PHARR — Standing in between the PSJA North Raiders and a spot in the Class 5A Division I state semifinals is Corpus Christi Veterans, a program that’s had the Rio Grande Valley’s number in recent years and again during this postseason.
Since coming onto the scene in 2016, the Eagles have built a 13-2 overall record in head-to-head matchups against RGV teams, including an 8-1 mark in the playoffs.
The only two teams from the Valley to deal defeat to Corpus Christi Veterans are La Feria in a 14-10 win in 2016, the Eagles’ first year of competing at the varsity level, and Mission Veterans in a 62-55 regional semifinal playoff win in 2018.
The PSJA North Raiders (13-0) will attempt to become the third Valley team to take down Corpus Christi Veterans (11-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi. A PSJA North victory would make the Raiders the first team from the RGV to reach the state semifinals since Port Isabel in 2003.
“They’re kind of a mirror of us,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said about this year’s Corpus Christi Veterans team. “They throw it a lot more and run it a little less, but defensively, they’re multiple and their fronts on both sides of the ball are pretty big and pretty strong. It’s like we’re going to be playing ourselves with a little more of a passing attack to it.”
PSJA North, the District 15-5A DI champion, enters Round 4 of the playoffs averaging 495.2 total yards per game, scoring 43.7 points and allowing just 9.4 points per game. The Raiders’ road to the regional final featured wins against Donna High (41-7), Corpus Christi Miller (35-14) and Brownsville Veterans (35-15).
Corpus Christi Veterans captured the District 14-5A DI championship and is scoring 38.7 points per game, giving up 16.7 points, and averaging 432.9 total yards. The Eagles’ path includes second- and third-round victories over Edinburg Vela (14-7) and McAllen High (49-14), giving them some common opponents the Raiders also saw during their district season.
PSJA North defeated Edinburg Vela 28-21 in a battle for the 15-5A DI title Sept. 22, the same margin of victory the SaberCats lost by in a defensive slugfest against Corpus Christi Veterans on Nov. 18 in Round 2. The Raiders won big 55-0 when they faced McHi on Sept. 16, as did the Eagles just last week to set up the regional final matchup with PSJA North.
Edinburg Vela head coach John Campbell shared some insight into what PSJA North and Corpus Christi Veterans do well on the gridiron heading into Saturday’s game.
“I think with PSJA North, obviously not taking anything away from the other positions because it’s a very well-built, well-coached football team, the physicality of the offensive line — I don’t think that’s a secret. The ability to basically control the tempo of the game, to kind of grind out possessions to where, although PSJA North is very good on defense, the offense a lot of times can act as a good defensive unit as well because they have the ability to grind out possessions and grind out the clock,” Campbell said. “There is the component with (Ale) Aparicio and his throwing ability and his ability to run that makes him really dangerous, so that to me represents the challenge playing a PSJA North, is that you cannot count on having as many offensive possessions as you normally would. They play really strong defense as well, but it’s going to be a shorter game.”
PSJA North’s offense starts with its front five, which dominates games and allows backs Jaden Fuentes (856 total yards, 11 touchdowns), Ethan Guerra (1,154 total yards, 13 touchdowns), Jason Montez (1,665 total yards, 13 touchdowns) to run wild, while quarterback Ale Aparicio (1,530 passing, 930 rushing, 35 total touchdowns) does damage with his arm and legs.
Corpus Christi Veterans runs the spread with a balanced attack quarterbacked by senior Elijah Durrette. He possesses dual-threat ability with 2,695 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns, 608 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in 12 games this season.
The Eagles have two dynamic runners in the backfield in Jayden Castaneda and Luke Moya, along with outside weapons Alejandro Guerrero, Isaac Rojas and Christian Sabsook.
Defensively, the Eagles are tough up front, which sets the table for a marquee matchup between PSJA North’s powerful offensive line and Corpus Christi Veterans’ athletic defensive line.
“What makes Corpus Christi Veterans really good, ironically, is the play of their defensive line. Not taking anything away from any of the players on their defensive unit, but they have a very strong defensive front,” Campbell said. “They have an aggressive style of play and they can really take advantage of you if you don’t win on first down, so to speak. It’s going to be a really interesting matchup between the two teams, at least as far as PSJA North’s offensive line versus Vets’ defensive line. … It’s going to be a very, very interesting matchup because in a lot of areas they’re similar, but they’re similar for opposite reasons.”
The battle in the trenches between PSJA North’s offensive line and Corpus Christi Veterans’ defensive front sets up to be pivotal in determining which team will represent Region IV in the Class 5A Division I state semifinals.
“Every game we come out and try to set the tone,” PSJA North left tackle Dante Garcia said. “That’s the main thing, it gets the game going and starts the game. With us coming out hard every play, letting them know what we’re going to do, it lets them know we’re here to play.”
“All-around they have great players,” PSJA North’s Fuentes said. “There’s not really a weakness you can point at and attack there. We just have to come out with our A-game, and hopefully we can come out with a win.”
