Fear of Mexican drug cartel leads to football game cancellation in Texas

A Texas team will have an unexpected bye this weekend because of an anonymous threat feared to be made by a Mexican drug cartel.

Stony Point's (Round Rock, Texas) game against Monterrey Tech has been canceled after the Mexican school received an anonymous phone call last week demanding $30,000 to safely cross the border into the United States, according to the Austin-American Statesman.

School officials believe that the Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel, may have been responsible for the call.

The newspaper reports that when Monterrey Tech played Highland Park in the Dallas area last weekend, the team flew rather than attempting to drive across the border and pass through the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, a stronghold for the Zetas.

Monterrey Tech has also traveled to other Texas cities over the last two seasons, including The Woodlands, Brownsville, and Corpus Christi.

The bye gives Stony Point an extra week to prepare for nationally-ranked DeSoto, which Stony Point beat twice last season.

Although Texas schools traditionally fare well against their Mexican counterparts, a victory against Monterrey Tech would have been far from guaranteed for Stony Point.

In the team's season opener, a missed field goal by Nuevo Leon allowed Stony Point to hang on to a 16-14 victory.