BY MARK MOLINA|The Brownsville Herald
For the second time in as many weeks, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Charger defense found themselves in need of a stop.
And once again, they answered.
Down just two with just over a minute to go and a pair of first downs away from field goal range, Edcouch-Elsa quarterback Albert Trevino got a pass off down field despite a heavy Brownsville Veterans rush.
The pass floated and Charger defensive back Sammay Chapa came up with the interception, securing a 21-19 District 32-6A victory Thursday night at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“The line was giving the quarterback pressure and it was outstanding,” Chapa said. “We knew it was going to be a pass and I’ve been studying my receiver all week and I read it. They threw it, I caught it, I celebrated. We knew it was going to be a good game in the second half. We knew they wanted it, but we came out with the win.”
Despite Charger quarterback Gustavo Vasquez throwing two touchdown passes and running for another in the first half to give his team an 11-point halftime lead, the offense scored zero points in the second half and missed two field goals on the night.
Still, head coach David Cantu knew his defense was up to the challenge.
“We were concerned and Edcouch-Elsa did a great job keeping points off the board,” Cantu said. “We have 11 kids on the field and 10 are seniors. They have been with us for four years now and I have all the faith in the world in those seniors that are out there. I wasn’t even nervous knowing that we were going to give it our best shot.”
Edcouch-Elsa scored on Jorge Gomez’s 17-yard run with 4:41 to play, but missed a game-tying two-point conversion attempt on an incomplete pass by Trevino, who was again under pressure.
“I was super proud of the fight and resiliency of our kids,” Edcouch-Elsa head coach Joe Marichalar said. “They came out, played Jacket football and that’s all we can ask for.
Things didn’t go our way with that two-point conversion, but that’s football — you don’t question it. We played a tough team in (Brownsville Veterans) and more than likely, those are your district champs right there. We went toe-to-toe and we fell short.”
It took the Chargers a little bit to get going to start the night and found themselves in a hole after a Vasquez fumble on a pass attempt and a three-and-out on their first two possessions led to 10 quick Yellow Jacket points.
Included in those scores was a 67-yard quarterback keeper by Trevino.
Vasquez answered for the Chargers with a 49-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown to a wide open Carlos Galindo to make it 10-7 with under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Edcouch-Elsa struggled with penalties in the first half, being flagged for six infractions for 40 yards.
Two of those calls were on fourth down and extended BVM drives deep in Yellow Jacket territory. Though only one cost them — a holding penalty on a fourth-and-seven play that would have resulted on a turnover on downs, but instead gave BVM a first down on the E-E 13.
Three plays later, Vasquez would find the end zone on a 9-yard run and the Chargers would take a 14-10 lead early in the second.
With time winding down in the first half, Vasquez tossed his second touchdown pass, hitting Bobby Carrasco in stride for a 38-yard score on a flea flicker to make it 21-10 at the break.
Vasquez posted another huge outing, rushing for 95 yards and passing for another 141, accounting for three total touchdowns.
The Yellow Jackets struggled to move the ball in the first half, but corrected that after the break by going to a big set power running game, featuring direct snaps to Gomez.
It would lead to a 27-yard field goal from Ronaldo Mata, who earlier hit a 47-yarder, and an important score late.
“Our offensive staff did a good job at adjusting,” Marichalar said. “Our offense figured out what (Brownsville Veterans) was doing, loading up the box. We went power on power and we have a lot of faith in our running back (Gomez) we have back there. He made good things happen for us. Credit our offensive line and coaching staff for doing that.”
Gomez carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and a score.
Brownsville Veterans did force a pair of second-half turnovers, one coming on a Trevino sack-fumble caused by Charger linebacker Andres Gutierrez and recovered by Jose Sanchez with 10 minutes to play.
The other was Chapa’s game-ending pick.