PHARR — PSJA North’s reign as outright District 15-5A DI champions is officially underway after the Raiders picked up a 57-0 win over Rio Grande City on Thursday at PSJA Stadium.

The district title is the program’s first since 2008 when the Raiders finished as co-champions with an 8-4 overall record. It’s the sixth time PSJA North has been crowned district champions since the school began competing in varsity sports in 1992.

“This is a great group of kids. This was one of the goals, one of the steps we’re trying to get done and they did a good job staying focused all year, winning every ball game like they have and they’ve done it clean,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “There hasn’t been any down weeks for these guys and they’ve done a good job of staying focused every single week.”

The perfect 10-0 record during the regular season is the third time the Raiders have run the table, accomplishing the feat in 1997 and again in 2006.

PSJA North has outscored its opponents 457-86 through its 10 games this season.

“We came out and did our thing. Everyone did their job,” junior quarterback Ale Aparicio said after throwing three touchdown passes against RGC. “We came in with the right mentality that we’re just going to keep our focus game-by-game and now we’re trying to go deep in the playoffs.”

PSJA North will now shift its attention to the postseason. The top-seeded Raiders out of 15-5A DI will meet the No. 4 seed from District 16-5A DI, which is likely to be the loser of tonight’s game between Donna High (7-2, 3-2) and Harlingen South (6-3, 4-1).

“We’re really proud of ourselves, but it’s not over yet,” junior tight end Julius Arredondo said after coming up with three touchdown catches against the Rattlers. “We just want to keep working. We’re going into the playoffs and we’re going to keep working every practice, keep showing up, and keep working as a team.”

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