Soon after traveling to Laredo, Texas to capture two more wins versus Mary Help Middle School (46-36) and United Day (43-22), the young and talented Eagles Orange and White teams had a one day break and went back to work at our local Melba Rivera Annual Tournament on Dec. 4-5.
The7th/8th tournament included teams from Del Rio, Uvalde, La Pryor and Eagle Pass Jr. High and Memorial Jr. High as well.
    Tournament action for 7th graders commenced with the battle of the undefeated, as the Uvalde Coyotes squared off against the Eagles Orange on Friday.  While Uvalde presented a very tough match up early on, the Eagles proved they were well prepared and were not about to allow their first loss of the season, as they handed Uvalde their first loss in a (45-28) victory.  The initial game was followed by the undefeated Eagles White squaring off against another undefeated Uvalde B team.  Eagles White controlled the action and handed Uvalde B their first loss as well in a (38-24) battle.
    The Eagles Orange faced the Del Rio Rams in their second encounter on Friday and proved that they had a different goal in mind as they capped off Friday's action by beating the Del Rio Rams (55-14) and advancing to potentially win it all in a final game on Saturday vs. the Memorial Mavericks.
    Tournament action resumed Saturday morning at the SAC where the Eagles White matched up against a very tough and big La Pryor A team responsible for handing Del Rio B and the Memorial Mavericks B their first tournament losses on Friday.  Unfortunately for La Pryor, the young Eagles White proved they also had other plans in mind, as they advanced by defeating La Pryor A and handing them their first loss in a (36-17) victory. While the Eagles Orange only had the Memorial Mavericks remaining on their schedule of teams to beat on Saturday, the Eagles White waited to meet the winner of Uvalde and La Pryor in the Championship on that very same Saturday.  A strong and resilient Uvalde B team ended up beating the strong La Pryor A team only to square off against the Eagles White once again in the championship game of the second bracket.
    Finally, as the Eagles Orange and White teams both managed to remain on their respective Winner's tournament brackets, final championship tournament action was set for 1:00 and 2:00 pm on Saturday at our very own Student Activity Center, with both Eagles Orange and White teams advancing to championship games.
    The Eagles Orange secured the first Melba Rivera Championship crown by defeating the Mavericks convincingly in a (56-25) victory and improving their record to (6-0), while the Eagles White team proved they wanted more of the same as they eliminated Uvalde B by a score of (18-15) in a very hard fought defensive battle, which ultimately ended with the Eagles White team capturing a second MR Championship while improving their record to (6-0) as well.
Coach R. Rodriguez has set high expectations for his young Eagles 7th team. They will continue to diversify their offense, while they work hard to strengthen their defense, as they look to add to their success in the future.  The young 7th grade Eagles combined efforts improve to an impressive 12-0 overall record, as they not only captured one, but two championship titles.  
    On behalf of Coach Rodriguez and all his players, a special  thanks to all the parents and friends who showed their  support throughout the entire weekend  tournament, as they proved to be the loudest fans of all in the entire 7th Boys Melba Rivera tournament.  Congratulations to all the players and families.  Go Eagles!!!