By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela’s Michael Arguelles had always wondered how things would have panned out if Fabian Pedraza would have played for the school all four years.
The SaberCats weren’t in dire need of a quarterback the past couple of seasons. Ebher Lopez had helped lead Vela to its first playoff appearance in 2014. Yet, Arguelles wondered what type of mark Pedraza could have left on the up-and-coming program had he not transferred to McAllen Memorial following his freshman season.
“I just told Mike, ‘Everything happens for a reason,’” Pedraza said. “But I know he feels like if I would’ve been here, I could’ve broken records. He says, ‘Imagine what your career stats would’ve been like here.”
Pedraza doesn’t allow the thought to consume him. He can’t. The SaberCats are preparing for their first regional quarterfinal appearance in the program’s four-year history, and Pedraza finds himself very much at the center of that success.
Last week, he completed 18 of 24 passes for 178 yards, while rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns, as Vela beat Victoria East 42-33. Pedraza scored on a six-yard scamper with 16.6 seconds remaining to seal it.
Pedraza is able to enjoy that success, if only because it puts to rest any lingering thought of “what if?” Initially, there was some uncertainty as to how he would make the adjustment. The previous two years, Pedraza played in a run-heavy offense at at McAllen Memorial that featured Trevor Speights, a Division I prospect. His opportunities were relatively limited, though it never derailed him.
“I just had to go with what we had, and when I had the passes, I had to make it count,” Pedraza said. “We tried to open it up, but Trevor had a lot of great runs. That was the game plan.
“We (almost) went undefeated, so it worked.”
As a sixth grader, Pedraza played for the Snipers, a pop warner team that featured Speights, along with some of his current Vela teammates. That familiarity helped Pedraza at Memorial, where he completed 40 of 72 passes for 764 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2014, and now with the SaberCats, where he connected on 118 of 188 attempts for 1,167 yards and 21 scores.
Even though the offense had a drastic makeover from his freshman year, Pedraza was quick to learn it. Vela coach Michael Salinas said Pedraza had to relearn everything, from picking up signals to communicating with his offensive line.
“For him, it was a fresh start and he picked it up,” Salinas said. “He came into work with a chip on his shoulders. He wanted to prove that he could do it, even in a different type of offense than he was used to. He had the right mindset, and his work ethic took him from there.”
Pedraza had a breakout performance in the SaberCats’ district-opening win over Sharyland High, throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns on 26 of 36 attempts. Two weeks later, he had 281 yards and four touchdowns on 21 of 28 passes to lead Vela to a win over Sharyland Pioneer.
With that, he was recognized as the Built Ford Tough Texas High School Football Player of the Week.
“The way he moves, the way he keeps his eyes down field, he’s able to make things happen,” offensive coordinator Patrick Shelby said. “He came from a different place that didn’t throw the football as much. It was tough. But that just shows the kind of maturity that he has to come into a new program and be successful.”
Shelby lauded Pedraza for his work leading into the season, studying film, asking questions, trying to understand the point of attack. Just as quickly as he picked up the playbook, Pedraza understood when to throw into coverages and when the team needed him to run. It’s part of the reason why he had only one interception during the regular season.
As the SaberCats prepare for Austin Vandegrift at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Alamo Stadium, Pedraza has even greater appreciation for the team’s success, given his hand in it.
“For me, it wasn’t about going back and playing for a great team,” Pedraza said. “I knew what I was going back to (having to learn a new system and compete for a starting job), and I knew I was ready.
“The team had a great plan in place, and hopefully we’re able to take it even further.”