In 1957, Eloy Garza sat in the stands in Edcouch and watched his first game of the Edcouch-Elsa–Mercedes football rivalry.
Garza understood the significance of the sights taking place before him, though he just was in the fourth grade. There was Domingo Sanchez, the Yellowjackets’ top playmaker, starring on the same field as the Hinojosa brothers, Ruben and Oscar, wearing the burnt orange of Mercedes.
It was the 10th meeting between the teams, an early stage of a rivalry that would help define Valley football.
“Even then as a young child, I knew that the Mercedes game was a big game,” said Garza, a 1966 Edcouch-Elsa graduate who retired from teaching social studies in 2001. “Just talking to the people in my community, my neighbors … Domingo Sanchez lived a half-block away. My neighbor Cesar Salinas was a guard on the team. The Hinojosa brothers had come from Edcouch-Elsa.
“This was about two communities who loved their football.”
When current Mercedes head football coach Mike Uribe, going into his sixth year at the helm, speaks of the rivalry, he often uses the cliché, “It’s more than just a game.” But clichés exist for a reason, and when it comes to these two, it’s appropriately applicable.
“The atmosphere of that game is like no other,” said Uribe, who played for the Harlingen Cardinals in the late 1980s and was involved in another prominent rivalry then, Harlingen-San Benito. “Edcouch-Elsa is always on the top of our minds because of the rivalry. I think it’s great for the kids to have that type of intensity.
“It’s something they can talk about the rest of their lives.”
It speaks to Mercedes’ earlier dominance that Edcouch-Elsa’s record in the overall series is a tight 32-28-1 in spite of the Yellowjackets winning 14 of the last 17 affairs.
THE BEGINNING OF BATTLE
The Edcouch-Elsa–Mercedes rivalry began in 1948 with a 6-0 decision in the Tigers’ favor. Today it is recognized as one of the Valley’s premier tussles, but it wasn’t always that way. In the 1960s, the two teams were in the same district as Donna, and those were always looked at as the big games.
Neither team had much success beating the Redskins back in a time when only one team from each district qualified for the playoffs. Edcouch-Elsa, for instance, lost to Donna 12 years in a row after beating it in 1959.
“You talk to some of the older guys around town, and the rivalry they actually had was with Donna,” said Joe Marichalar, a native of Edcouch-Elsa and former linebacker great now serving as the varsity program’s head coach. “They got jacked up for that. I don’t know when Mercedes became the rivalry, but it is now, so we’ll run with it.”
Due to its dominance during that time, Donna was seen as more of a bully, and because it, along with Weslaco High, grew faster, the game between Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa manifested into something greater.
“Just look at the district then and now … Roma and Rio Grande City are at the other end of the Valley, the Mission schools have always been bigger than we are, Donna and Weslaco and whoever else before grew bigger and bigger early on,” Garza said. “The teams that have been locked at the hip in this district were Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa.”
The star years of the rivalry, when both teams were playing at a high level, were during the ’80s and ’90s, specifically when Edcouch-Elsa head coach Robert Vela went up against Mercedes head coach Pete Vela.
Brother versus brother amidst the war of a heated rivalry.
“The coaches never wanted to put added pressure on us, but it was understood that it meant a lot to Pete,” said Mike Gonzalez, a 1989 Mercedes graduate who was an all-state linebacker and three-year varsity letterman. “He wanted to win. He wanted to beat his brother, and I’m sure his brother felt the same way.”
Pete Vela went 1-1 as head coach against Robert, who passed away in 2007, and Edcouch-Elsa. The fact that the series meant so much to the communities only added to the fire.
“It was so intense, that when we played each other the stands on each side, wall-to-wall, were filled with people,” Pete Vela said. “I’ll never forget this … we were leaving to go to the game at Edcouch-Elsa one year, and there was a huge sign on one of the local banks that read ‘Last one out, turn off the lights.’ That community support was just huge. Huge.
“Entertainment was Friday night football.”
Mercedes won the district championship in 1985 and 1988. Edcouch-Elsa won the title in 1989. It didn’t take long for either of the Velas to get acclimated to how serious it was.
“When I first got an inkling was when the school boards for each high school had an ongoing bet,” Vela said. “Whoever lost would serve the other at the school cafeteria in the hometown of the winner.
“It was a friendly bet that was peculiar, but as we started playing the games we started to see the kids had an intense will to win.”
GAME ON
Joe Solis, head coach at Edcouch-Elsa from 2003-2012, went 8-2 against Mercedes and is, far and away, the winningest coach in the Yellowjackets’ illustrious history.
He has been a part of great rivalries in the Valley; having worked in Los Fresnos, Donna and Weslaco, he saw how important Los Fresnos-Port Isabel and Donna-Weslaco was. Now a rancher in Willacy County after being removed from his Edcouch-Elsa post last December, memories from the Edcouch-Elsa–Mercedes tangles are what he remembers most.
In particular, Solis brings up the game in 2008, when Mercedes was on top of the District 32-4A world with its talented duo of quarterback Albert Chavez and running back Alex Treviño.
“They were supposed to have the best team ever that year,” Solis said. “I really felt that we were outmatched. They had the size and speed. The community was concerned if we could stop them.”
And yet, Edcouch-Elsa won, and won big. Fifty-one to 25, to be exact.
“Edcouch-Elsa has always been known for its defense, and that was being questioned,” Solis said. “I told them, ‘No matter. We’ll take care of business.’”
It’s a game that also looms big in the mind of Ysmo Ybarra, a 1983 Edcouch-Elsa graduate who had two sons play for the Yellowjackets. Ysmael played on that 2008 Edcouch-Elsa team as a strong safety.
“My son got two fumbles (recoveries) that night,” Ybarra said. “Their great quarterback (Chavez) was running out of bounds. My son told me, ‘Dad, he wanted no part of us.’”
Gonzalez’s big-game moment came in his senior year in 1988, a 16-6 Mercedes decision in a year the Tigers took home the district title.
It was the only time Gonzalez was on the winning side of the rivalry.
“Just to get a win against those guys was awesome,” Gonzalez said. “There was always pressure. You knew your neighbors wanted you to win.
“You didn’t want to go to church on Sunday and face these people, knowing you had just lost to Edcouch-Elsa.”
That 1988 contest is special in Vela’s heart for another reason. It was the first time he and his brother Robert went against each other as head coaches.
“It was very unique,” Vela said. “Two brothers going against each other, especially in a big rivalry like that. Robert was very intense. He hated to lose and he took it personal.
“The difference between he and I is I wasn’t as intense as he was. To me, you lose a game and the sun still comes up the next day.”
For older gentlemen like the 66-year-old Garza, however, there was perhaps no more memorable game than in 1959, when Edcouch-Elsa beat Mercedes 36-6 after losing to it the previous two years. That ’59 ’Jackets team is regarded as one of the program’s finest, but Mercedes was a factor otherwise.
“That year, a political decision was made to play our home bi-district playoff game against Sinton somewhere else, because our stadium was so small,” Garza said. “We could’ve played anywhere, Edinburg, Weslaco … you know where we played? Mercedes! So we play Sinton at Mercedes, who had a nice stadium but not much bigger than ours, and we lose 30-28. There were four TDs of ours called back; flags all over the place.
“In Mercedes.”
ONE AND THE SAME
As heated as the rivalry has become, it is not poisonous. That is largely due to the fact that there are many family ties within the two communities, which are similar not only via population but also by economic settings.
The Hinojosa brothers of Mercedes lore got their start in Edcouch-Elsa. Albert Chavez’s father was a student under Garza and was from Edcouch-Elsa. Gonzalez’s mother was from Edcouch-Elsa and his father was from Mercedes.
Women from Mercedes marrying men from Edcouch-Elsa, or vice versa, were a dime a dozen. Kids from Mercedes grew up in the same circumstances, more or less, as the kids in Edcouch-Elsa, with sports the one binding element.
Sure, there is mischief involved. Like the time in 2005 when Edcouch-Elsa students burned the “E-E” regalia into the Mercedes football field prior to the game there that week. Or in 1995, when some Mercedes cheerleaders got caught stealing signs in Mercedes.
Or that all school buses carrying Edcouch-Elsa fans or athletes were always rerouted after football games in Mercedes because of things waiting to be thrown by people who lived in the surrounding neighborhood. Maybe even go as far back as 1979, when someone dug a big trench with a shovel into Edcouch-Elsa’s stadium, a huge “M.”
Still, through all that, there was not a semblance of ill will.
“We all hung out, we all played basketball, we all chilled,” said Artie Tanguma, a tight end great at Edcouch-Elsa from 2006-2008. “We all got to know each other. These guys were friends. That’s why I never really saw it as a rivalry.
“I’m sure there’s some hate, but more than anything it’s respect.”
And that is a common point made when speaking to Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes residents. Even as recent as last season, Edcouch-Elsa quarterback Noe Gonzalez admitted to cheering for Mercedes to win against Mission High late in the season since a Tiger win opened the door for the ’Jackets to earn a share of the district title, which they did. Edcouch-Elsa community members and school personnel congratulated Uribe after the win.
Bad-blood rivals would never admit to such a thing.
“I still say the rivalry is as intense as it has been before, but the good thing is I still see it played in a fair manner,” Vela said. “That is a credit to today’s coaches and players.”
Edcouch-Elsa may not care for Mercedes, and vice versa, but when it comes to lining up against others, there is a mutual fondness.
In truth, a relationship like theirs is a dying breed.
“There are less true rivalries because of how many schools are popping up,” Uribe said. “Now there are 27 (Class) 5A programs, and eight soon-to-be 4A programs, and that’s 35 schools. It was only a fraction of that back then. It used to be town versus town. Now it’s inner-city rivalries.
“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing, but it makes me appreciate what we have here at Mercedes, especially when you throw in something special like what we have with Edcouch-Elsa.”
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THE ALL-TIME SERIES
EDCOUCH-ELSA VS. MERCEDES
1948 – Mercedes 6, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1949 – Mercedes 21, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1950 – Mercedes 13, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1951 – Mercedes 7, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1952 – Mercedes 6, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1953: Edcouch-Elsa 18, Mercedes 13
1954 – Edcouch-Elsa 6, Mercedes 0
1955 – Mercedes 18, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1956 – Mercedes 25, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1957 – Mercedes 34, Edcouch-Elsa 7
1958 – Mercedes 20, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1959 – Edcouch-Elsa 36, Mercedes 6
1960 – Mercedes 22, Edcouch-Elsa 18
1961 – Mercedes 28, Edcouch-Elsa 18
1966 – Edcouch-Elsa 21, Mercedes 13
1967 – Edcouch-Elsa 27, Mercedes 14
1968 – Mercedes 34, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1969 – Mercedes 15, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1970 – Mercedes 8, Edcouch-Elsa 7
1971 – Edcouch-Elsa 14, Mercedes 0
1972 – Edcouch-Elsa 3, Mercedes 0
1973 – Mercedes 21, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1974 – Mercedes 17, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1975 – Edcouch-Elsa 27, Mercedes 3
1976 – Edcouch-Elsa 26, Mercedes 8
1977 – Edcouch-Elsa 14, Mercedes 12
1978 – Edcouch-Elsa 8, Mercedes 7
1979 – Mercedes 20, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1980 – Mercedes 26, Edcouch-Elsa 3
1981 – Edcouch-Elsa 28, Mercedes 14
1982 – Mercedes 31, Edcouch-Elsa 13
1983 – Mercedes 14, Edcouch-Elsa 0
1984 – Edcouch-Elsa 14, Mercedes 9
1985 – Mercedes 28, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1986 – Edcouch-Elsa 26, Mercedes 0
1987 – Edcouch-Elsa 14, Mercedes 6
1988 – Mercedes 16, Edcouch-Elsa 6
1989 – Edcouch-Elsa 14, Mercedes 9
1990 – Mercedes 7, Edcouch-Elsa 3
1991 – Mercedes 10, Edcouch-Elsa 7
1992 – Edcouch-Elsa 21, Mercedes 7
1993 – Edcouch-Elsa 27, Mercedes 21
1994 – Mercedes 20, Edcouch-Elsa 14
1995 – Mercedes 31, Edcouch-Elsa 14
1996 – Edcouch-Elsa 31, Mercedes 12
1997 – Edcouch-Elsa 32, Mercedes 7
1998 – Edcouch-Elsa 34, Mercedes 7
1999 – Edcouch-Elsa 12, Mercedes 10
2000 – Edcouch-Elsa 28, Mercedes 22
2001 – Edcouch-Elsa 31, Mercedes 12
2002 – Mercedes 21, Edcouch-Elsa 20
2003 – Edcouch-Elsa 45, Mercedes 0
2004 – Edcouch-Elsa 41, Mercedes 3
2005 – Edcouch-Elsa 46, Mercedes 7
2006 – Edcouch-Elsa 24, Mercedes 10
2007 – Edcouch-Elsa 29, Mercedes 7
2008 – Edcouch-Elsa 51, Mercedes 25
2009 – Mercedes 28, Edcouch-Elsa 0
2010 – Mercedes 14, Edcouch-Elsa 10
2011 – Edcouch-Elsa 47, Mercedes 9
2012 – Edcouch-Elsa 21, Mercedes 7
(Edcouch-Elsa leads series 32-28-1