GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — As the officials brought the chains on the field for the game’s final measurement, J.C. Vargas knew Weslaco East had already won. On fourth-and-6 from the 8-yard line, needing to reach the 2 to keep McAllen Memorial alive in overtime, Campbell Speights was stopped just feet short.
“I knew we got it,” Vargas said. “I could see it. I knew we got it. I guess they just measured it for the dramatics.”
After a 14-point comeback, a 90-plus-yard touchdown for either team, a missed field goal at the regulation buzzer and a major defensive turnaround for the Wildcats, Friday’s game hardly needed any extra drama.
When the dust settled, Weslaco East had pulled out the 37-29 overtime win against McAllen Memorial at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“My emotions were all over the place,” East quarterback Richard LeFevre said. “You can’t really explain it. It was a crazy night.”
After Memorial’s Ace Chavez returned a fumble 100 yards for a touchdown and East’s Vargas answered with a 94-yard bomb from LeFevre, Speights scored from 11 yards out to give Memorial a 29-15 lead entering the fourth quarter.
To that point, Memorial had been leaning on its typically dominant ground game, racking up 41 carries for 263 yards. But then, East’s defense, despite trailing heavily in the time of possession battle, began to find stops. Memorial ran the ball just 13 times for 35 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime, going 3-and-out on both fourth-quarter possessions.
“Down by 14, our kids didn’t lose any faith,” Weslaco East coach Mike Burget said. “I heard them yelling at each other, ‘Come on, guys. We can get this thing done.’ And sure enough, they turned the tide.’”
“We might be small, but we’re pretty quick,” Burget added. “Those guys were sticking out there. I could hear it.”
Offensively, East started to get its own ground game going. Fabian Castro scored from 39 yards out to make the score 29-22 with 10:15 to play, and then Vargas took a reverse 58 yards to set up Roy Pedraza’s game-tying, 8-yard score with 4:40 remaining.
Weslaco East had just 52 yards of total offense at halftime but finished with 367.
“Offensively, we stunk in the first half,” Burget said. “I don’t know how else to say it. We stunk.”
Burget said the major difference was LeFevre checking the offense into better plays. LeFevre finished 2-of-6 passing for 116 yards and a score, plus 7 rushes for 30 yards and a touchdown. Castro ran 19 times for 113 yards and a TD, Pedraza had 6 rushes for 37 yards and two scores, and Vargas carried 5 times for 65 yards.
Also critical for East was improved offensive line play, which Burget credited to offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Jesse Treviño’s halftime pep talk.
“He went in there and got on the kids and challenged them and said this wasn’t East football,” Burget said. “Those kids came out here, and bounced back, and did a great job.”
Despite East’s second-half resurgence, Memorial still had a chance to win at the end of regulation. After Joey Delgado intercepted LeFevre’s pass and returned it 35 yards to the East 26-yard line, Ricky Garcia had a shot at a 40-yard field goal with 1 second to play. Garcia had already nailed kicks of 46 and 40 yards in the first half, but his final attempt was wide right.
“We kept our heads in the game,” LeFevre said. “Anything can happen. We got lucky and came out with a win today.”
Weslaco East ran the ball four times in overtime en route to LeFevre’s 3-yard, game-winning score.
Memorial looked to have notched the potential tying touchdown on the ensuing possession, but quarterback Angel Almaguer’s scoring run on 4th-and-1 from Weslaco East’s 3-yard line was called back for delay of game. Speights took the next handoff 5 yards but was stopped just shy, finalizing McAllen Memorial’s first regular season loss since Aug. 29, 2014 — a streak of 20 games — and the Mustangs’ first loss at home since Oct. 25, 2013, also against Weslaco East.
“I knew our defense was going to do it,” LeFevre said, “but it’s just that short to get to the goal line, and for all of the talent they have, it’s just emotions are everywhere.”