BROWNSVILLE — High School football began during the hot, humid month of August in Texas and in the Rio Grande Valley, with teams seeking glory on the gridiron.

Now, only one team remains in the wet and cold month of November from the teams dotted throughout four counties, the PSJA North Raiders.

The Raiders (13-0) defeated the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers 35-15 on Friday night at Sams Memorial Stadium to advance to the Class 5A DI Region IV final against Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial.

PSJA North quarterback Alejandro Aparicio (3) breaks free for a big gain off a scramble during their Regional Semi Final game against Brownsville Veterans at Sam’s Stadium in Brownsville on Friday Nov 25 2022. Photo courtesy of Sixtum Pictures.

PSJA North and Corpus Christi Veterans will meet in the Region IV-5A Division I final at 6 p.m. Saturday at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi. It will be PSJA North’s first appearance in the regional finals in program history.

“It was fun, the atmosphere was fun tonight with the rain and everything going on,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “We had a good ballgame. The defense did a great job of stopping that offense, fun, it was fun.”

PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann (right) deflects the Gatorade jug from his player Leeroy Palacios (1) as they celebrate the win in the Regional Semi Final game against Brownsville Veterans at Sam’s Stadium in Brownsville on Friday Nov 25 2022. Photo courtesy of Sixtum Pictures.

Raiders running back Jaden Fuentes stuck the dagger into the hearts of the Chargers with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Fuentes found the edge of the Brownsville Veterans’ defense to score from 39 yards.

Fuentes’ touchdown came after the PSJA North defense quickly stopped the Chargers following a Raiders touchdown. Running back Ethan Guerra found a hole up the middle to score from 12 yards on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Raiders up 29-15.

PSJA North running back Ethan Guerra (21) is wrapped up by Brownsville Veterans defender Jonah Alaniz (6) during their Regional Semi Final game at Sam’s Stadium in Brownsville on Friday Nov 25 2022. Photo courtesy of Sixtum Pictures.

Brownsville Veterans fullback Bryan Chavez gave the Chargers hope after breaking a 64-yard touchdown run.

The touchdown energized the Chargers sideline and fans, but the Raiders churned out long possessions all game and took care of business in the red zone like they did to open the second half when Fuentes scored his first touchdown of the night from 14 yards.

“We did a good job taking care of the ball tonight. Neither team had a turnover in this crazy rain,” Brownsville Veterans Memorial head coach Kelley Lee said. “Both teams played well, but we were not able to get enough stops tonight and they were able to control the clock, so hats off to them.”

Brownsville Veterans quarterback Reece Sampayo (4) scrambles out of the pocket, eluding PSJA North defender Ethan Montemayor (28) to get extra yardage during their regional semifinal at Sam’s Stadium in Brownsville on Friday Nov 25 2022. Photo courtesy of Sixtum Pictures.

PSJA North went into the half up 15-7 when quarterback Ale Aparicio found Julius Arredondo open from 10 yards after the receiver found space in the end zone. Aparicio punched in from a yard on the previous drive to put the Raiders up 9-7 with 3:44 left in the second quarter.

Brownsville Veterans (10-3) took the lead in the second quarter when Reece Sampayo found Gerry Gomez open for a 26-yard touchdown.

The Raiders opened the scoring with a safety. A bad snap on a punt sent the punter scrambling toward his own end zone. The punter never had a grasp on the ball as he was hit in the end zone, sending the ball out of the end zone and putting two points on the board for the Raiders.