Every football fan knows ‘The Catch’…nothing has to be described or explained about Joe Montana’s game-winning touchdown pass in the 1981 NFC Championship Game to Dwight Clark. And while the stakes were not as high for Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest on Thursday night, the play might have been equally as good.
If not actually better.
In the fourth quarter of a tight District 16-5A Div. 2 game, Markus Luengo’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Luna gave Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest (San Juan, Texas) a 21-20 lead over Sharyland. They would win by that tight margin to improve to 2-8 on the season.
And while the Montana to Clark connection put the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, this one might actually have been the better overall play.
Wait a minute. Hear us out.
The throw by Luengo, after niftily escaping a would-be sack, was similar to Montana’s. Both quarterbacks had to roll to the right to make a throw intended for the back of the end zone. But the catch here by Luna, barely getting a foot down in the back of the endzone, gives the Thursday night play a bit of an edge.
Here’s the highlight play:
🚨 SCORE ALERT 🚨
Sharyland 20
PSJA Southwest 21
4QDistrict 16-5A Div. 2#PSJAFamily #PSJAProud #txhsfb #RGVFootball #956Football pic.twitter.com/XAQTnSNKEh
— PSJA ISD (@PSJAISD) November 3, 2023
Not to take anything away from Montana, however. He’ll likely pan out and have a decent career.
Here is the famous NFL play between Montana and Clark.
Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC Championship.
The Catch. 40 years ago today. (Jan. 10, 1982) pic.twitter.com/VRDS3SGfYO
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) January 10, 2022
Also, the mascot for Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest? They are known as the Javelinas, which is a kind of skunk pig. That’s pretty cool.
Truth be told, kind of cooler than a 49er…
