By LAURA B. MARTINEZ and CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writers
The Los Fresnos Falcons opened the 2021 season with an “upset” victory over Edcouch-Elsa, 23-7. But they won’t be able to ride that momentum and chase a 2-0 start just yet.
Friday night’s football game between Los Fresnos and Gregory-Portland has been canceled.
Los Fresnos football announced Tuesday on Twitter, “Out of the abundance of caution, the varsity football game vs Gregory-Portland High School has been cancelled.”
Los Fresnos football coach/athletic director David Cantu told The Brownsville Herald a decision was made to cancel the game after one of the players tested positive for COVID-19.
“We did have the one positive case that came to our attention Sunday morning,” Cantu said. “Following CDC and Cameron County guidelines, when there’s a positive case the student is immediately quarantined, and then the district conducted contact tracing and quarantined any students that meet the definition of close contact. After conducting contact tracing, a number of athletes were placed in quarantine status. …
“We just want to take all precautions and make sure we make the right decision for the kids. We make all decisions with their student health and safety as a priority,” he added.
Cantu said the players have been placed in quarantine for 10 days. They started quarantine Aug. 28. He said Los Fresnos would take Tuesday off from practice, giving the coaching staff “a chance to do some massive sanitizing.” The eligible Falcons plan on returning to practice today and are currently on track to play their next game Sept. 10 at Corpus Christi Calallen.
“By Day 5 they test, which is (today), negative they should be able to return by Saturday. If they don’t, then 10 days would have them next Tuesday,” Cantu said.
Cantu and his Falcons are going to keep their focus on improving every day to be ready for the District 32-6A season. They’ll be building on the positives from the season opener, headlined by a strong defensive outing. The Falcons recorded five sacks and one turnover, courtesy of a fumble recovery by standout Greg Jones.
Senior Matthew Padilla showed promise in the quarterback position, going 8-for-18 with 96 yards in the passing game and adding 76 yards and two touchdowns rushing. Hector Muniz and Cody Taylor led the receivers with four catches each. Cantu praised Muniz’s efforts offensively and on special teams, and said kicker Adolfo Hernandez “did a wonderful job.
“We were led, really, by our defense. Our two middle linebackers, RJ Limon and Greg Jones, really set the tone with their play. But it was a complete effort on that side of the ball. Coach Brent Blackman, defensive coordinator, put together a really, really solid plan and it was executed,” Cantu said.
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