ALICE, Texas – The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers (10-1, 7-0) overcame early mistakes to blast the Laredo Nixon Mustangs (8-3, 7-2) by a final score of 34-10 at Memorial Stadium. The Chargers were led by senior quarterback Gustavo Vasquez’s 140 yards rushing on 22 carries and two touchdowns. The Mustangs were tough early but eventually capitulated to the Chargers’ second-half offensive onslaught.
“Nixon is a very well-coached team and they give us a lot of trouble,” Brownsville Veterans Memorial head coach David Cantu said about his team’s maturity, “We also had several mistakes and were down early but our boys never quit. They overcame the adversity to get us the win.”
Nixon’s opening salvo featured a bevy of sweeps involving multiple runners. After some early success, the Chargers’ defense was able to hold, causing the Mustangs to punt. Vasquez went to work, quickly moving the ball and putting Nixon’s defense on its heels. An offensive holding penalty halted the momentum. The Chargers failed on a fourth down attempt that led to Nixon taking possession.
The Mustangs offense got going and were aided by some mistakes from the opposing defense. Quarterback J.C. Ayala had a huge pickup on a third-and-10 to move the chains and get inside the four-yard-line early in the second quarter. After a few defensive stops, running back Chris Casas smashed into the end zone from one-yard out to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead with 11:21 left in the first half.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial quarterback Gustavo Vasquez led the Chargers to their 10th win of the season Saturday night. (Sergio Martinez/TexasHSFootball)
Brownsville’s misfortune continued as on the first play of their next drive, a Vasquez scramble lead to a fumble that was recovered by Nixon’s Johnny Martinez at the Chargers’ 19-yard-line. Nixon’s offense was not able to advance so kicker Kluibert Flores hit from 37 yards out to put the Mustangs up 10-0 with 9:36 left in the half.
Looking to make amends for his mistake, Vasquez came out running hard between the tackles and making several Mustangs miss. The senior quarterback broke a long run deep into Nixon territory but took a hard fall and seemed momentarily stunned. After a play, Vasquez came back into the game and handed the ball off to Alexis Gomez who found the end zone, bring the Chargers to within three.
The Mustangs offense went three-and-out on the next possession and had a punt blocked recovered by Brownsville Memorial at Nixon’s 45-yard-line. The Mustang defense held their ground and ended the first half of football with a big sack.
The turnover troubles continued for the Chargers as the kickoff to open the second half was fumbled and Nixon recovered at Brownsville’s 42-yard-line. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, minimal gains eventually led to Nixon failing on a fourth and 12 attempt which resulted in a turnover on downs.
Brownsville was unable to get anything going as the Mustang defense was stout and forced a punt. The Nixon offense started at their own 20. Ayala attempted an ill-fated screen pass that was tipped and intercepted by the Chargers. This time, Vasquez didn’t take long as he scored on a 21-yard scamper to put his team up 14-10.
The Mustangs tried to change things up by passing but failed miserably as Brownsville’s defensive line crashed into the backfield and sacked Ayala on back-to-back plays. The Chargers took over at Nixon’s 47-yard-line after a shanked punt that only went 21 yards to end the third.
Brownsville’s offense got moving early in the fourth and drove into the red zone. Running back Able Martinez added another score with an eight-yard rush. A missed extra point attempt made it 20-10 with 9:36 left.
Laredo Nixon seniors following the game against Brownsville Veterans Memorial. (Sergio Martinez/TexasHSFootball)
The Mustang’s luck did not improve as on the first play of their drive, a botched exchange between the center and quarterback led to a defensive score. This time, the Chargers made good on the extra point to pull ahead 27-10 with 9:25 remaining in the game.
The Mustangs were unable to gain any type of offensive momentum and had several three-and-out situations for the remainder of the contest. Vasquez led his team on one final drive that ended with yet another score by the senior signal caller via a six-yard run to ended the game.
“[The Mustangs] showed a lot of heart and their defense played really hard. It was tough but we got it together in the end,” said an elated Vasquez.
The Chargers will have one day of rest before getting ready to move into the area round of the playoffs. For Nixon, the loss ended their season and the career of many seniors playing their last game.
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