McALLEN — The McAllen Rowe defense buckled down in the red zone for a last-second stop against Sharyland High to pull off a 27-20 victory Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Rattlers (1-2) took over at the Rowe 28-yard line trailing by seven after a botched punt attempt and moved the ball down to the Warriors’ 12 with 30 seconds remaining. Sharyland High took four attempts at the end zone, but the defense of Rowe (2-1) held strong with two pass breakups on third and fourth down, forcing a turnover on downs with four seconds left.
Rowe head coach Bobby Flores said the message to his team was it’s a four-quarter game and they have to play hard every possession.
“Let’s do what we do. Let’s bend but don’t break. Let’s make sure that we’re trying to put pressure with time running out but not give up a big play,” he said. “Our defense played hard and that’s all we told them, that we’re making them earn it.”
Rowe junior quarterback Lance Salinas made his return to action after being sidelined during a scrimmage in August. After a slow start and a 10-0 deficit, the Rowe offense began making plays and Salinas found his rhythm by rattling off 20 straight points.
Salinas finished 13-of-17 for 173 yards passing, 77 yards rushing and two total touchdowns.
“I was just thinking about the game, thinking about the Sharyland defense, thinking about my family and how we’re going to perform,” Salinas said about the leadup to his first start. “I was hyped up the whole day and pregame, we were just hyping each other up. It was a great feeling returning to the field.”
Rowe’s versatile weapon Nelson Ramirez came up with an interception and caught a touchdown on back-to-back possessions to end the first half.
Running back Chris Zavala also helped keep the chains moving offensively. He had three catches for 69 yards and a score and 74 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Zavala credited the Warriors’ qualifying to the Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament in College Station over the summer for his clutch catches Friday night.
“It all began with 7-on-7 since I got my hands feeling good. Through the preseason, I was working on my hands, catching, moving at different positions, and it led up to making the game-winning catch,” he said.
Alek Gonzalez and Alan Guerrero led Sharyland High with a touchdown each. Junior quarterback Bo Krell finished 14-of-31 for 209 yards and one touchdown pass.
McAllen Rowe is set to begin District 15-5A DI play next week as the Warriors go on the road to face La Joya Palmview (2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at La Joya Pack Stadium.
“Everybody starts 0-0. Palmview has a rich history of making the playoffs, and we know Coach (Mage) Requenez and his staff are going to have that team ready,” Flores said. “We go on the road and we got to get better in all three phases.”
Next for Sharyland High is another non-district test against Weslaco High (3-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco.
