BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
Weslaco East would be wise to bring a bigger scoreboard today to PSJA Stadium. The current one might be too small to reflect the final score.
When the Wildcats kick off against PSJA North at 7 p.m., it will be a matchup between two of District 31-6A’s highest-scoring teams. Through Week 8, the Wildcats and Raiders combine to average 73 points on 803 yards of offense.
With each unit sporting a host of offensive talent, it will be up to the respective defenses to stymie their high-powered opponents.
“They can hit you from different kinds of angles,” East defensive coordinator Rene Guzman said. “They’ve got the running back that’s tough, they’ve got their quarterback who is tough and runs tough as well. They’ve got receivers that can catch and run, they can hit you from the outside on the corners or down the middle of the field.”
The Raiders (4-4, 3-1) enter with a three-game win streak and have averaged 428 yards and 32 points during that span. Brandon Villarreal and Bo Adams have been the driving force in those victories, combining for more than 600 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
East’s defense will look to counter North’s speed with power and strength.
“We’ve just got to go out there and hit hard for four quarters,” Guzman said. “That’s what we’ve instilled in these kids.”
The Wildcats defense allows 149 rushing yards per game, bested in 31-6A only by Edinburg Economedes (128.8). East (5-1, 3-0) is coming off a bye week, and coach Mike Burget describes his team’s injury status as semi-healthy.
“I’ll tell you what that means after the first drive,” he said.
North coach Jorge Peña says the Raiders defense has spent the short week doubling down on recognizing East’s multi-formation offense, and that identifying them is paramount to North’s success. But other things stand out to Peña aside from X’s and O’s.
“There’s nobody in this district that’s as athletic as Weslaco (High) and Weslaco East,” Peña said. “There’s (East junior Ciro Rojas) who is as athletic as anyone I’ve ever seen. So is (fullback J.C. Vargas). I don’t think I’ve got any kids that can matchup with their athleticism.”
Rojas is the district’s leading scorer with 13 touchdowns, scoring as a runner, receiver and returner.
Though Peña employed a double tight end lineup during Week 8 to counteract Econ’s defensive speed, he says doing so against East wouldn’t be wise.
“With Weslaco East, (going double tight) doesn’t matter because they’re balanced all the time,” he said. “We just have to go out there and execute the plays that we run and hopefully that’ll be good enough.”
The Raiders defense sits at the bottom of 31-6A in yards allowed with 386. They’ve improved in their last three games, however, allowing 286.
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