MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
There isn’t an instruction manual on how to make the playoffs, otherwise Roma coach Max Habecker Jr. would have been the first to purchase it.
In seven years, his Gladiators have yet to make the postseason, despite posting their first winning record in program history in 2013. They can’t turn to past successes for inspiration, because, frankly, the program hasn’t had many.
“So we have to make our own blueprint,” Habecker said. “We have to create that winning culture.”
Such is the theme in this week’s District 31-5A collision between Roma and No. 5 Edinburg Vela — two programs looking to blaze their own trail en route to their first-ever postseason appearance.
Both teams are coming off relatively disappointing finishes to last season. Roma went 6-4 overall and 4-3 in district, falling short on clinching a berth. Edinburg Vela, an 0-10 team in 2012, finished 5-5 and 4-4 last year, coming up empty, as well.
The shortcomings have seemingly fueled their respective campaigns, and the results have been impressive thus far.
In only its third varsity season, Vela produces the third-best offense in the Valley at 394.8 yards per contest, second in district behind Sharyland High (396.0). The Gladiators defense allows an average of 142.4 yards, tops in the Valley.
Yet, in keeping with the one-game-at-a-time approach, neither coach fed into the idea that tonight’s battle will carry plenty of weight in the district standings, even as the two jockey for playoff positioning.
“The fact is that every single win we get in district is just as big as the next one,” Habecker said. “It doesn’t matter who it comes against. We want to get another ‘W’ so we could be 2-0 (in district). We just want to notch another win on our belt.”
Vela’s tasked with bouncing back from a 27-24 district-opening loss last week to Sharyland High. Up to that point, the SaberCats were one of only three Valley teams to enter Week 5 at 4-0. But following the loss, Vela put itself in a position where it would have to win against the projected No. 4 through No.7 teams, if it hopes to vie for a district title, especially with Mission Veterans coming up in their regular-season finale.
“We’re still trying to turn the corner and build tradition. … So, of course, just the simple fact that it’s a district game makes it very important,” Edinburg Vela coach Michael Salinas said. “We’ll see how mature we are. We have to prove that we can regroup and get back on the right track. It’s not going to be easy.”
Like Habecker, this is Salinas’ first head coaching gig. And while he does not have playoff experience at the helm to fall back on, he was a part of some postseason teams as an assistant. As he’s noticed now, the challenge in trying to break barriers with a young program is keeping players focused on their goals — winning district, making the playoffs — without thinking too far ahead.
To do that, the SaberCats aren’t looking to close out the regular season at 9-1.
“We want to go 1-0 each week,” Salinas said, “and make sure that by Week 11, we’re peaking.”
It’s difficult to imagine Roma taking that approach, simply because it has already been a clog defensively. For the past three games, the Gladiators have not allowed more than one touchdown, suffocating all but one opponent. It’s that type of defensive effort, Habecker believes, that could ultimately put Roma over the top in what is sure to be one of the more intriguing district matchups of the year.
“When you have the (second-)best offense (in district) going up against the best defense, it’s all about matchups,” Habecker said. “Obviously somebody’s going to win. We’re just going have to wait and see.”