By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Porter had its troubles throughout and Edcouch-Elsa took full advantage.
The Cowboys’ defense didn’t contain the high-scoring Yellowjackets and fell behind early in the 56-14 loss in the final District 32-5A game of the season for both teams Thursday night in Week 11 at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Most disappointing for Porter (0-10, 0-7) is it finished the season winless after it earned a postseason berth last season. Edcouch-Elsa (7-3, 5-2) had already earned a playoff spot this season with a win last week against Lopez.
“We have a lot of experience coming back,” Porter coach Tom Campos said. “Of our 45 we only lost 12 seniors. It sucks for the seniors; you never want to have a group go 0-10. It’s not what I expected, I expected at the minimum .500. It’s disappointing, but we’ll move on.”
Porter struggled to stop Edcouch-Elsa quarterback Marco Aguinaga, who finished with 230 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first half — three of those touchdowns went to AJ Rodriguez who had six catches for 139 yards, and also returned a kick off for another touchdown as the Yellowjackets amassed 465 yards of offense.
“I think our coaching staff did a good job preparing our kids mentally and physically,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Joe Marichalar said. “So by the time we got here the sense of urgency to play was there. Our kids executed from the start, so our coaching staff did an outstanding job.”
The Cowboys senior running back Johnathan Gonzalez did what he could, he finished with 160 yards and a touchdown, but the rest of the offense had its share of problems, throwing an interception, a fumble and botched a punt attempt.
Porter fell behind quickly as Edcouch-Elsa got on the board with 10:02 left in the opening quarter. Aguinaga hit Rodriguez on a 45-yard pass and a 7-0 lead.
After another Cowboys’ punt, Jorge Gomez found the end zone after a 16-yard run and a 13-0 edge. Porter botched a punt attempt and Edcouch-Elsa took over at the Cowboys 9-yard line. A few plays later, Gomez found pay dirt after a 13-yard run and a 20-0 advantage with 2:56 left in the first quarter.
Porter answered on its next drive as Gonzalez scored on a 1-yard run to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 10 seconds left in the first.
Edcouch-Elsa kept rolling on offense in the second quarter as Aguinaga hit Rodriguez for a pair of touchdowns, a 17-yarder and a 55-yarder. Just before the half, Aguinaga found Jalen Aguila on a 13-yard strike for another touchdown and a 41-7 lead at the break.
The Yellowjackets scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Rodriguez returning the second half kickoff 85 yards and later quarterback Albert Trevino found JJ Flores for a 20-yard score with 1:04 left in the third.
Porter’s final score came late in the fourth quarter as quarterback Benjamin Ekersley hit Jose Villalon on a 30-yard pass play with 2:42 left to play.
Edcouch-Elsa didn’t get caught over thinking while playing a team searching for its first win. The Yellowjackets played like a team ready to start the postseason, which they will next week.
“We faced a tough team in Porter,” Marichalar said. “The mindset was we’re not looking ahead, not looking behind. Keeping our attention at the task at hand and that was to get the job done. I think our kids did an excellent job staying focused, they played ‘Jacket football for four quarters and now it’s on to the next step.
“We have a good nucleus that experienced that last year, so they know what’s it’s all about.”
A disappointing season ends for Porter, but it has plenty positives going forward.
“Not too much to feel good about at 0-10, but that last drive showed what we can do next year,” Campos said. “We’ll have the skill to throw the ball (next season). We’ll still be heavy on the run, but it will give us more versatility next year.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.