The Hidalgo Pirates finally got a win as they rolled over the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies 21-7 Thursday night in La Joya. The Huskies are still looking for their first win as they drop to 0-5.

The Pirates got on the board first and continued to put pressure on the Huskies defense with a steady diet of slashing runs up the middle by running back J.D. Rodriguez and two very nice 30-plus yard catches by wide receiver Jonathan Cantu. The Pirates held a comfortable, if not huge, 14-0 lead after Silvestre Gutierrez scampered into the end-zone with 48 seconds left in the first half.

Read more: Hidalgo cruises past Huskies

Mission Eagles Varsity Volleyball Voach Edna Clemons has a very simple philosophy.

“My practices consist of getting it done,” said Clemons. “I set goals for the girls. I push them to communicate and work as a team and they just have to reach those goals.”

Considering the Eagles’ muscular dismantling Tuesday night of La Joya Lady Coyotes 25-10, 25-17, 25-19, it would seem her girls have taken the philosophy to heart.

The Eagles jumped to early leads in all three games. Time and time again the Coyotes just couldn’t match up with the Eagles’ height at the net. Seniors Ruth Ruiz, Mayra Garcia and Gaby Martinez posed an almost impenetrable wall above the net that frustrated even crafty killer Lauren Moreno.

Read more: Lady Eagles ‘getting it done’

The bad news for the Palmview Lobos is star receiver Santiago Munoz went out last night with a possible stress fracture in his foot, potentially ending his season. However, the good news is the Lobos had plenty of talent and more to make up for the loss as the red and black took down the Mission Eagles, 25-7.

Read more: Lobos begin district with victory, send Eagles home frustrated

It was a special night for the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies. One week after a 55-3 devastating loss to Weslaco East, Aaron Garcia’s squad rebounded in a heroic way with a 31-21 victory over the Veteran Memorial Patriots.

“This is special to us,” said Garcia after the game. The coach then added that the win was the biggest of his four years at the school. It was also the first over the Patriots.

Read more: Game of the Week Wrap Up: Game upset: Huskies take down Patriots

Both the Veterans Memorial Patriots and the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies find themselves in a crisis of identity early on in this 2011 football season. Their Friday night match-up in La Joya will go a long way toward giving both programs a sense of just where they stand and what they’ll have to face after two weeks that haven’t necessarily gone their way.

The winless Huskies are coming off an absolute thumping by Weslaco East last week after giving up over 400 yards rushing and 122 yards passing in their last game. Juarez-Lincoln looked completely overmatched and somewhat aimless in their first conference game. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they’ve looked so throughout their young season. In their first three games the Huskies have scored just 17 points while giving up 116.

Read more: Patriots and Huskies looking for answers on Friday night

The 2011 high school football season, only just begun, features the usual suspects starting strong and others stumbling out of the gate. With only a few more opportunities to iron out the kinks before district play, this week’s matchups will give coaches and fans yet another chance to size up their teams.

Brownsville Hanna at La Joya

After just edging past Rio Grande City (0-2) last week by a score of 17-14, La Joya (1-1) looks to continue their win-by-any-means ways against Brownsville Hanna. Hanna, who has yet to win a game in this young season, is coming off a loss against Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in a non-league challenge.  Although the Coyotes may consider themselves the somewhat fortunate benefactors of an easy early schedule, they will need to muster more offense if not this weekend, then certainly the next as they veer into a more treacherous part of their schedule.

Read more: Teams jockey for position heading into Week 2 of football