NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
The worst-case scenario for Weslaco East was confirmed Tuesday.
Roy Pedraza’s time as a Wildcat is done after the senior suffered a season-ending knee injury in Weslaco East’s 35-7 win over Weslaco High on Friday.
Pedraza posted to his Twitter account: “It was a hell of a ride Weslaco East…now time to get ready for College Football”
Pedraza scored 27 rushing touchdowns at the varsity level and was 17 yards away from reaching 2,500 yards with East.
He broke out as a junior with a memorable 1,922-yard season that included 20 TDs. The exclamation point came in the opening round of the 2016 playoffs, when he rushed for 330 yards and four scores in East’s upset win over Edinburg Vela.
Wildcats coach Mike Burget said Pedraza’s injury is a tough loss, and not just from a football standpoint.
“He’s like a son to me. I’ve had him four years. It’s a bad break,” Burget said. “It hurts our team. Our players see it. You lose a type of leader like that. I’ve never had a kid that was so quiet, but so many followed him. It’s hard right now for the East family to see. This is our second guy that went down. We lost Freddy Gonzalez the week before. Football’s football, and Roy will be the first to tell you injuries happen and God has bigger plans for him right now.”
Pedraza hopes to play football at the college level next season after he heals and rehabs.
Weslaco East, on the other hand, will need to pick up the pieces quickly, because the Wildcats are in a dogfight against San Benito on Friday. The game will go a long way in deciding RGV and District 32-6A supremacy. It will also be East’s first full game with a new starting running back.
Burget knows the program has a lot of history at the position, but he doesn’t want any player to feel the expectations are too great.
“Somebody once said East had a lot of running backs,” Burget said. “I don’t want ever want anyone to be a Roy Pedraza. I don’t want anyone to ever be a Lupe Moron or Bobby Gonzalez or any of the great backs that have been at East. I want them to be themselves. I want them to have fun playing football. High school goes so quick, as Roy Pedraza will tell you. I want whoever’s back there to do the best they can and enjoy high school football.”