After enduring an emotional couple of weeks leading up to the season following the passing of defensive line coach Art Cantu, the Pace Vikings now have something to smile about.
Led by a four-touchdown performance from senior quarterback Randy Aguilar, the Vikings cruised to an easy 28-0 victory over the PSJA Southwest Javelinas Saturday night at Sams Stadium.
For first-year head coach Danny Pardo, opening the season on the right foot lifted the program in many ways emotionally.
“It’s always great to open up with a win because we always try to do that,” Pardo said. “I think it was great for this group after going through what they’ve gone through over the last week and a half. It was good for the coaching staff as well.
“I think they’re excited and I think the community is excited — we just have to keep going.”
Aguilar looked comfortable under center in the team’s new two-back scheme from the start, leading the Vikings to an early 14-0 lead during the their first two drives of the night.
He would end the contest throwing three touchdown passes to three different receivers and running in another.
“I was comfortable with my team,” Aguilar said. “I said that we needed to build our chemistry and we got it. I give a lot of credit to the coaches and the players for all their hard work during practice.”
The Vikings defense also looked sharp, forcing seven punts in nine possessions.
Pace (1-0) turned PSJA Southwest (0-1) over on downs twice, including a possession in which they began at the Pace 10 following a big kick off return.
“Coach Pardo does a great job on defense and he had his kids prepared for what we do,” Javelina head coach Mike Evans said. “Pace outplayed us plain and simple. We made mistakes that hurt us and they executed when they needed to.”
After the Vikings defense forced the Javelinas into a three-and-out to start the game, their offense inherited a short field at the 40-yard line.
Vikings full back Brandon Zapata and running back Matthew Cuellar set a methodical pace via the ground game, setting up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar to Ilijah Solis for a 7-0 lead.
On the next Possession, Aguilar found Gabriel Zapata for a 38-yard strike and a 14-0 cushion with 3:11 left to play in the opening quarter.
“It starts with those big boys up front and I think Randy is getting comfortable every day that he is in this offense,” Pardo said.
Both teams did little else as mistakes and penalties killed drives.
Pace and Southwest combined for eight infractions in the first half.
The Vikings opened the second half with a 70-yard kickoff return from Gabriel Zapata, setting them up at the Javelina 20.
Aguilar ran the ball in from 11 yards out to put Pace ahead 21-0 early in the third.
The Vikings added their final score of the night on their next possession on a 10-yard passing score from Aguilar to Carlos Pulido.
PSJA Southwest possessed the ball just three times in the second half as the Vikings held the ball for most of the fourth quarter.
But Evans sees a silver lining.
“We were banged up and had some guys out so we had some new guys step up,” Evans said. “We made some key stops in certain situations. On the last drive, it took Pace six minutes to get within the 30. That was a good thing to end on, to not allow 30 points.”
Aguilar threw for 177 yards and three scores on 11-of-20 passing. He also ran for 76 yards and a score.
The Javelinas were held to just 75 yards of total offense.