RIO GRANDE VALLEY — Week 9 brought a little more clarity to the Rio Grande Valley playoff picture.

McAllen High, Sharyland High, Edinburg Vela and Harlingen all remained unbeaten in district play, while several teams behind them picked up wins that could prove important over the final two weeks of the regular season.

SHARYLAND — Sharyland High remains unbeaten in District 16-5A Division II after escaping defeat at the hands of their crosstown rivals Sharyland Pioneer in the Snakeskin Classic Friday night.

It was a classic rivalry type of game between the Rattlers and Diamondbacks with Sharyland High ultimately prevailing 17-13. The Rattlers now have firm control of their district-title destiny.

It was a battle in the trenches Friday night, and a low-scoring game validates that. There was not much time in the pocket for either quarterback and the yards on the ground were hard earned.

McALLEN — Christian De Leon started Friday night with a microphone in hand.

The Nikki Rowe senior middle linebacker stood alone and sang the national anthem at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium. Then he traded the microphone for a helmet.

A few hours later, De Leon and the Warriors walked off the same field with a 36-19 win over McAllen Memorial, a victory that moved Rowe into sole possession of second place in District 16-5A Division I.

For De Leon, both parts of the night fit together.

“I love to stay involved in our community,” De Leon said. “I do choir, theater, wrestling — I’m in everything. I’m everywhere.”

PHARR — Another week, another win for the Bulldogs.

McAllen remained unbeaten Thursday night, rolling past PSJA Memorial 49-7 at PSJA Stadium to improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in district.

A week after shutting out Palmview 55-0, McAllen came very close pitching back to back shutouts.

Sophomore running back Cole Morley powered the offense, rushing for 198 yards and five touchdowns on 11 carries.

EDINBURG — With its offense struggling to put the game away and scoreless in the second half, Edinburg High’s defense delivered the play the Bobcats needed.

Senior defensive end Uziel Flores scooped up a La Joya fumble off a botched toss and returned it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, providing the difference as Edinburg held off the Coyotes 24-17 Thursday night at Richard R. Flores Stadium.

The victory improved Edinburg to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in District 31-6A, while La Joya fell to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in district.

LA JOYA — Palmview went two consecutive games without putting a point on the scoreboard.

It took the Lobos less than three minutes Thursday night to change that.

Palmview recovered a muffed kickoff to open the game, Adrian Rivas turned the posession into one of his touchdowns on the night, rolling past Donna North 50-6 at La Joya Stadium.

The win snapped Palmview’s two-game skid following consecutive shutout losses to Rowe, 33-0, and unbeaten McAllen High, 55-0.

McALLEN — Seven games into the season, McAllen High has yet to lose.

Four times, its defense has pitched a shutout, marking McAllen’s first season with at least four shutouts since 1979.

The Bulldogs continued their unbeaten run Friday night, overwhelming Palmview 55-0 at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium behind six touchdown passes from junior quarterback Luke Laurel, five touchdown receptions from senior Joaquin Alvarez and another dominant performance from a defense that has become one of the defining pieces of McAllen’s season.

McAllen improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in District 16-5A Division I, remaining alone atop the district standings. Palmview dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in district.

For senior linebacker Hayden Helgeson, the formula behind the Bulldogs’ defensive success is not complicated.

“It comes from practice,” Helgeson said. “It comes from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We grind all week during practice. Every single day of practice was physical. All of our guys were working. We were working against the offense, the offense was working against us. It really just takes practice. That’s where it all comes from.”

PHARR — Harlingen High backup quarterback Alexester Serna Jr. spent all week long in limbo, with the status of starting quarterback Hassan Woolery in question due to injury.

Prior to kickoff Friday, the junior was told he’d see a majority of the snaps against top ranked PSJA North.

Serna did what was asked of him with his number called, leading a pair of scoring drives, while the defense forced five turnovers as the Cardinals stunned the Raiders 15-9 during a District 32-6A contest Friday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.

“It’s déjà vu,” Gomez said. “The same thing happened back in like the 90s. His dad was on my staff and he had to come in and play because the 6-foot-3 quarterback broke his thumb. His name was Nate Morton. He came in and led us 2-3 rounds into the playoffs. It’s beautiful. It’s awesome to see that happen with dad and son.”