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.
Sharyland’s playoff run ended Friday in a 73–21 area-round loss to Gregory-Portland. The Wildcats jumped ahead early off short fields created by turnovers and never gave the Rattlers room to claw back.
Sharyland’s sparks came after halftime: Luis Mireles jumped a route for a 30-yard pick-six, and Calvin Harris hit Bruno Cavazos for a 35-yard score. The Rattlers also opened the night with a first-quarter touchdown to keep pace before the game tilted on takeaways and field position.
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.
SAN ANTONIO — There was a common theme across the Class 5A girls relays during the Region IV-5A & 6A Track and Field Championships.
Each time the first-place team crossed the finish line, it was clad in purple and gold with “McAllen” written across the uniform.
By the end of the meet, the Lady Bulldogs left little doubt they were top dogs on the track, as a sweep of the relay events helped McHi capture its third straight Region IV-5A team championship Saturday at Heroes Stadium.
McAllen High opened Saturday’s running finals with a statement in the 5A girls 4x100-meter relay, edging Leander Rouse for its first gold medal and state bid of the night.