Coyotes beat PSJA North by one point

The World of Sports High school football

Sometimes an football entire game, one made up of 120 or more plays, can come down to one or two defining moments.

Such was the case Friday night as La Joya withstood a grinding, hard-fought comeback attempt by PSJA North and held on to a 21-20 victory at PSJA Stadium. The win improved the visiting Coyotes to 3-1 on the season, while PSJA North fell to 0-3.

Two plays pretty much sealed the fate of both squads. The one that everyone may remember was a missed extra point to tie the game with no time left on the clock. The PAT attempt came following a blocked La Joya punt that was recovered in the end zone by the Raiders’ Marco Salinas. The ensuing PAT that would’ve tied the game, however, went wide.

“I started questioning myself after that,” said PSJA North Head Coach Marcus Kauffman, whose team has lost three games by a total of 15 points. “I started thinking, ‘Should I have gone for two?’ But the way we were finally playing, I didn’t think they were going to be able to stop us in overtime.”

The fourth quarter would have challenged any soap opera or telenovela in terms of drama. With less than five minutes remaining, and the score 21-14, PSJA North was moving the ball up the field in search of the tie. After running a sweep, the Raiders called time out.

During that break, La Joya Head Coach Reuben Farias was tipped off to what the Raiders next call was going to be.

“We knew they had a trick play, a halfback pass in their book, and we were expecting them to throw it the series before,” Farias said. “But when I looked over, I saw him (the halfback) drying his hands and told our defensive coach to expect it right then and there.”

The play started, and the team rolled right with Lonzell Griffin running the ball while receiver Arturo Beltran streaked down the sideline. The star receiver ended the night with six receptions for 110 yards.

Kaufmann immediately knew the trick play was in trouble.

“As soon as we snapped the ball their safety was running over the top of our receiver, upward instead of running downhill straight to stop the run,” Kaufmann said. “I knew then we had tipped the play off somehow and just wanted him to throw the ball away.”

Instead, La Joya senior safety Carlos DeLeon was in the perfect place to haul in the interception and put a quick end to the Raiders’ building momentum.

“I found out that Griffin was wearing gloves and they saw him take them off before the play,” Kaufmann said. “Sometimes it really is the smallest things that can make a big difference or turn into a big play. I know that will never happen again.”

La Joya rode the powerful legs of running back Eddie Villarreal, who carried the ball 29 of the Coyotes’ 42 rushing plays, accounting for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 50-yard run in the fourth quarter that set up the final touchdown for La Joya was an impressive display as the sophomore broke through the line, cut to the right and was in open territory. He saw the secondary closing in on him, broke against the grain and drove between them before being pulled down.

“The offensive lines were making holes for him, he was seeing where they were, and then he would explode through them. Eddie had a real good night,” Farias said. “We saw some flashes from him last year against a couple teams, and he had 100-plus yards on 13 carries against Palmview. We knew we had a gem there.”

Villarreal has now carried the ball 108 times in four games for La Joya for 508 yards and four touchdowns. He had 171 yards in the season-opener against Rio Grande City.

PSJA North quarterback Randy Reyna completed 7-of-15 passes for 108 yards. The senior signal-caller has thrown for 415 yards in three games with 19 of those completions going to star receiver Beltran, along with 292 of those yards. Beltran is a junior.

“Four plays, that’s it,” Kaufmann replied when asked how many plays he would have to change to be 3-0 instead of 0-3. “These guys are right there. We are making our own breaks but then it’s just one or two little things that are costing us – like the whole gloves situation. These kids are working hard and once we break through – and we are going to break though – it’s going to be a different story.”

Farias echoed Kaufmann’s sentiments.

“That is a really good team over there – if you go in there thinking they’re an 0-3 team, you’re going to get beat,” Farias said. “They play hard, they are talented, and there’s no way they are a team with a record that is indicative of how they play. Teams need to be careful against them.”

“That’s what the Mission coach said, and that’s what the Donna coach said,” Kaufmann said of the two prior teams PSJA North played. “I hope their prophecies come true – these kids were here Saturday morning ready to work hard and keep moving forward.”