Todd's Take

PSJA’s Angel Marroquin fumbled and Pace recovered at the PSJA 46. The Vikings are driving …

PSJA stopped Pace’s Gabriel Soto a yard short of the first down on fourth-and-four at the PSJA 35 to dodge a bullet.

PSJA’s ball, now first-and-10 at its own 47 with 3:32 left in the third.

The Vikings recovered an onside kick and are driving inside the PSJA 35 …

The Vikings are on the board.

Gabriel Soto has just stunned PSJA with a 45-yard TD run withi 8:14 remaining in the third quarter. The Vikings were driving nicely on the first possession of the second half when Soto looked to be stopped for about two yards. But this time, it was PSJA that didn’t tackle and Soto kept his feet moving and broke through for the touchdown.

Let’s see how PSJA responds. Any Bear Pride out there?

It’s only 21-0, but it seems like it’s 42-0.

Pace, however, did have a chance to put some points on the board at the end of the half. The Vikings put together a nice drive, reaching the PSJA 27 with under a minute to play before halftime. But quarterback Juan Mendoza’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by PSJA’s Javier Sanchez to snuff out that threat.

Here’s some halftime stats to ponder:

First downs: Pace 4, PSJA 18
Rushing yards: Pace 37, PSJA 225
Passing yards: Pace 58, PSJA 15

The Bears have two 100-yard rushers. Justin Villanueva has 16 attempts for 106 yards, while Angel Marroquin has 6 attempts for 104 yards.

It was funny talking to PSJA coach Mel Rios yesterday for my game advance. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t convince me he was concerned about losing to Pace. He gave the whole coachspeak about any given Friday and you can’t take anyone lightly, but I could tell he didn’t have his heart into it.

Of course, Pace could make a game out of this in the second half. All it takes is a couple of crazy bounces.

Onto other things, I spotted former Monitor photo editor Larry Clubb on the sidelines. I didn’t work with him long, but he seemed to be a decent enough guy with an interesting haircut (not that I’m one to talk).

Now that I think about it, our previous two photo editors at The Monitor sported mullets, Larry and John Wayne Liston (before he cut off his signature mane). Liston is probably somewhere in Seattle wondering why the SuperSonics will be playing in Oklahoma City next season. Hey Rattlesnake, at least you got to enjoy Kevin Durant for one season.

Saw former Brownsville Lopez baseball coach Roy Rodriguez in the visitor’s press box. He’s working for Pace now or he thinks it’s St. Patrick’s Day. He greeted me with the “Remember me” question. In his case, I did. Earlier today, I stopped at the McAllen Convention Center to interview Micheal Ray Richardson, who coaches the CBA’s Oklahoma Cavalry. They (it) play the RGV Silverados tomorrow night. Someone at the arena watching practice also asked me, “Do you remember me,” but I didn’t and acted like I did. I do that a lot because I’m bad with names. I think it’s a part of the aging process. I usually just say, “Of course I do, coach,” because everybody likes to be called Coach, even if they’re not a coach.

I’m sure it goes both ways, where I remember someone who doesn’t remember me. I just don’t ask them if they remember me because it would be awkward if they don’t and then you have to try to explain why they should remember you.

Anyway, we also have some Laredo United scouts in the press box. They’re team is getting blasted by La Joya (La Joya?) so those guys probably wasted the school’s money on this trip. They’ll probably go to Hooters after the game. I would.

Back to my point, one of those scouts has a really bad cough. It sounds like he’s coughing up not one but two lungs. I just hope it’s not contagious.

All right. That’s it from halftime. And Crystal, if you’re reading this, I need help again on making my blog better with the bells and whistles. I’ll talk to you Tuesday before you leave early.

Nobody from Pace felt like tacking Angel Marroquin so he gladly accepted a 53-yard TD run and a 21-0 PSJA lead with 7:56 left before halftime.

Pace has just squandered a scoring chance with “Yellow Shoes” Arnold Aguirre coming up short on a 46-yard field goal attempt.

A Luis Vasquez sack of PSJA quarterback Juan Palomin and Clemente Rodriguez’s recovery at the Bears’ 33, but the Vikings couldn’t capitalize.

Justin Villanueva has 10 carries for 71 yards and two TDs for PSJA after one.

Legendary coach Steve Schnall is on hand. Wonder why he chose this game to come to?

Justin Villanueva capped a 12 play, 79-yard march with a 4-yard TD burst. Villanueva converted a fourth-and-inches at the 17 on the previous play with a 13-yard run.

Bottom line here is that Pace can’t fill the holes and, once a Viking gets to a ball carrier, he can’t bring him down.

At least Pace can say it made the 2007 playoffs.

The Bears drove 80 yards in 4 minutes, 40 seconds with Justin Villanueva scoring on a 3-yard TD run. Pace’s defense offered little resistance. This could be a long night for the Vikings.

One discouraging note for PSJA is that tailback Osvaldo Cantu limped off the field after a 6-yard run gave the Bears first-and-goal at the 3. He has missed time with an ankle injury.

Off to a bit of a late start here as I couldn’t find PSJA Stadium coming from the McAllen Convention Center instead of taking one of my usual routes here (either my residence or my office).

Once I arrived — after almost killing a dog in a cul de sac in Pharr — I found PSJA Stadium went from one of my favorite places to cover a game to the bottom of the list. Like many stadiums now, the “Press” box no longer contains the press. At least on the home side.

The stadium’s new scoreboard requires two desktop computers, whose monitors take up the entire press table in the home press box. Thus, the stadium can no longer have house the one reporter whose job is to make sure the people who can’t come to the game find out what happened on Friday night.

All right. Should be a good one. Actually, not really. This game should be a blowout. Check back for updates.