MISSION — For a second straight game, the Sharyland High Rattlers found themselves with a big lead at the break.

For a second straight game, the Rattlers saw that lead disappear in the second half, with their opponent battling back to make it a tight contest late.

For a second straight game, Sharyland High found a way to close out with a win, holding off the Gladiators’ second-half comeback attempt for a 41-34 District 16-5A DII win Friday at Richard Thompson Stadium in Mission.

PHARR — The last time Mission Veterans walked off the field at PSJA Stadium, the Patriots had just been handed a 56-14 loss by PSJA North.

Mission Veterans head coach David Gilpin said that night forced his young team to make a choice.

“PSJA North gave us a wake-up call,” Gilpin said. “We’re either going to strap up and we’re going to go out there, we’re going to go toe to toe with whoever’s in front of us, or we’re going to have to go hide somewhere. And our kids made a decision to come out swinging. And they have ever since.”

The Patriots haven’t lost since.

Mission Veterans picked up its fourth straight victory Friday night, defeating PSJA Southwest 44-20 in a District 16-5A DII contest at PSJA Stadium.

McALLEN — The McHi Bulldogs found themselves in an unfamiliar spot for the first time this season — behind on the scoreboard — during the first quarter of their District 16-5A DI rivalry game against Nikki Rowe.

The deficit would last just one snap and 22 seconds, however, as McHi running back Cole Morley proceeded to rip off a 66-yard touchdown run on the very next play, re-taking the lead before leaving Rowe in the dust for a 33-7 rivalry win Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

After delivering a 34-14 beat down of one of their crosstown rivals McAllen Memorial a week ago, the Bulldogs took care of business against the Warriors to claim their first city championship in four years.

LOS FRESNOS — From the game’s opening drive, Edinburg Vela Caidyn Hoover made his presence felt.

The SaberCats two-way star came up with the game’s first two tackles, including a big hit in the back field on second down.

Hoover was only getting started.

Four plays later, the senior was sprinting his way to the end zone for a 59-yard pick-6, giving the Falcons an early 7-0 lead.

The defensive touchdown was a sign of things to come, with Hoover accounting for all of Edinburg Vela’s touchdowns during a 49-42 win over the Falcons on Friday at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium in Los Fresnos. Hoover finished with four passing touchdowns, two rushing and one defensive touchdown during the win.

MCALLEN — For most of his varsity career, Braxton Speights had a familiar group around him; the same group of guys he had grown up playing football with. That group, the class of 2025, closed out their time together as undefeated District Champions last season, a fitting climax to years spent growing up in the game side by side.

This year is different.

The McAllen Memorial senior running back is now one of the veterans on a Mustangs team featuring several players getting their first taste of varsity football. For Speights, that has meant taking on a bigger responsibility beyond simply carrying the football.

“Nothing crazy,” Speights said. “But there’s obviously a lot of young guys, a lot of guys that don’t have varsity experience. So it’s been really just coaching them up and trying to get them ready for the moment.”

WESLACO — PSJA North seemed headed towards back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since 2019 late Friday.

An interception by Weslaco High’s defense put the ball in the Panthers’ hands with a chance to chew up the clock and hand the Raiders a second straight loss.

The Raiders had other plans.

With their backs against the wall, PSJA North’s defense responded with back-to-back punts and an interception, while the defense scored two four quarter touchdowns as the Raiders rallied past Weslaco High during a non-district game at Bobby Lackey Stadium in Weslaco.

MISSION — For one half, Sharyland looked like it was going to run away with Friday night’s game against La Joya.

By the end of the fourth quarter, the Rattlers were just trying to survive.

Sharyland watched a 28-point halftime lead disappear before sophomore quarterback William Taylor delivered again in overtime, helping the Rattlers escape with a 42-41 win over the Coyotes at Richard Thompson Stadium.

“The game is never over until the clock hits zero,” Taylor said. “It’s never over. Gotta fight every single play, going 100 percent.”

McALLEN — Hate may be a strong word, but when it comes down to crosstown rivals McHi and McAllen Memorial, it fits.

The Bulldogs and Mustangs locked horns to open district competition Friday night, and for the first time since 2022, McHi finished on top, defeating Memorial 34-14 at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in this year’s “Battle of the M.”

“Our coaches prepped us well,” sophomore running back Cole Morley said. “We really hate them, so there was a lot of hate going into it and we knew we had to win.”

MISSION — Weslaco East defeated Sharyland Pioneer Thursday night at Richard Thompson Stadium 32-13 in a non-district game. 

The Wildcats (2-2) played solid defense, had takeaways and fourth-down stops that led to points which was the big difference Thursday night in the Wildcats’ win over the Diamondbacks (2-2). 

Sharyland Pioneer had some late fourth-quarter hope when junior running back Cole Scurlock broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run with nine minutes left in the fourth, that made it 32-13. A stop and score could have made it a two-possession game, but the Wildcats killed the entire clock with a nine-minute drive to win the game. 

“It was a hard-fought win. First off, Pioneer is a very well-coached team. Overall, there is some things we have to fix with our team. I felt like early their was some execution problems that we are going to have to fix, but overall I like how we came out in the second half and executed when we needed to, to finish this game.” 

MISSION — For a second straight week Mission Veterans found itself with its back against the wall late, needing a score to earn a win.

For a second straight week the Patriots completed the comeback, with junior quarterback Roman Reyna orchestrating a seven-play, 66-yard drive in the final four minutes, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Joseph Vasquez as Mission Veterans rallied past the Los Fresnos Falcons 35-31 during a non-district contest Thursday at Tom Landry Stadium in Mission.

“We just wanted to control the ball, make sure we don’t fumble and drive down the field,” Reyna said. “We tried chewing up as much clock as we could and try to get that last possession to score. Our defense did their thing too and we came out with that win.”

McALLEN — Los Fresnos quarterback Evan McChesney threw five touchdown passes and two-way player Ryan Prepejchal hauled in three as the Falcons soared past the McAllen Memorial Mustangs 54-20 during a non-district game Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen.

The win improves the Falcons to 3-0 on the year, while dropping the Mustangs to 1-2.

McChesney and Prepejchal connected early and often during the first half, with the two hooking up three times to send Los Fresnos into the break with a 35-14 lead.

It’s been three years since McHi has gotten off to a 3-0 start, but the 2026 Bulldogs are moving a bit different.

McHi has been one of the most dominant teams across the state over the first three weeks of the Texas high school football regular season, outscoring opponents 136-0 following a 35-0 beatdown of the PSJA Bears on Thursday at PSJA Stadium.

While the numbers are nice, the Bulldogs have been anything but on the gridiron.

“We’re harping on, especially us captains, we’re harping on being the most physical team in the RGV,” senior linebacker Hayden Helgeson said. “That’s what we want to be. We want to be those guys and we want people to be afraid of us.”

EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela’s Caidyn Hoover didn’t plan on switching positions heading into the 2026 season. Just one year after leading the state in interceptions, the SaberCats senior was asked to move to quarterback for his final year.

Despite being reluctant at first, Hoover made the move for his team, stepping into the QB1 role for Vela.

Hoover’s move paid dividends Thursday, leading the SaberCats to a 42-40 win over the PSJA North Raiders during a non-district game at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.

“I had to do it for the team,” Hoover said. “I didn’t want to move after what I did last year. Being able to move to quarterback though, it shows the type of player I am. It shows I can play anywhere on the field for the team.”

McALLEN — Weslaco High’s Malachi Rodriguez made himself at home in the end zone during Week 1. The junior running back crossed the goal line three times during the Panthers’ season opener against Weslaco East.

Rodriguez delivered an even better encore performance in Week 2, scoring four of the Panthers’ seven offensive touchdowns during a 55-7 thrashing of McAllen Memorial on Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“I’m blessed to have him alongside me,” Weslaco High quarterback Lupe Granados said. “He’s a dawg. He’ll run through anyone. He’ll do anything to protect me and I’ll do anything to have his back.”

MISSION — PSJA could not have asked for a much worse start Friday night.

The Bears turned the ball over on each of their first two possessions and quickly fell behind 10-0 to Sharyland Pioneer.

They never lost their composure.

PSJA settled in, fought its way back and scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter to beat Pioneer 31-24, giving first-year head coach Horacio Garza his first win with the Bears.

“There was a lot of emotion, a lot of intensity,” Garza said. “We kind of started off a little slow, a little sluggish. The kids did a great job staying poised, staying under control. Defense bailed us out a few times. It just kind of took a little time to get our footing.”

MISSION — Sharyland looked like it had control of Thursday night’s game more than once.

Brownsville Hanna just kept coming back.

The Rattlers built a two-touchdown lead three different times, but needed one final defensive stand — and a bizarre ending — to hold off the Golden Eagles 34-28 at Richard Thompson Stadium.

Hanna had driven inside the Sharyland 15-yard line in the final seconds and appeared to have one last chance to take the lead. After completing a pass over the middle on third down, the Golden Eagles hurried to the line and spiked the ball.

The problem was, it was fourth down.

The spike counted as an incomplete pass and turned the ball over to Sharyland, ending Hanna’s comeback attempt.

Sharyland head coach Craig Krell said he had never seen a game end quite that way.

PHARR — PSJA North quarterback Drayden Espinoza heard the noise heading into his junior season. The third-year letter winner entered 2026 with big shoes to fill, with many doubting what he could do as the Raiders’ QB1.
Preseason lists rarely mentioned the dual-threat quarterback after he saw limited time at the position during his first two seasons.

Espinoza has silenced the doubters through the first two weeks of the regular season, delivering back-to-back multi-touchdown performances, including a 340-total-yard, four-touchdown outing Thursday during a 56-14 beatdown of Mission Veterans at PSJA Stadium.

“I’ve been doubted a lot, especially with the rankings,” Espinoza said. “People are ranking me at the bottom. I took that personal because I am the No. 1 quarterback and I believe that for myself. It was an amazing performance for me, but also for my team.”

McALLEN — Through two weeks of the Texas high school football regular season, the McHi Bulldogs are yet to surrender a single point defensively.

Offensively, the Bulldogs haven’t been too shabby, either.

McHi put together another dominant performance to start the 2026 season by pitching a second straight shutout, this time against Edinburg North, in a 60-0 victory Thursday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs have now outscored their first two opponents by a combined score of 101-0.

“The kids are playing well right now,” McHi head coach Patrick Shelby said. “It’s not easy to not give up any touchdowns, especially two weeks in a row. Through the grace of God and keeping our guys healthy, our practice habits are good, their film habits are good and they’re excited, and that’s what’s keeping these guys going.”