By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Edinburg Vela tested the most potent offense in District 31-5A against the top-ranked defense in 32-5A, and it wasn’t even close.
By halftime, the game was decided. Vela put up five scores heading into the break, paving the way for a 49-13 bi-district victory over PSJA High on Saturday at PSJA Stadium.
“We just came out and executed,” Sabercats wideout Elijah Reyna said after catching a season-high four TDs. “As long as we play hard together as a team, we’ll get the victory.
“I’m happy we have our first bi-district championship in history. Hope we keep going further.”
The SaberCats (10-1) hardly seemed consumed by the moment in their first postseason game, coming within striking distance in each of their six opening-half drives. Rafael Perez’s 35-yard field goal attempt clanked off the goal post in the first sequence, but Vela scored on the ensuing possessions before intermission, building a 35-0 cushion.
By doing so, Vela came within a touchdown of matching its per-game average of 42.3 points.
It marked the SaberCats’ sixth consecutive win. They hadn’t rendered an offense that ineffective since beating La Joya High 59-7 in Week 3.
“We didn’t execute and their game plan was good,” PSJA coach Steve Marroquin said. “I’m not going to take anything away from them. They did a heck of a job.”
The Bears (6-5), which owned the stingiest defense in district by allowing 181.5 yards per contest, surrendered that before halftime.
PSJA failed to put a body on each of Vela’s scores, including four from quarterback Ebher Lopez to Reyna, who was wide open in his first three TD hauls before darting ahead of his defender on the fourth score.
“The ball bounced our way,” Vela coach Michael Salinas said. “And when we had the opportunity to make big plays, we made them. So that helped us get going.”
For their part, the SaberCats, which finished district allowing the second-most yards, played stout defense once again, recovering three of four fumbles, including a 6-yard return by Eddie Luna for a 49-7 lead with 6:21 to play.
AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES
Lopez, who finished the regular season throwing a district-high 22 touchdowns, added four more on Saturday while running for another in large part because of the offensive line, which offered plenty of protection.
Against the top defense in 32-5A, Lopez had enough time to operate in the pocket. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 243 yards, with most of the load coming by halftime. Lopez also scored on a 1-yard run to make it 12-0 with 11:12 to play in the second quarter.
“Hats off to those guys for the week of work they had. They allowed those big plays to happen,” Salinas said. “Ton of credit to our offensive line.”
TAKING THE NEXT STEP
After coming up short the past few seasons, PSJA earned its first playoff berth since 2010. On the heels of their bi-district loss Saturday, Marroquin remained optimistic about his team going forward.
“I tell you what, I’m very proud of my boys,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team to coach. We did some good things this year. Able to get the Bears make in the playoffs; been a while since we’ve been there. And this is just the first step for us. There’s many good things to come.”
UP NEXT
Vela’s victory Saturday set up a Class 5A Division I area-round match against Victoria West (9-2), which knocked off Uvalde 40-21 on Friday. Victoria West has won six straight games, finishing second in district behind Flour Bluff.
“They’re a good ballclub,” Salinas said. “They’re a high-powered offense. They’ve scored a ton of points this year. I know there’s going to be some issues with speed that we may have to get situated with. But we’re just confident in what we’re going to do, go to work and fire our best shot.”
The SaberCats will travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville for the 2 p.m. Saturday matchup.