UTRGV closed its inaugural regular season perfect at home, beating East Texas A&M 33–14 at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium. After falling behind 7–0, senior Logic Hudgens flipped the night with a 52-yard pick-six, and the Vaqueros rolled into halftime up 20–7. Kicker Brysen Gardner stayed automatic—career-high four field goals, from 31 and 36 plus two more after the break. Hometown QB Eddie Lee Marburger went 17-for-22 for 141 yards and two touchdowns—20 yards to Ismael Smith Flores, then 4 yards to Kyran Lee. Final tally: 9–3 overall, 5–3 in the Southland, tied for third with Lamar—and history made: the only FCS program to go undefeated at home in year one and the only debut team with more than seven wins. As Coach Travis Bush put it: “They came here on a dream—and set the standard.”

UTRGV finished the year tied for third in the SLC with Lamar, with both teams going 5-3 in league play.

The Vaqueros’ inaugural season also set multiple FCS records, becoming the only program to go undefeated at home in its first year and the only one to win more than seven games in its debut season.

“It’s just a special group, man,” Bush said. “Nobody knows outside of our building this group and what they’ve done. They came here on a dream. They came here on a vision, especially those seniors. They exemplify everything we want to be. We talked in a team meeting a year ago about looking for seniors with the mindset of coming in and setting the standard and foundation for this program and the future. That’s exactly what these guys did.”

CORPUS CHRISTI — McAllen Memorial closed a 9–3 season Friday at Buccaneer Stadium, falling to New Braunfels 63–29 in the UIL 5A Division I area round. With starting quarterback Kane Coy sidelined by a recent collarbone injury, sophomore No. 14 Vicente Valdez took the reins and kept the Mustangs organized, leaning into the team’s identity: a physical run game and clock-chewing drives.

New Braunfels landed first and often, capitalizing on an early turnover on downs and a muffed kickoff to build a 42–7 halftime margin. Memorial’s lone first-half score came after the Mustang defense forced a three-and-out and the ensuing punt glanced off a Unicorn blocker, setting the ball at the 1. Running back Braxton Speights powered in behind the offensive line to cut the deficit to two scores at the time.

PHARR - PSJA North left little doubt in its playoff opener, rolling past Mission 65–14 in a Class 5A Division I bi-district game Friday at PSJA Stadium.

The Raiders, now 11–0, scored on their opening drive and led 52–0 by halftime. Mission closes its season at 4–7.

PSJA North methodically moved from its own 23 to the Mission 3 on the first series, finishing with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by senior quarterback Daren Garcia for a 6–0 lead. After a defensive stop, Garcia capped another drive with a 1-yard score, and freshman tight end Jaxon Evans added a 2-point conversion to make it 14–0.

McALLEN — McAllen Memorial junior Braxton Speights remembers the last time the Mustangs squared off against Harlingen South. The then-freshman was on the sidelines in 2023 when the Hawks defeated Memorial 10-7 in the first round of the playoffs, ending the Mustangs’ season.

Speights and the Mustangs got their revenge Friday. The now-junior exploded for nearly 250 rushing yards and two touchdowns to lead Memorial past South 35-21 during a Region IV-5A DI bi-district contest at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“It’s great,” Speights said. “My first ever varsity game we lost against these guys in the playoffs. So today was kind of cool. That was the mentality today. We wanted to come out and get our get back.”

EDCOUCH - Sharyland Pioneer built a 35–0 lead and held off an Edcouch-Elsa rally to win 42–21 in a Class 5A Division II bi-district playoff game Friday at Benny Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium.

The win moves Pioneer to 7–4 and gives the Diamondbacks their third straight bi-district championship. Edcouch-Elsa finishes 6–5.

“Three bi-district wins, it’s a special group,” Pioneer head coach Eddie Galindo said. “It’s not an easy feat, but this group is resilient. They worked hard.”

EDINBURG — One year ago, the Edinburg Bobcats were bounced from the bi-district round of the playoffs at the hands of the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers.

On Thursday, the Bobcats got their get back by returning the favor with a 24-13 victory over the Chargers at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg to send EHS into the area round for the first time since 2010.

MISSION — Sharyland turned a Bi-District game into a track meet, unloading 42 first-half points and rolling past Brownsville Porter 56–7 Thursday at Rattler Stadium.

Senior QB Calvin Harris was surgical: 9-of-10, 275 yards, 3 TDs before halftime, plus a 10-yard rushing score. He hit Bruno Cavazos for a pair of 45-yard TDs, found Abram Carrasco for 65, and later connected with Sebastian Martinez on a 73-yard catch-and-go with 3:41 left in the second quarter to make it 35–0. Oscar Cantu tacked on a 29-yard burst just before the break for 42–0 and 469 first-half yards.

MISSION — Mission Veterans Memorial turned a tight first quarter into a runaway, powering past Brownsville Pace 41–14 on Thursday night at Tom Landry Stadium to advance in the Class 5A Division II bi-district round.

Senior RB Benji Martinez was the engine, ripping off chunk gains all night, including a 58-yard burst early in the third that broke it open. He finished with three rushing touchdowns and set up another score with a long catch-and-run.

Sophomore QB Roman Reyna added two touchdown passes — including strikes to Fernando Villarreal and Joey Hernandez — and kept Pace honest with timely keepers. “We spent all week watching film,” Reyna said. “If we executed, we’d get the dub — and we did.”

EDINBURG — UTRGV running back Nathan Denney looked primed for a big night early in Saturday’s conference game against Nicholls.

The graduate student exploded for a 12-yard carry on the game’s first play, then followed it with another run for a first down. The sequence set the tone for a career performance, as Denney rushed for a career-high 120 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vaqueros past the Colonels 28-14 at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium.

McALLEN — The Texas high school football playoffs might not start until next week, but Friday night’s rivalry clash between crosstown foes McHi and Nikki Rowe had all the feels of a win-or-go-home postseason game.

The Bulldogs secured their spot in the playoffs while also playing spoiler against the rival Warriors with a 23-7 win Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen. 

The victory locked the Bulldogs (7-3, 5-2) into the No. 3 seed in District 16-5A DI and bounced the Warriors from playoff contention. Rowe finishes its season 4-6 overall and 3-4 in district play.

EDINBURG — Weslaco High senior Chris Luna helped the Panthers capture their first district title since 2015 two years ago, coming down with an overtime interception that set up the game-winning touchdown.

Two years later, Luna helped the Panthers bring another gold ball back to Weslaco. This time, however, the third-year letterman did it from behind center, accounting for 131 total yards and three touchdowns to lead the Panthers past Edinburg Economedes 37-13 on Thursday at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.

PHARR, Texas — In a game that refused to slow down until the final horn, the La Joya Coyotes outlasted the PSJA Bears 48–40 on Friday night at PSJA Stadium to clinch a playoff spot in one of the wildest finishes of the 2025 season.

It had everything: a 21–7 PSJA lead, a goal-line stand, a safety, punishing runs, trick plays, a missed kick, and one last defensive stand that finally shut the door.

For La Joya quarterback Owen Benoit (5), it was the payoff to months of work.

McAllen Memorial outlasted Nikki Rowe 33–31 in triple overtime on Halloween night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, clinching the win on a sudden-death two-yard toss run by Braxton Speights after Rowe failed to convert.

Memorial opened fast behind a 50-yard first-quarter scoring run by Jayden Solis and a short Speights plunge, but Rowe answered with a balanced surge to lead 21–14 at halftime behind two touchdowns from Jose Jimenez and a 24-yard scoring strike to Landon Barrera. The third quarter was scoreless, and Memorial drew level 21–21 with 6:31 left after a turnover near midfield ignited a short march capped by another Speights run.

Sharyland quarterback Calvin Harris accounted for four touchdowns and the Rattlers broke open a one-score game after halftime to defeat crosstown rival Sharyland Pioneer 42–13 on Friday night at Richard Thompson Stadium.

The senior set the tone on the opening drive with a 10-yard keeper, then added rushing scores of 15 and 25 yards in the second half and tossed a 35-yard touchdown to running back Kevin Alaniz. Sharyland (7–3, 3–1 District 15-5A DII) scored 28 unanswered points after intermission to pull away in the Snakeskin Classic.

PHARR — The Rio Grande Valley and Coastal Bend’s best went toe-to-toe for four quarters Thursday night as the PSJA North Raiders grinded out a 19-10 win over Corpus Christi Flour Bluff at PSJA Stadium in a battle of unbeaten teams.

After PSJA North and Flour Bluff split last year’s District 15-5A DI championship three-ways along with Corpus Christi Veterans, it’s the Raiders who reign supreme in 2025. The district title is PSJA North’s fourth in-a-row.

“It’s just hard work, having a dog-mentality, and knowing that whenever you step onto the football field, we're violent," PSJA North's Isaiah Garza said. "Everyone in the Valley and everyone in the state is going to know that."

McALLEN — McAllen High leaned on its ground game and a poised senior quarterback to turn a back-and-forth first half into a 38–23 district win over Mission on Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium, clinching a winning season and keeping the Bulldogs firmly in the playoff chase.

Quarterback McCoy Wolthoff led the charge with two passing touchdowns and a 26-yard rushing score, spreading the ball to playmakers Cinco Jones, Hunter Morley, and Joaquin Alvarez behind a physical offensive line anchored by Bryan Bazan. The senior said afterward that the offense felt “clicked on all cylinders,” praising his teammates for making his job easier. “Shoutout to all of them — they’re dogs,” Wolthoff said. “Every single one of them can make a play, and it makes my job super easy.”

EDINBURG — After an explosive start to the season, UTRGV’s offense found itself in a bit of a rut when Southland Conference play began.

Last week proved to be its biggest struggle yet, totaling a season-low 183 yards and 21 points during a loss to Lamar.

The Vaqueros bounced back in a big way Saturday, erupting for 558 total yards and seven offensive scores as UTRGV routed defending Southland Conference champion UIW 56-28 during its first-ever homecoming game at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium in Edinburg.

LOS FRESNOS — Late in the second quarter, the Brownsville Veterans Chargers found themselves threatening to score and cut Los Fresnos’ lead to one possession before halftime.
A pass over Falcons safety Ryan Prepjechal set up the Chargers inside the red zone for their biggest scoring chance of the night.

The junior defensive back quickly bounced back from allowing the catch, however, intercepting a Jake Saenz pass in the end zone to keep the Chargers off the board.