LA JOYA — McAllen Rowe was bit by the injury bug against La Joya Palmview, losing multiple starters, but the next-man-up mentality prevailed as the Warriors walked away with a 28-14 win over the previously unbeaten Lobos on Friday at La Joya Pack Stadium.
The victory is the third in a row for Rowe (3-1, 1-0), while the loss is the first of the year for Palmview (3-1, 0-1).
“I’m proud of our effort, proud of our boys. We’ve had a lot of guys that have fallen off and in this game, injuries were big,” Rowe head coach Bobby Flores said. “We’re going to have to reload and, like I told them, the next-man-up mentality has to be there. We had guys step up in different areas. Proud of our kids working hard, staying with it and coming out with a big victory because Palmview is a good team that was undefeated.”
Rowe’s defense stuffed the run early and forced La Joya Palmview to take to the air in hopes of moving the ball. The Warriors proceeded to force three interceptions and one strip-sack to swing momentum in their favor and secure the victory in their district opener.
Senior defensive back Juan Salas came away with two picks during the first half and caused the strip-sack during the second that was recovered by linebacker Alejandro Navejar.
“We’ve been scheming the offenses that we’ve been going against, especially against a hard team like Palmview,” Salas said. “I got to give it to the D-line. I can’t get picks without the D-line and we all just played as a team — that’s how we got the win.”
Linebacker Jose Garza also joined in on the turnover fun with a second-half interception with Palmview in comeback mode.
“We played with all the effort we could. It’s all the hard work paying off,” Garza said. “We came in thinking we were the better team, and our defensive coordinator (Robert) Bocanegra puts us in the perfect situations and we just pulled through for him.”
Slow starts have plagued the Warriors during their first three games of the season. From the opening kickoff in this one, however, they were charging full-speed ahead with a 28-2 halftime lead.
“I think we started fast this time. The last couple of games, we’ve taken a little long to get going — this time they flipped it on us,” Flores said. “We started off pretty quick and then in the second half, they put a stop to us and started executing. We got to correct those things.”
Rowe quarterback Lance Salinas finished 6-for-14 for 64 yards and two touchdown passes to Andres Espinosa and Sammy Femat. Salinas added a game-high 74 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Palmview quarterback Christian Reyna threw for 130 yards, and tight end Jesus Hinostrosa hauled in five receptions for 65 yards. Receiver Tony Villarreal added a 60-yard touchdown on a jet sweep for Palmview’s first score.
Next, La Joya Palmview will visit McAllen Memorial at 7 p.m. Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium. Rowe moves on to face La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
