DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
ELSA — Edcouch-Elsa found the win column in memorable fashion Friday night, thanks to a 15-14 overtime decision over Edinburg North on a wet and dark evening at Benny Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium in Elsa.
And it came down to a gutsy call to go for a two-point conversion in OT, trailing 14-13 with an extra-point pending following a 45-minute lightning delay.
“The decision (to go for two) was made well before,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “Our placeholder (junior Moses Gomez) got ejected (early in the first half for allegedly throwing a punch), and the backup is a sophomore. We didn’t want to put him in that situation.
“Logic says go for two. It was a no-brainer for us.”
It enabled the Yellowjackets to get their first win of the season after their first 0-2 start since 2009, and handed the Cougars their first loss of the season.
North coach Rene Saenz, however, said the game was determined well before the two-point conversion. After playing with fate with two nail-biting comebacks in their first two games, the Cougars were finally bit.
“We lacked offensive execution. The inconsistency there … we just need to get better,” Saenz said. “They’re talented. But we made a lot of mistakes, missed a ton of tackles, and we just need to do a better job.”
Scoreless heading into the final 150 seconds of regulation, Edcouch-Elsa thought it had a win wrapped when quarterback Marco Aguinaga capped off a gusty, physical drive with a 2-yard TD with 2:20 left.
But Edinburg North responded, as it had done the previous two games when it rallied to secure close wins over Los Fresnos and Brownsville Rivera.
Methodically, like both teams had done all night, the Cougars drove down the field until Michael Cantu made a highlight-reel 26-yard catch just inches from out of bounds to tie things and send the game into overtime, North’s second of the season and Edcouch-Elsa’s first.
North struck first in the extra session, again in impressive fashion, when Cantu alertly snared a botched snap on a gimme field-goal attempt and raced 16 yards to the outside for the score.
It didn’t take long for the ‘Jackets to answer. Three plays from scrimmage later, Aguinaga found the end zone again, this time a 27-yard burst down the left sideline. That’s when the game was delayed for 45 minutes because of lightning.
But the precocious sophomore finally put the game away. Despite a false start penalty that pushed the 2-point attempt five yards back, Aguinaga (23 carries, 159 yards, 2 TDs) found a crease and scored.
“It’s a momentum-booster,” Marichalar said. “Our community needed something like this, and we deserved one. We needed it, man.
“Give credit to the kids. They came out here and played.”
PROBLEMS ON THE RUN
Edinburg North is a team that wants to run teams over, but that has been difficult this season. Just one starter returned to the offensive line.
The Cougars were averaging 3.5 yards per carry heading into Friday’s game. It fared better against E-E, rushing for 248 yards on 48 carries (5.2 yards per rush), but Saenz was still unsatisfied.
“We’re better offensively than we’ve shown the last couple of weeks,” Saenz said. “Getting that ground game will open things. It comes down to discipline.”
STEPPING UP
E-E’s starting kicker, Mauricio Ochoa, tweaked an ankle this week, but Giovanni Cardenas and Adrian Rodriguez stepped right in.
Cardenas drilled the extra-point on Aguinaga’s first TD late in the fourth quarter. Rodriguez, a talented soccer player, showed good strength and kept Edinburg North from favorable field position on kickoffs and as a punter.
UP NEXT
Edcouch-Elsa has a bye next week and will start District 32-5A play Sept. 25 at PSJA High.
Edinburg North closes its non-district slate next week at McAllen Memorial on Thursday.