BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela junior running back Aaron Alvarez iced the game with a 46-yard run with just more than four minutes left in the game.
“It felt great,” Alvarez said. “Seeing (junior tight end) Nico (Rodriguez) get that good block, and for me just to go, it was great.”
The score put Edinburg Vela up 43-21 over Edinburg High, which would end up the final score of Friday’s game at Richard R. Flores Stadium.
“We got the win. That’s the main thing,” Vela coach John Campbell said. “We are 2-0 in district, and that’s the important thing. We knew going into a rivalry game — we see it all the time in football — tale of the tape does not mean a hill of beans. EHS came after us and did a heck of a job. They really got after us. We needed the challenge. It forced us to make some adjustments.”
It’s not the type of score Alvarez is usually responsible for. Alvarez is Vela’s big back. He scored on two other occasions Friday, and both were 1-yard runs.
“I tell you what, I was impressed by Aaron’s performance,” Vela coach John Campbell said. “Aaron has been that kind of workhorse guy for us all year. He’s mister steady and had the big one at the end to seal the whole thing.”
Against the Bobcats, Alvarez finished with 97 yards to go along with those three touchdowns.
Alvarez has been responsible for many big short-yardage first downs this year, and Friday was no exception, as he extended Vela’s drives several times with bruising runs down the middle.
“It’s super fun to watch him run,” senior quarterback Nathan Garcia said. “You always know you can rely on that guy to run over people.”
Edinburg Vela got the advantage early and never relinquished it. After the teams early 1-yard touchdown runs, Garcia completed a 60-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Justin Cantu.
Vela lined up in a formation meant to cause the defense confusion on the conversion attempt. Vela got the look it wanted and Garcia passed to Cantu again, putting the SaberCats up 15-7.
That pesky conversion would hold the SaberCats slightly ahead, as the teams went back and forth on the scoreboard.
The lead at halftime for Vela was 29-21.
Edinburg High junior Hearlin Benavides had an impressive showing. He scored all three of Edinburg High’s touchdowns and ran for 96 yards in the game.
Perhaps his most impressive score came in the second quarter. The Bobcats were down 22-14 and facing a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Benavides powered through the Vela defensive front and scored to bring the Bobcats within 1 point.
For the SaberCats, it wasn’t all Alvarez. Last week, against Edinburg North, junior wide receiver Aziel Garcia had a big game. On Friday, he had 2 catches for 21 yards. Vela instead relied on its pair of steady targets — Cantu and senior wide receiver Brandon Guzman. Each had over 100 yards, and between them they had three touchdowns.
Campbell was glad to see his defense clamp down after the early scoring outburst from the Bobcats.
“I think it was the tempo,” Campbell said. “They were coming after us. We were ready for those plays, but we weren’t playing them the way we needed to for the tempo. Once we got them in at halftime and settled them down a little bit — nothing significant — we just had to rehash what we had practiced during the week.”
After the game, during the handshake line, a skirmish broke out as players exchanged blows while teammates tried to hold them back. Garcia, Alvarez and Campbell declined to comment on the matter.
Alvarez finished with a new career high in rushing yards (97) on Friday. His 12 carries marked the second-highest total of his career. And his three scores matched his career high.
“I just have to thank the good man upstairs and my linemen,” Alvarez said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to have these touchdowns. It felt pretty good. If I were to say it felt normal, not really. I try to stay hungry every game.”