By: Jonathan Salinas

LA JOYA- Palmview Lobos coach Manuel Flores declined to comment to reporters after the game and quickly rounded up his team onto buses after squaring off with in-city rival Juarez-Lincoln Huskies.  Perhaps Flores was upset of the numerous opportunities his team failed to capitalize.  Maybe it was even the 54 yards in penalties his offense racked up with false starts and holding.

Running back Pedro Reyes, however, had to be one reason.

Reyes was unstoppable for the Huskies as he recorded 128 yards through the ground along with one touchdown early that came early in the second quarter.  Palmview defense allowed a total of 225 rushing yards as running backs Martin Diaz (42 yards) and Jose Rodriguez (55 yards) also joined the party.

Palmview suffered their third straight loss to Juarez-Lincoln Friday night as the Huskies managed to hang on to a 17-15 victory, despite a late comeback attempt by the Lobos, marking their second straight win for first year coach Tomas Garcia.

“Defensively…we (bent) but we didn’t break,” Garcia said after the game.  “I think that was critical and we got some stops when we needed to.”

The Huskies defense tried their best to contain elusive Palmview quarterback Sammy Bacilio as he carried the ball 26 times for 96 yards and went 13 of 31 with 184 yards through the air.  After two missed field goals by the Lobos special team unit, Bacilio and company marched down the field in the closing minutes of the second quarter to try and swing the momentum in their favor.  However, the Huskies defense tightened and stopped the Lobos’ threat at the one yard line to end the half.

The Lobos, however, were relentless.  With the clock winding down in the third quarter, Bacilio connected with receiver Ruben Ramos for a 48 yard touchdown to bring them closer, 12-7.  In the ensuing drive, the Huskies would answer with a 26 yard field goal by Jose Escareno to extend their lead 15-7.

With a little over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Lobos started their next drive from their own red zone in hopes of cutting their deficit.  On the other hand, the Huskies defense wasn’t feeling too generous.  Bacilio was sacked twice and flagged for intentional grounding forcing the Lobos to punt deep from their own territory and much like week one, it was a sign of trouble.  A bad snap over the punter’s head put Ivan Garcia in perfect position to score the Huskies’ final two points recording a safety putting them up 17-7 with 6:42 left to play.

Though the Huskies emerged victorious, they weren’t perfect as they were penalized 11 times for various reasons like taunting and unnecessary roughness which totaled for 110 yards.

“It’s an ugly win because we had a lot of mental errors,” Garcia said.  “What kills me is that a lot of those errors… (came) from late penalties like unsportsmanlike conduct or taunting.  That’s not going to be tolerated.”

With the help of a couple of “mental errors,” the Lobos were able to get well into Huskies territory and score their final touchdown with 1:17 left.  The onside kick, unfortunately, didn’t bounce their way making Coach Garcia sigh in relief.

“It was a little too close for comfort like last week,” Garcia said.  “But the (team is) showing a lot of character winning these two ball games.”

The Juarez-Lincoln Huskies will take their two game winning streak on the road as they get ready to face the Edinburg North Cougars at Cat Memorial Stadium of Thursday night while the Palmview Lobos host the Edinburg Bobcats.