Team Falcon defeats Rivera, earns playoff berth

November 04,2005
By Mike Gonzalez
The Brownsville Herald

November 5, 2005 — The Los Fresnos Falcons, The Herald’s sixth-ranked team, knew what they had to do — take care of business and clinch a playoff spot.

Los Fresnos did just that with a 31-23 win over No. 10 Rivera in both teams’ regular season finale at Sams Memorial Stadium. It marks the first time the Falcons (5-2 in District 32-5A, 8-2 overall) have reached the playoffs as a Class 5A school.

“Making the playoffs is very exciting,” said Los Fresnos junior tailback Luis Campos. “This is for the seniors and for us too, but it’s more for them.”

With the loss, the Raiders (3-4, 6-4) were eliminated from the playoff picture for the second straight season. Los Fresnos will meet Weslaco next week with a date and time to be determined sometime today.

The Panthers got in the postseason thanks in large to Donna falling to Edinburg 42-7 in its game.

There were numbers of big plays in this one but none bigger than a fourth and three play for the Falcons at their own 39 leading 21-15 in the fourth quarter.

Known to take chances, Falcons head coach Scott Ford laid it on the line and went for it. On the play, quarterback Brandon Kretz (15-of-22, 157 yards, one touchdown, and one interception) found Danny Garcia for his only catch, an 11-yard gain. Rivera had gotten some momentum after forcing a turnover, which led to a one-yard score by running back Cesar Esquivel earlier in the period to cut the margin. With the season on the line, Ford didn’t hesitate to go for the juggler.

“We had to give our kids a chance to make a play,” Ford said.

Later on the drive the Raiders helped out Los Fresnos after a personal foul and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty consecutively committed by Xavier Vasquez put the ball at the Raiders’ 12.

Vasquez was then ejected from the game after his unsportsmanlike penalty. Two plays later, Campos scored on an 8-yard scamper to give the Falcons a 28-15 lead.

Just when it looked as if Los Fresnos had things under control, a miscue made things more interesting. With 5:26 left in the game, the Falcons fumbled on a toss play on their own 36, and defensive back Javier Hinojosa picked up the bounce and ran all the way to paydirt for his second defensive score to give Rivera some hope.

In the first quarter, Hinojosa scored the same way on a 26-yarder. The Raiders converted the two-point conversion on a sneak by John Culver to get them within five at 28-23. That would be as close as Rivera would get.

Desperate for some points, the Raiders attempted an onside kick, but Los Fresnos recovered on their own 47. The Falcons then marched their way into the postseason with a 41-yard drive capped by a 29-yard field goal by Pablo Degollado to ice the game.

Campos led Los Fresnos with 123 yards and three touchdowns with the other run coming on two-yard run in the second quarter. In that drive, Campos was responsible for 46 of the 54 yards on nine plays that chewed up nearly four minutes. That gave the Falcons a 14-7, which they never relinquished after that. Kretz’s lone touchdown pass came to wide out Chris Garza which tied the game at seven apiece late in the first quarter.

Esquivel carried Rivera on his shoulders as he rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown. Culver had a rough night as he went 10-of-26 for 73 yards. Most of that was due to the Los Fresnos defense, which forced six turnovers and picked off four passes. Linebacker Justin Springer had one interception and one fumble recovery.

“We’ve got to make big plays in a big game and we didn’t,” Rivera head coach Salvador Hernandez said. “My hat goes off to Los Fresnos.”

mgonzalez@brownsvilleherald.com