Weslaco East runs over La Joya Palmview; Lobos historic season comes to an end
LA JOYA – Weslaco East quarterback Darren Rivas and the Wildcats defense shut down La Joya Palmview to defeat the Lobos 56-6 in the area round of 6A Division II playoffs on Friday at Pack Stadium.
“It’s a tough loss,” La Joya Palmview Margarito Requenez said. “Once we lost our quarterback our whole offense went. We had to adjust and we just broke down.”
The loss put an end to Palmview’s first-ever playoff run after posting a 7-4-1 record overall, 4-2 in district.
“It’s something to build on,” Requenez said. “I’ve got most of my offense coming back next year. I’m losing quite a bit on defense, but I think we set the foundation for the coming years.”
The Lobos historic season saw them win their first four district games before losing their final two of the season. Last week, Palmview defeated Laredo LBJ 21-17 to win their first bi-district championship.
“It’s big, it’s something that we never had here,” Requenez said. “The leadership that the players finally built is something strong. I’ve got a couple of juniors that will take over that role next year and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Rivas scored four TD’s and the Wildcats had four long yardage scores to end Palmview’s season while Weslaco East advanced to the regional round of the postseason.
“We just came out and played our style of football,” Rivas said. “The defense did great and shut them out in the second half and the offense just kept on rolling.”
Palmview’s opening drive looked promising as the Lobos drove 56 yards in 7 plays before turning the ball over on downs.
Weslaco East responded two plays later with an 81-yard TD run by RB Lupe Moron with 7:55 minutes left in the opening half to take a 7-0 lead.
Although the Lobos were able to move the ball and eat the clock, they couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.
Rivas scored from nine yards out on the Wildcats’ next possession and again on a 39-yard run before time ran out in the first quarter to increase the visitor’s lead to 21-0.
Palmview reset on their subsequent possession and put together a 75-yard drive that culminated in an 8-yard TD reception by Lobos junior WR Damian Quintanilla to cut the Weslaco East lead to 21-6 after a bad snap ended the home side’s opportunity at the extra point.
Palmview’s defense stopped the Wildcats in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 21-6 deficit.
However, the third quarter proved fatal for the Lobos.
Weslaco East scored three times in a nine minute span to take a 42-6 lead and end any possibility of a Palmview come back.
The Wildcats added two more TD’s in the last 6:07 of fourth quarter to take home an overwhelming 56-6 victory and punch their ticket to the third round.
Weslaco East will face the winner of the Cibolo Steele and San Antonio Northside Brennan match up. The regional game will be played at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28 at Buccaneer Stadium in Corpus Christi.
