By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Nothing was going to spoil homecoming night at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, not the rain nor Edinburg High.
The Chargers, playing a game in their own stadium, didn’t disappoint the huge home crowd despite heavy rains throughout the evening. Brownsville Veterans used a stout defense that forced four first half fumbles and an explosive offense that capitalized on each turnover to jump to a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Brownsville Veterans continued to be dominant on both sides of the ball in the second half and defeated Edinburg High 41-0 on Friday night at Brownsville Veterans.
“It starts with the defense, all of the turnovers they created, it was amazing,” Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu said. “I think our defense frustrated them and created a momentum for us and it kept rolling from there.”
Cantu said it was the defense that made big play after big play, particularly linebackers Chris Vargas and Morgan Borland, and safeties Victor Aguliar and Kevin Fischer, who made the difference against the Bobcats.
It didn’t take long for the Chargers to get going. Quarterback Marcus Castillo found Alfonso Vela on a 52-yard strike for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
After a Edinburg High punt, Castillo found an opening on a third-and-1 play and took it 58 yards for another touchdown in the first.
The Chargers’ defense went to work and forced turnover after turnover. Edinburg High finished with six turnovers — four fumbles and two interceptions — on the rain slicked Brownsville Veterans field. Brownsville Veterans had three sacks and allowed just 158 yards of offense to Edinburg High, including 50 yards on 41 carries on the ground.
“I’m proud of my kids, we’re battling and we’re not quitting. That’s all I can ask of them,” Edinburg coach Joaquin Escobar said.
“We as coaches have to do a better job, we have to take some of that blame. We have to have our kids a little more prepared. But Coach Cantu does a great job, those guys played their tails off.”
In the second quarter, Carlos Garza scored on a 13-yard run and later Derrik Rodriguez scored another touchdown from 1-yard out to give the Chargers a big lead heading to the break.
Escobar thought his defense wore down in the first half.
“I think defensively they were on the field too often,” he said. “If our offense keeps them off the field, our defense plays a little better tonight. But tonight we didn’t do that.”
The Chargers continued to move the ball with ease, scoring twice more in the fourth quarter. Joshua Alaniz scored on a 4-yard run and later in the quarter, Jacob Cantu found Jeremiah Meyers for a 13-yard score. The Brownsville Veterans backs again put up big numbers, rushing for 255 yards on 37 carries.
“I was happy that a lot of guys on offense got touches and made big plays, that was good to see,” Cantu said. “During district we have to have depth and I think we showed tonight that we have a lot of different playmakers on our team on offense.”
Despite a rough start to the season, Escobar tried to find the positives.
“That’s part of growing, we’re going to grow together,” he said. “My kids still show up on Saturday, on Monday, on Tuesday morning. That says a lot about our kids and their character.”
Cantu knows his team wasn’t perfect during the win, but they have two weeks until district play starts to make adjustments.
“We still have to learn from a win, we have to check the film for our mistakes,” he said. “I was thrilled to see our kids have fun tonight, really enjoy the moment.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.