"It was a defensive battle in the first quarter," said Offensive Coordinator Javier Cardenas. "Field position was bad for us in the first half, we got it on the five, on the seven, on the three. We started making plays in the second half and we took off from there."
Correspondents from KGSN of Laredo and South Texas High School Football were there in what was deemed The Game Of The Week by many across South Texas, and both the Panthers or the Eagles did not disappoint.
The Panthers struck first with several runs by running back Sergio Vela to get them inside the 10, but the Eagle defense would hold. They had to settle for a field goal to go ahead 3-0, but Richie Luna and Rey Rey Mendoza would hook up on a 70 yard bomb to put the Eagles in business and after a Dee Andre Torres two yard run, the Eagles would take a 7-3 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
In the third quarter, DeeAndre Torres continued his tear through District 29-AAAAAA defenses by breaking off runs of 50 and 23 yards to set up a 14 yard pass from Luna to Jose Riojas for the touchdown.
It wasn't all fun for the Eagles after several miscues, including a bad snap and a fumble recovery inside the Eagle five that the Panthers jumped out to a 24-14 lead quickly in the third quarter.
"We took over and had our third touchdown and began to wake up on offense," said Cardenas. The Eagles did first with a 10 yard TD run by Torres to make the score United South 24-Eagle Pass 21.
A freak accident on a tackle on Luna which affected his vision put him out for a spell, but DeeAndre Torres answered the call once again for the Eagles taking over the helm and leading the Eagles down the field just like our fight song says and culminating the drive with a 10 yard bubble screen to Rey Mendoza to put the Burnt Orange and White up 28-24.
The Panthers would score on a pass play in the fourth quarter taking a late lead with about six minutes remaining in the game 31-28, but Torres would cap off his late-game heroics by connecting on a forty+ yard pitch and catch on a fly pattern with Eagle Wideout Albert Guevara to seal the deal, end the drought and give the Eagles a 4-0 record heading into their big Homecoming game against the United Longhorns next week at Foster Veterans Memorial Stadium.