CORPUS CHRISTI Corpus Christi Miller entered its Region IV-5A Division I area-round playoff game averaging 49 points per.

PSJA North held the Buccaneers to a season low in a 35-14 Raiders win Friday night at Cabaniss Stadium in Corpus Christi to advance back to the regional semifinals for the second consecutive season.

“This was very, very stressful. I’ve been watching this team for the last six weeks now after we played the Vela game in the middle of the season. We were stressing, figuring out if we were going to be able to stop them or not,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “We ended up doing it tonight, which is kind of crazy. We didn’t expect to do it in the way we did it because they’re a vaunted attack, but it was awesome. They played lights out all night long.”

PSJA North will face Brownsville Veterans (10-2) in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.

PSJA North’s defense forced four Corpus Christi Miller turnovers, including two interceptions by Leroy Palacios and Andre Matamoros. The Raiders also kicked off to start the game but went with an onside kick and recovered, which set the tone for the rest of the game.

“We are called ‘The Blackshirts.’ We were expecting a tough game, we knew they had talent, but we had good film on them and we knew what to expect,” Palacios said.

PSJA North quarterback Ale Aparicio was feeling under the weather entering the game against Miller. His play showed no signs, however, as he ran for more than 200 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Raiders offensively. He scored on touchdown runs of 3, 14, 39 and 87 yards.

“It was a pretty rough day,” Aparicio said. “I got no sleep. I was sick all night. Coming into this game, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do what I did, but I just had to do it for the team and thanks to everyone that had my back. My line and the backs, all those fakes, the line really made those holes, allowed me to find those gaps and find the end zone.”

Freshman running back Ethan Guerra also busted loose for a 78-yard touchdown run that put PSJA North ahead 14-0 early during the second quarter.

PSJA North running back Etan Guerra (21) carries the ball against Corpus Christi Miller in a Region IV5A DI area round playoff game at Cabaniss Stadium on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Corpus Christi.

Now, PSJA North is headed for an all-Rio Grande Valley Round 3 playoff matchup next week at Sams.

“Now we’ve got Brownsville Veterans, which is a completely opposite style of offense, so we got to go back to the drawing board and get back to work to try to stop them,” Kaufmann said. “An all-Valley third round is awesome for the RGV. It’s going to be a fun ball game down at Sams Stadium.”

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