By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
It’s a meeting between two teams that appear on different paths this season.
Tonight the Del Rio Rams (2-3) welcome the Laredo United Longhorns (0-6) to town in an early battle of playoff contenders from District 30-6A. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium.
The Rams opened their district schedule with a come-from-behind 24-19 win over the Laredo LBJ Wolves. Del Rio found itself in a 19-0 hole before scoring 24 unanswered points keyed by a 98-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zack Taylor and punctuated by a nine-yard Taylor scoring run late in the fourth quarter.
Taylor’s 98-yard trip through the LBJ defense was the longest run of the weekend in Texas high school football last week, according to MaxPreps.
While the Rams are riding high after that win, the Longhorns have spent their season trying to figure out what’s wrong with their historic program.
The team hasn’t scored more than 30 points in a game since a 34-33 loss to San Antonio Harlan on Sept. 3. Since district play began, the Longhorns have been outscored 70-35 by Laredo United South and Eagle Pass in consecutive losses. On the season, United has been outscored by its opponents 217-110 in six games.
A second-place team a year ago, United hadn’t lost back-to-back district games since the 2017 season when San Antonio Southwest was a part of then District 29-6A.
What does all of that mean for Del Rio? That depends on how the Rams react.
Obviously United will come out aggressive and looking for that first win of the season. With LBJ and Laredo Nixon on the schedule for the next two games, a win over Del Rio sets up the start of a possible three-game winning streak that would vault the Longhorns right back into the playoff picture.
However, a loss to Del Rio would effectively put the Longhorns behind the proverbial eight ball and would make the rivalry week showdown against Laredo Alexander all that more important as it could be a “win-and-you’re-in” scenario for both teams.
First things, first, though, and that’s a Rams team that’s looking to make a late season push for the playoffs.
Del Rio welcomed back a pair of familiar faces against LBJ. Running back Luis Pablo Galaviz returned to the lineup after missing the season’s first four games due to academic issues. Wide receiver Jovahn West also returned after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year against Laredo United South. West was targeted once against LBJ but couldn’t control the ball all the way to the ground in the one pass that was tossed his way. Rams head coach Rod Taylor said he expects to use both players more against United.
Taylor said the game against LBJ was one of those games where anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Del Rio turned the ball over four times including two pick sixes by Zack Taylor and a pair of fumbles by Galaviz. There was also a blocked punt, two missed point after tries, due in part to the wrong shoes, and a blocked field goal.
When the Rams went ahead late in the game, and then broke through for a game-sealing first down inside the LBJ 10-yard line, Taylor opted to kneel the ball rather than pushing for another score because he said he felt things had gone so poorly in the game he’d rather not risk one more mistake that could cost his team the win.
Taylor spent much of his Saturday breaking down United’s film, looking for weakness in the orange and white’s schemes, but make no mistake, the mystique of Laredo United still looms large.
United has always used a balanced attack offensively. The Longhorns utilize a two-quarterback offense. Senior Armoni Saenz does the bulk of the passing, amassing 741 yards on 63-of-121 attempts. And while he’s averaging 185 yards passing per game, he’s also thrown as many interceptions (5) as touchdowns (5).
Sophomore Atzel Chavez has also seen his fair share of action on the field. He’s thrown for 515 yards on 35-of-76 passing, but he’s also had his fair share of problems, throwing four touchdowns and four interceptions.
When it comes to running the ball, junior Frank Soto and senior Steve Loring, have combined for 300 yards and three touchdowns, but most of that is Soto’s work.
When the Longhorns take to the air, senior Luz Leal is the big target. Though he’s scored only once, he leads the team with 39 catches for 539 yards. Senior Gage Lozano has 233 yards on 10 catches and is second on the team with three touchdowns. Sophomore Christian Saldana had just 10 catches for 185 yards, but he leads the team with four touchdowns.
Defensively the Longhorns have been hit hard by injury and by an ever-changing lineup. Twenty-four different players have at least one tackle. Leading the group is senior Isaac Mendoza, who has 35 tackles in six games including three tackles for a loss. Senior Alejandro Salazar is Mendoza’s shadow, racking up 32 tackles on the season.
Three other players have at least 20 tackles including sophomore Derrick Gonzalez (28), and junior David Sanchez (23) and Tito Margo (23).
For Del Rio to win tonight, Galaviz has to get going early to help take the load off Taylor and allow him to be a passing quarterback more. The Rams also need to hold onto the ball and avoid turnovers because United is the kind of team that can make teams pay for those mistakes.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
