¡En fuego!

Big 7 football is on fire

 

Three weeks into the 2025/2026 Texas high school football season, the seven teams from the MCISD, SISD and LJISD school districts, the Big 7, continue their winning ways. After posting a combined record of 11-3 through Week 2, these same seven teams went 5-2 in Week 3. That’s a combined record of 16-5 thus far this season. And with two of those losses coming at the hands of other Big 7 teams, these seven teams’ combined loss total to non-Big 7 opponents is three!

 

But wait, there’s more. If you were to delve into these numbers even further, you would discover the fact that those three losses are all by one of the Big 7 teams, the Juarez-Lincoln Huskies. That means that the other six Big 7 teams are undefeated against non-Big 7 opponents through three weeks! ¡Ay caramba!

 

How long the top six Big 7 teams’ perfect record against non-Big 7 opponents will continue remains to be seen, but even if it ends in Week 4, these six teams have already made it perfectly clear to the other Valley teams that they are a force to be reckoned with and that they are indeed, too hot to handle.

 

With the 0-3 Juarez-Lincoln Huskies and the 3-0 La Joya Coyotes having played their Week 4 games last night, the Huskies against the McAllen Bulldogs and the Coyotes against the Alice Coyotes, there are five games involving Big 7 teams on the slate tonight. Those are the games we will be previewing here.

 

McAllen Rowe Warriors (1-2) at Palmview Lobos (3-0)

In the Progress Times’ Game of the Week the undefeated Palmview Lobos will be hosting the Rowe Warriors at LJISD Pack Stadium tonight at 7. With impressive wins over the PSJA Southwest Javelinas (34-14), the Roma Gladiators (23-0) and the Brownsville Lopez Lobos (50-20) thus far this season, the Lobos have not only opened back-to-back seasons at 3-0, but they’ve made it clear to their District 16-5A-1 rivals, that they’re in it to win it in 2025.

 

 

 

Tonight’s game against the Warriors is both teams’ District 16-5A-1 opener. In their previous 12 head-to-head matchups, the Warriors hold an 8-4 advantage. This includes five wins in a row for the Warriors, most recently last year by a score of 21-17. Even so, the Lobos’ 4-3 district record last year was good enough to qualify them for the playoffs while the Warriors’ 3-4 record left them on the outside of post season play looking in.

 

Speaking of the playoffs, Palmview head coach Margarito “Mage” Requenez has his sights set on not only making it into the playoffs, but on doing something the Lobos have not done since the 2014/2015 season; advance past the first round.

 

“Our goals are winning the district championship and then one that we have highlighted is we’ve got to get past the first round,” Requenez said. “It’s been haunting us for a couple of years. We make it to the playoffs but somehow we always have adversity when we go to the first round. So that’s one of our main goals, big goals that we have circled.”

 

With eight teams in the district and with only four of those eight teams eventually advancing into the playoffs, both the Lobos and the Warriors will be going all out to open their district schedule with a win. As a result, not only will the Lobos be looking for payback tonight, but they’ll be looking to be among the four teams in the district to be 1-0 in district play heading into Week 5.

 

Pioneer Diamondbacks (3-0) at Hanna Eagles (0-3)

At first glance a game between the 3-0 Pioneer Diamondbacks and the 0-3 Brownsville Hanna Eagles may not seem to be a very good matchup. However, when these two teams met up in Week 4 last year, the Eagles outscored the Diamondbacks 7-6 from the second quarter on. However, the Diamondbacks outscored the Eagles 14-0 in the first quarter, which gave Pioneer the 20-7 win.

 

 

The Diamondbacks are coming off a 21-12 win over the Edinburg North Cougars. In that game, Diamondbacks’ junior quarterback Malakai Galindo completed seven of nine passes for 60 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Senior wide receiver/running back/quarterback William Goodloe carried the ball 11 times for 106 yards and one touchdown and caught five passes for 53 yards and another touchdown.

 

Hanna’s three losses were to McAllen Memorial (37-14), Sharyland (28-14) and Edinburg 15-0). The Eagles finished last season at the bottom of the 32-6A standings with a 0-4 record (1-9 overall).

 

Sharyland Rattlers (3-0) at PSJA Southwest Javelinas (1-2)

Like the Diamondbacks, the Sharyland Rattlers are 3-0 heading into their Week 4 matchup against the 1-2 PSJA Southwest Javelinas tonight. The Rattlers’ offense has been firing on all cylinders so far this season with 106 points scored over three games. Their wins have come over Weslaco East (45-28), Hanna (28-14) and Mission (33-25). The Javelinas opened their 2025/2026 campaign with a 34-14 loss to the Palmview Lobos and then proceeded to defeat Valley View 27-0 before falling to Corpus Christi Moody 35-7 last week.

 

 

Tonight’s game will be the sixth time that the Rattlers have played the Javelinas over the past six years, with the Rattlers holding a 3-2 win advantage. This includes last year’s win by a score of 50-11. In the Rattlers’ three wins over the Javelinas, they have scored 157 points total. In their two losses, they have scored a total of 27 points.

 

Laredo LBJ Wolves (3-0) at Mission Veterans Patriots (3-0)

The Mission Veterans Patriots are the fifth Big 7 team with a perfect 3-0 record through Week 3. Tonight, they will be hosting the 3-0 Laredo LBJ Wolves at Tom Landry Hall of Fame Stadium in Mission. That makes this matchup the only Big 7 game this week to feature two undefeated teams.

 

 

The Patriots’ three wins have come against Mission (28-0), Edcouch Elsa (34-24) and PSJA (37-14). Laredo LBJ’s three wins have come over Laredo Martin (42-19), Laredo Nixon (14-10) and Weslaco (22-20). The Patriots and the Wolves have only played each other once and that was last year when the Wolves defeated the Patriots by a score of (34-20).

 

Against PSJA last week, Patriots’ sophomore quarterback Roman Reyna completed 24 of 40 passes for 363 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Reyna also carried the ball five times for 25 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Quentin Valverde was Reyna’s top target with four receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown.

 

Mission Eagles (1-2) at Edinburg Vela Sabercats (2-1)

Tonight’s Mission Eagles at Vela Sabercats game is not only the district 16-5A-1 opener for both teams, it is also a homecoming of sorts for first year Eagles’ head coach Joseph “Jody” Cantu. That’s because Cantu’s previous coaching positions were as the defensive coordinator and associate head coach for the Sabercats’ football team. He was also the powerlifting coach at Vela High School.

 

But that was then and this is now. And regardless of where he came from, Cantu is at Mission High School now and he’ll be out to lead the Eagles to a win regardless of who they’re playing. Whether or not his familiarity with the Sabercats’ system and play calling will help him achieve that win tonight remains to be determined, but it can’t hurt.

 

One thing that the Sabercats have going for them tonight is history. That’s because they have defeated the Eagles the three times they have played them. Most recently, the Sabercats defeated the Eagles last year by a score of 24-21.

 

 

Mission’s two losses this season came at the hands of the Mission Veterans Patriots (28-0) and the Sharyland Rattlers (33-25). Their only win was Week 2 over Weslaco East (28-26). The Sabercats opened their 2025/2026 schedule with a win over Edinburg North (38-2) followed by a loss to Edinburg (19-6) and finally a win over Harlingen (52-10).

 

El fin.