Del Rio News Herald

There’s a lot of pride around the Del Rio sports community.

While much of it is directed at our beloved Rams football team, we cannot forget the fact that our boys and girls cross-country teams won our first district title of the year this weekend. That’s eight district titles in a row for the boys and three in a row for the girls.

Head coach Ric Smith has transformed those programs into some of the most dominant in the state and while the runners may not perform in front of thousands of people every weekend, they are still some of the best athletes we have in Del Rio.

Watching how the teams run as a family - pushing each other and rallying their teammates after crossing the finish line – shows you just how powerful the bonds created in sports are.

If you see these runners, congratulate them and wish them well at this weekend’s regional meet. A bid for state is on the line and Del Rio would like nothing better then to send two teams to the big meet Nov. 14.

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Speaking of pride, there was plenty of it on display Friday night at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium when the Rams varsity football team vied for the District 29-5A championship against the San Antonio Southwest Dragons.

I know there are still folks out there who feel Del Rio cannot compete against schools from the “big city” of San Antonio, but after a win against John Jay earlier this year and a tough nine-point loss to Southwest Friday night I think attitudes are changing.

While the score reflects the fact we lost, it does not reflect just how many chances we had to take control of the game and seize the district title. It came to taking advantage of the opportunities presented to each team. Southwest did that. We did not.

No one player or one play was to blame for this loss. A team wins and loses based on the performance of everyone involved. To point fingers at any single player or coach is ridiculous.

But while a district title would have been a great addition to the trophy case, and a nifty patch for a varsity jacket, a loss to Southwest is not the end of the world. The Rams will pick themselves back up, dust themselves off and finish the regular season at Laredo Martin before waiting to see which team out of District 30-5A they’ll face in the first round of the playoffs.

I was proud of how the team performed against Southwest, but it was even more impressed with the support the fans showed. The stadium was rocking and it was so loud it made talking on the sidelines difficult at times. That shows me this town cares about its team and isn’t treating Friday night football as just another chance to socialize.

I’d also like to commend the fans for taking the phrase “vote early, vote often” to new levels, as it was their work that brought San Antonio television station KSAT-12 to town to cover Friday night’s game as part of the channel’s “Big Game Coverage.” The movement started with school district superintendent Kelt Cooper. I just helped advertise it. But all of the fans – they’re the ones who did the hard part and took time out of their day, sometimes several times out of their day, to vote online and guarantee our boys got some of the recognition we all felt they deserved.

It would have been nice to cap it all off with a win, but I can promise you that no one will take the Rams lightly for a while after the showing they had Friday night.

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So about those playoffs … it’s one big ol’ mess in our district and in District 30-5A where our first playoff opponent will be coming out of.

In our district, 29-5A, Southwest and Del Rio are in. After that it’s complicated.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Laredo United is 4-2 while Eagle Pass High and Laredo Alexander are each 3-3. Alexander and United play each other this weekend while Eagle Pass gets United South.

Some scenarios are simple – United wins and they’re in. United wins and Eagle Pass wins, United and Eagle Pass are in. Alexander wins and Eagle Pass loses, United and Alexander are in.

The problem would arise if Alexander and Eagle Pass win because then there is a three-way tie between United, Alexander and Eagle Pass. It would then be determined by a points system based on who beat whom and by how much.

If Alexander beats United, and Eagle Pass beats United South, then Alexander and Eagle Pass are in because Eagle Pass beat Alexander by more points than United beat Eagle Pass.

Confused? Well there’s another scenario should Eagle Pass and Alexander lose.

If Eagle Pass and Alexander lose that means those two schools and Laredo United South would be tied for the final playoff spot at 3-4. And again it would come down to points as South would have to win by more than 22 points – the margin of victory Eagle Pass holds over Laredo Alexander – to leapfrog those two teams and claim the final playoff spot.

Over in 30-5A Sharyland, McAllen High and Donna are already in, but McAllen Memorial and Rio Grande City are tied for the final playoff spot with one game remaining.

According to RioGrandeValleySports.com, if Memorial and Rio Grande City both lose their final games then Rio Grande is in because they beat Memorial earlier this season. If Memorial wins and Rio Grande loses, Memorial is in. If Rio Grande wins and Memorial loses, Rio Grande is in.

If Memorial and Rio Grande both win … headache again … then it again comes down to the points system. Memorial would need to win its game by more than 10 points to take the final spot. If not, Rio Grande City gets in.

And then to cloud up the waters just a little bit more there’s the placement of the playoff teams in either Division I or Division II. Should Rio Grande City get in, they and Donna would play in the Division I bracket. If Memorial gets in, Sharyland and Donna would be Division I.

As for our teams, Del Rio is Division I and Southwest is Division II. If United gets in, they’ll be Division I. If Eagle Pass gets in, they’ll be in Division II. If Alexander gets in, they’ll be Division I. If South gets in, they’ll be in Division II.

And if I get all of that right, I’ll be amazed.

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One more thing and then I’m gone.

I know volleyball season is over, and I know we all wish the Queens were getting ready for the playoffs, but I want to congratulate the girls on their season and for the effort they put out there every time they took the court.

This district has some tough volleyball teams in it, but our girls went out and hung tough with them both in front of the home crowds at the Carl Guys Gym and on the road.

And while I’ve been apt to give credit to the girls on the front line or the girls who handled the serving duties, a lot of that wouldn’t have been possible without the work of a defender like Gabri Guerra.

Guerra thrives on defense, diving for serves and keeping the ball in play any which way she can. She didn’t get a whole lot of publicity, and that’s my fault, but she was a vital part of the Queens machine with her style of play. She’ll be joining the soccer program soon, where she’s earned all-district honors with her defense, so expect to hear more about her in the weeks to come.

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Information in this column was gathered from Laredo Morning News’ online edition (www.lmtonline.com) and from Rio Grande Valley Sports (www.rgvsports.com).

Brian Argabright has covered sports for the Del Rio News-Herald since 1996. “But That’s Just Me Talking” appears every Monday in the News-Herald. Contact the author at brian.argabright(at)delrionewsherald.com.

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