Del Rio News Herald

If Mission Sharyland’s offense is tough, then the Rattlers defense could be the team’s Achilles heel.

Del Rio is scheduled to face the District 30-5A third place team, Mission Sharyland, Saturday at 6 p.m. at D.W. Rutledge Stadium in Converse in the first round of the 2008 State Class 5A Football Playoffs.

The Mission Sharyland Rattlers finished the regular season 8-2 overall and were 5-2 in district. They finished third in District 30-5A behind district champs McAllen Memorial and runners-up McAllen.

The Rattlers’ defense surrendered an average of 27.5 points per game this season. Twice they allowed at least 45 points and had their worst outing against McAllen when they gave up 56.

While the team was listed as having four starters returning on the defensive side of the ball, reports out of that area said the number was actually closer to one. Because of that the team had to look at its offense to fill gaps.

One of those success stories was linebacker Aaron Alaniz.

Alaniz was a wide receiver last season but was moved to defense when the season began. While he struggled at first to learn the new position, he has since grown into one of the leaders of the group.

The most experienced returner on that squad is senior cornerback Sean Peterson.

Peterson was a Second Team All-District selection as a junior. In 2007 he racked up 45 tackles, two interceptions and recovered two fumbles.

Headed into this season he was listed by 5ATexasFootball.com as one of its Players to Watch in 2008. He’s held his own and has even done some damage on special teams as he has a 56-yard punt return touchdown to his credit.

Aside from Peterson, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine also listed defensive linemen Jisso Kim and Rodrigo Garcia as defensive players to watch.

Teams have been able to gouge the Rattlers and is inexperienced defense for big amounts of yards. Sharyland allows an average of 209.7 yards rushing and 160.6 yards passing per contest. That comes out to 370.3 yards total per game.

What’s kept Sharyland competitive is that the Rattlers defense is also opportunistic.

The unit has recovered six fumbles and picked off 14 passes this season including 10 against La Joya.

Nothing helps inexperience like practice and execution. Now with 10 games under their belt, the Rattlers defense might be a little more solid as it heads into Saturday’s playoff game against the Rams.

THURSDAY – A final look at the Rattlers.

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Editor’s Note: Stats for Mission Sharyland were only available through the team’s first nine games this season. The scoring averages were from all 10 games.

On the Net:

Rio Grande Valley Sports – www.rgvsports.com

MaxPreps – www.maxpreps.com

Texas High School Football – www.texashsfootball.com

5ATexasFootball.com

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Publisher: Joe San Miguel

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Del Rio, Texas 78840

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