GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — When Weslaco East was preparing to face Edinburg Economedes two weeks ago, coach Mike Burget told defensive coordinator Rene Guzman to keep some things under wraps. Save the counter to the slot-T offense for Week 5 — East’s District 32-6A opener against rival Weslaco High.
With resources limited, Weslaco East struggled to contain Economedes on the ground, giving up 281 rushing yards in a 23-16 loss. But on Friday, East reaped the rewards of keeping some secrets under wraps, stifling the Weslaco High running game from start to finish in a 24-7 win at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
“I told Coach Guzman two weeks ago I didn’t want him playing the same defense,” Burget said. “We were paying the same offense back to back. I sort of tied his hands two weeks ago, and I’m sorry I did that. His staff and his kids were a little bit angry this week, and they showed it on the field.”
Weslaco High ran 28 times for 64 yards, an average of just 2.3 yards per carry. The Panthers entered the game averaging 251.3 yards per game on the ground, rushing at a clip of 5.6 yards per carry.
After the first quarter, the Panthers did not pick up another first down until the game’s final 5 minutes, when the Wildcats already had a 24-0 lead.
“Everybody did their jobs and played technique,” linebacker Adrian Duran said. “Don’t look in the backfield, because all of the misdirection will lead you off the play. You have to look at the guards, who are the keys for us.”
Guzman highlighted Duran as the leader of the defense on Friday. He also lauded the play of defensive linemen Fernando Garza, Luis Aguirre and Jacob Banda, saying the group up front delivered on the challenge of setting the tone.
With extra time to watch film during the Week 4 bye, Guzman said the Wildcats came in with a stronger understanding of what they’d be up against.
“We ran the defense we finally decided to do, and our kids just executed,” Guzman said. “There was no thinking. When we take the thinking out of the whole thing, the kids react to what they saw. That was the difference tonight, as opposed to the other night.”
Burget also had a trick up his sleeve on offense, making Roy Pedraza the team’s primary ball carrier. Typically splitting time between fullback and linebacker, Pedraza played almost exclusively on offense Friday. He finished the game with 20 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
“We knew Roy was one of the top runners in the Valley, but he played defense the first three weeks,” Burget said. “We knew they wouldn’t expect that.”
In East’s first three games, Pedraza had run just 23 times for 108 yards. But with regular workhorse Fabian Castro limited by injury, Pedraza carried the ball up the middle again and again.
His first touchdown, a 32-yard scamper in the second quarter, was his fifth carry for 59 yards on that drive alone. On East’s next possession he ran twice and caught a pass for 13 yards before capping the drive with a 31-yard score.
J.C. Vargas scored first for the Wildcats, taking a pitch left, cutting back across the field and sprinting 54 yards to the end zone.
“I just find the hole and go through it,” Pedraza said. “(The coaches) prepared me to be a better back during practice, and I just kept on improving.”
Burget describes Pedraza, a state powerlifting champ, as a bowling ball, plowing into would-be tacklers.
As Pedraza kept pushing his way down the field, Weslaco High was having a hard time even getting its offense in the game. During the third quarter, the Panthers ran just three offensive plays.
The Wildcats’ longest scoring drive was their last, as the team covered 55 yards in 13 plays and eight minutes, 32 seconds to set up a 34-yard field goal for Orlando Fuentes.
“That was a big factor,” Pedraza said. “I feel like they would have gotten more momentum if we didn’t control the clock as well as we did today.”