PSJA North powers into area round to face New Braunfels

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PHARR — PSJA North has powered its way back into the area round of the state playoffs for the sixth time under ninth-year head coach Marcus Kaufmann.

A few of the Raiders’ seniors have been three– and four-year starters who have won a combined seven playoff games during the past three seasons, and now they’re looking to go out with a bang.

Standing in between PSJA North and a fourth consecutive regional semifinal playoff appearance, however, is the New Braunfels Unicorns.

Kickoff of the Region IV-5A DI area-round matchup between the Raiders (10-1) and Unicorns (8-3) is scheduled for 7 p.m. today at Calallen’s Danaher Stadium in Corpus Christi.

“As we get into big contests and into the playoffs, I use Steven (Garza), Jesse (Montez) and Ethan (Montemayor), I tell the team to watch those guys,” Kaufmann said. “When you get into a situation where you don’t know what to do, watch those guys. Follow their lead and they’ll take off, and they’ve done a great job leading this group.”

PSJA North linebackers Steven Garza, Jesse Montez and safety Ethan Montemayor are the leaders of the Raiders’ “Blackshirt Defense.” Montez has started since his freshman season, and Garza started as a freshman at PSJA High before becoming a standout defender as a sophomore at PSJA North. Montemayor, a junior, also has started in the secondary since his freshman season with the Raiders.

The linebacker duo flies around the field from sideline to sideline and shoots gaps with lightning speed to stop opposing offenses in their tracks. They’ve both recorded 100-plus tackles during each of the past three seasons and already have crossed that mark as seniors in 11 games this year.

Montez led PSJA North in total tackles as a freshman and junior, and Garza led the Raiders in total tackles as a sophomore and currently leads them again this season. Montemayor, meanwhile, patrols the secondary and steps up in run support as a hybrid safety. He currently ranks third on the team in tackles behind Garza and Montemayor with more than 100 stops this year.

“We go into the game thinking if they don’t score, they don’t win. Our mindset is to get them off the field, keep our offense on the field and we’re going to win that game,” Montez said. “Me and Steven match each other very well because we’re both aggressive, we like to compete and we like to hit the guy in front of us. At the end of the day, practicing with each other only makes us better.”

The trio will be key in Friday night’s matchup against New Braunfels, which uses a balanced offensive attack.

“Coaches put us in the right spot, and without them we wouldn’t be here,” Garza said. “They have trust in us, so we have to do what we have to do.”

“Those guys have been in the system for a while. This is their fourth and third years starting for us, and they’ve been around it a bunch, they’re able to make adjustments on the fly and able to play fast,” Kaufmann said. “What’s good about the PSJA North kids, kids from Pharr, Texas, they play hard and they play with a bunch of heart, so they got knowledge to go out there and execute at the highest level.”

On the other side of the ball, PSJA North’s offensive line suffered a significant loss in its season opener after Incarnate Word commit Jordan Brewster went down for the year due to a knee injury. Since then, the Raiders have patched their O-line and found a rhythm running the ball with backs Ethan Guerra and Andrew Alvarado, and quarterback Daren Garcia leads the passing attack with weapons at the skill positions.

New Braunfels finished third in District 13-5A DI with losses against San Antonio Pieper and Smithson Valley, two teams also competing in this weekend’s area round. The Unicorns defeated San Antonio Jay 56-16 in the bi-district round to set up the area matchup against the Raiders.

New Braunfels is scoring 38.6 points per game and averaging 223.7 passing yards and 179.6 rushing yards per contest, led by quarterback Clayton Namken (2,112 passing yards, 356 rushing yards, 33 total touchdowns) and running back Brock Stewart (800 rushing yards, five touchdowns). The Unicorns also allow 21.7 points per game defensively.

“They’re a very, very disciplined ball club. They’re not going to make mistakes, and they’re going to play the game by the book,” Kaufmann said about the Unicorns. “They play smart football, so we can’t make mistakes. If we make mistakes, they’re going to take advantage of them and make us pay. They don’t make many mistakes, so we just have to play our game — block, tackle and don’t turn it over.”

The winner between PSJA North and New Braunfels advances to next week’s regional semifinal round to meet the winner of Edinburg Vela and Smithson Valley, who play their area-round playoff game tonight in Edinburg.