Reyna, who scored on a 59-yard run before sustaining a concussion during the opening half. He did not return. It showed with the Wolverines converting only one of six third-down opportunities in his absence, after converting five of seven before intermission.
PSJA Memorial never trailed, but it was forced to fend off a pesky Bulldogs attack that put together 457 yards of offense, 269 rushing. All four of their touchdowns came after halftime, where the Bulldogs outscored PSJA Memorial 28-14. Joseph Rivas accounted for two of those TDs — a 39-yard run to narrow a 22-7 deficit, then a 24-yard reception from McCoy Wolthoff for the final margin.
It was too little, too late for the Bulldogs (0-2), who were coming off a 43-10 loss to Los Fresnos in Week 1. They travel to Edcouch-Elsa in Week 3 to wrap up non-district play, before starting a seven-game, District 16-5A Division I slate Sept. 20 at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
Under sixth-year coach Patrick Shelby, the Bulldogs have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. This is the first time since the 2020 pandemic-shortened season that McHi has dropped two in a row to start the year. That season they earned their first win in Week 3 against La Joya Palmview, finishing with a 2-4 record.
