09/11/2026
The La Joya Coyotes (2-1) rode a dominant first half performance to a 48-21 rout of the Brownsville Pace Vikings tonight at La Joya ISD Pack Stadium.
Coyotes' head football head coach Reuben Farias told the Progress Times after the game although he was “pleased” with how the game started, he “didn’t like the way we started the second half.”
“Overall I was pretty pleased [with the result],” Farias said. “I told the young men [that] we need to get better …and just keep building and learning from our mistakes.”
Farias stated to the Progress Times that although his backups played the second half, he “still expect[s]” a higher playing level from everyone on the team.
Senior quarterback Owen Benoit ran in for a touchdown and threw two TD passes tonight, one to his brother, sophomore WR Stuart Benoit. Asked about it after the game, he said he “can’t explain the happiness I have right now.”
“Very pleased with the way we played today,” Benoit said. “It’s very special for me to get to share the field with [Stuart].”
Benoit did not play the second half, as the Coyotes were up 38-7 at the half.
The Coyotes defense held firm tonight as they forced two fumbles as a unit and held the Vikings to 21 points. La Joya’s special teams unit also blocked two punts and executed a fake punt for a first down.
Senior DB Leo Maldonado was the fake punter on that play, and he praised his team’s efforts on defense and special teams, stating “we came into this game ready.”
“We knew [Pace] was a good run team,” Maldonado said. “It just gets everyone hyped coming out [like that] and gets us going.”
As for the fake punt, he said “All I can say is I saw green, and I saw the edge, and I thought ‘I got this’.”
The Coyotes broke the scoring on the opening drive, with senior RB Fabian Arjona and Benoit breaking out for big runs. This culminated in a 28 yard bomb by Benoit to Perez for the first score. The extra point was good to open the game 7-0 La Joya on top.
The Coyotes extended their lead after forcing a Pace three and out, handing the ball to Arjona who ran it 41 yards into the end zone, to push the lead to 14-0 after the extra point.
After a Pace fumble, La Joya marched down to the field where Perez ran from 11 yards out for the Coyotes’ third touchdown of the game. Perez later caught the fourth on the next drive, this time from seven out to make it 28-0 La Joya.
The Vikings went three and out on their next drive. Sophomore Isaac Segura blocked the punt to put the Coyotes in the red zone for the next series. Benoit then found his brother for a four yard TD pass, making it 35-0 after the XP.
Pace finally found the end zone after senior QB Juan Hernandez passed the ball 19 yards to sophomore WR Stryker Gomez, closing the gap to 35-7 La Joya. The Coyotes then got into field goal range on the next drive, drilling a 40 yard FG to close out the first half up 38-7.
Both sides traded scores to start the third quarter. It opened with a lateral to Perez on third down and he ran it 80 yards for the touchdown. On the next drive, Pace ran down the field and did not pass once, scoring on a keeper by Hernandez, making it 45-17 Coyotes. Closing the third quarter, Maldonado took the ball to the 49 on a fake punt.
The opening of the fourth quarter progressed in much a similar manner. The Coyotes opened the fourth quarter with a 26 yard field goal, which was later answered by an 11 yard touchdown run by Pace’s Torres. The game ended in a 48-21 victory for La Joya.
The Coyotes travel to Richard Thompson Stadium in Mission next Friday to face off against the 1-1 Sharyland Rattlers. That game kicks off at 7 p.m..
Here are some photos from tonight's game. To view more, click here:
https://progresstimes.smugmug.com/Sports/LaJoya/September-10-2026-Football-La-Joya-vs-Pace-MM
Recap by Ali Halloum
Progress Times photos by Mario Magallon.
