Battle of Old 83

LA FERIA — There have been some classic battles between Rio Grande Valley football teams and some of them have catchy names. For example, La Villa and Santa Rosa ‘s game has been called the Sugar Bowl. Also, there is the battle of the Arroyo which includes Harlingen and San Benito. As for Mercedes and La Feria, they have a catchy name for their battle as well.
Both teams square off in the Battle of Old 83, Friday night at La Feria in the Mid-Valley Town Crier's game of the week.
Mercedes head coach Gilbert Leal explains how the name of the battle got started.

"Whenever La Feria and Mercedes played back in the day, there was no expressway and the only way to and from was on old 83," said Leal.

Last year, Mercedes (0-1) came out victorious 37-6 as the defense held La Feria to a measly 46 yards of total offense. Also, star running back Alex Treviño accounted for 133 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns on the night.

But, the Lions offense was impressive in last week's scrimmage against La Joya Lincoln-Juarez as they racked up 565 yards. Also, La Feria brings in a new offensive coordinator as Pete Martinez comes over from Los Fresnos.

"We have a very balanced offense this year and the kids are getting used to it," said La Feria head coach Elifonso Esquivel. "We did an excellent job against Lincoln and I saw some very good things come out of that. Hopefully, it will carry over to this next week and we can improve on last season's offensive output."

"Defensively, we have to stop the big three over there. Treviño is a big threat and he will get the ball quite a bit. However, we cannot only focus on him. Their quarterback Albert Chavez can throw the ball very well and their fullback Israel Vela is very good too. We are going to have to put ourselves in a position to make the plays."

La Feria is playing their first regular season game of the year while Mercedes is coming off a 54-26 loss to state ranked Port Lavaca Calhoun in the Texas Football Classic. The Tigers shot themselves in the foot as they fumbled the ball six times, which caused four turnovers and Calhoun converted into points each time.

"The main focus this week is not to turn the ball over," said Leal. "We did not execute last week and cannot do that against La Feria. These guys are well known year in and year out of having a good defense and they will come after you. Also, they are going to be fired up since this is their first game and it is at home. The kids always get excited about this game, as well as the community. It has become a friendly rivalry of sorts."