Santa Rosa, La Feria ready for Battle of FM 506

Source: Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TexasSept.迷你倉 20--One of the Valley's most heated, yet often overlooked rivalries takes center stage when Santa Rosa travels six miles south to take on La Feria in the Battle of FM 506 tonight, 7:30 p.m. at Lions Stadium.Tears of joy flowed from the Warriors' sideline last season when Santa Rosa ended a 20-year losing streak to the Lions with a 33-21 upset.With the memory of disappointment still clearly ingrained in their minds, Lions players and coaches alike are hell-bent on restoring order to this long-standing rivalry."We've been waiting for this game all year long," said La Feria senior quarterback Eric Cuervo. "It hit us pretty bad last year when we lost."It was hard knowing that we were the first team to lose (to them) in 20 years. We're just going to start the tradition over again."Even more embarrassing for La Feria was that Santa Rosa didn't win a single other game all season. That's right, the Warriors finished 1-9, with the one victory coming against a rival they hadn't beaten in two decades.How does that happen?The Warriors hit a season-high with 390 total yards against and gave up just 302, the second lowest total they allowed all season.La Feria coach Oscar Salinas took all the blame for the loss, admitting he may have let his team overlook their pesky little brothers from the North."I didn't have my team ready to play. (This time) we're going to come in ready to play," Salinas said. "It was difficult to lose to Santa Rosa but at the same time it put this program in a great perspective."It made us understand that if we don't show up, anybody can get beat."Santa Rosa's best offensive threat, senior quarterback/running back Adrian Canales, had arguably the best performance of his season last year against the Lions.The multi-purpose athlete went for a season-high 65 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight carries, while also hauling in a season-best four passes for 44 yards.It was the first game of his career to crack 100 yarmini storages from scrimmage, and the only time he did that last season. This year, Canales has already broken that barrier twice.He probably would have done it for a third time last week had the game not been shortened due to lightning.Canales feels there's no reason the Warriors can't knock off the Lions again. He's ready to do everything he can to prove last year was no fluke."I'm really excited for this game. I'm going to put in everything I got and do anything for my team to get that 'W.'" Canales said. "We can absolutely do it. We got everybody that we need."While the Lions's defense will certainly be keying in on Canales, the Warriors' front seven will have a similar dilemna in trying to slow down La Feria's Cuervo.Cuervo had four catches for 53 yards in last year's game as a receiver. The coaching staff moved him to quarter-back during the offseason, where he's made almost a seamless transition.Cuervo is among the District 32-3A leaders with 538 total yards."He's certainly an athlete. Whenever you can go from wide receiver to quarterback without missing a beat that's impressive," Santa Rosa coach Arturo Garcia said. "I looks like he's been doing it for years, not three or four games. We certainly respect his ability."Both adversaries come into this mid-season classic with matching 2-1 records.La Feria beat San Diego in its opener 28-0, blew a 14-point lead in a week one loss to Grulla 24-21 and then came back strong for a 12-0 victory against Mercedes in rain-shortened contest.Santa Rosa has reeled off back-to-back wins against La Villa (27-16) and Lyford (12-0) after dropping its season opener to Rio Hondo 26-16."It's an emotional thing," Salinas said. "You got to show up mentally and physically."The intensity is going to be in playoff mode. I'm sure the stadium will be at capacity, if not more."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) Visit Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas) at .valleymorningstar.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage