SANTA ROSA — Just two days before one of the biggest games of the year, the Santa Rosa Warriors ran through drills in practice Wednesday like it was just another game on the calendar.
However, rest assured that for the Warriors’ fan base that drive past the practice field to catch a glimpse of the team, the Battle of FM 506 against La Feria carries a little more weight than others.
In the past 25 years, Santa Rosa has only come away with one victory against the Lions — 2012. That year, the Warriors ended a 20-year losing streak with a 33-21 victory over La Feria.
But while history may not be on Santa Rosa’s side, the Warriors aren’t thinking too much about that statistic.
“History is not in our favor in this rivalry, but I think we’ve been doing a great job defensively and if we can just keep them (La Feria’s) offense under control we’ll have a chance,” said Warriors head coach Hector Ayala. We know we’re not going to be able to stop them completely, but if we can slow them down quite a bit offensively and give ourselves a chance it’s going to lend us an opportunity.
“The kids are excited about the challenge and that’s what it’s about. You have to show up and play football because you never know what’s going to happen when you play.”
This season the Warriors are in a good position with a 3-1 record. Santa Rosa has picked victories over Hidalgo, La Villa and Progreso. However, their one loss came over the weekend in a 34-20 loss to AransasPass.
Offensively, the Warriors are a run-first team and have amassed 1,100 rushing yards. Ryan Mesa leads the team with 528 yards and six touchdowns on 98 carries followed by Christian Castillo, who has 221 yards and four TDs on 20 carries.
Another bright spot for Santa Rosa has been the defense, which has kept the team in every game this season.
“Coming in I thought that our question mark was going to be our defensive, but we’ve grown up pretty quick,” said Ayala. “We’ve been pretty aggressive and Coach Salazar has put them in good spots, but I think that matches the type of kids we have and the defensive staff has done a real good job, and the kids have bought in.”
If the Warriors will be successful come Friday, the team will have to find a way to stop La Ferias’ offensive attack that has grown rapidly over the past four weeks. Offensively, the Lions have dished out a total of 1,496 total yards with sophomore Dorian Hernandez completing 62 of 88 passing for 790 yards and eight touchdowns.
On the ground, Dorian has also been a standout for the Lions, rushing for 232 yards on 48 carries just behind teammate Darius Hernandez, who has rushed for 240 yards on 47 carries. On the receiving side Julian Trevino has proved hard to cover as the senior has 30 receptions for 424 yards and five touchdowns.
Nevertheless, the Battle of FM 506 has Coach Ayala and his players looking forward to the annual grudge match.
“The team is feeling good and they’re feeling confident about themselves and I think that is a big thing,” said Ayala. “We had a real good test against AransasPass last week and they were very physical. I know we lost, but we actually matched up with them really well physically and we kept fighting until the very end, but our confidence didn’t waiver and that is a good plus for us going into this week.
“No team wants to go into a game thinking to themselves ‘I hope we win.’ Our attitude is that we’re going in there to win and that’s what we need to establish, a mentality of winning every week and that’s what these guys have caught on to and they believe.”
