DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
ELSA — The truth could be that Edcouch-Elsa will find its mojo and become a power sooner than later, despite the youth dotting its roster. It has young, raw athletic talent in bunches.
But after Friday’s nail-biting 35-31 loss to Los Fresnos at home that showed as much of their warts as potential, the Yellowjackets’ reality is this: they are 0-2 for the first time since 2009, which also happens to be the last season the program missed the playoffs.
If things don’t change quickly, that could be the same result for 2014. Like against McAllen Rowe last week, E-E suffered a heaping of silly mistakes early against the Falcons, eventually falling behind 35-10 heading into the fourth quarter, before storming back late and making a game of it.
All the dropped passes, muffed kickoff returns, fumbles and bad snaps almost were forgiven, but the Yellowjackets didn’t have enough in the tank to complete the comeback.
“It could be the inexperience … but we talked about it the whole week,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “We talked about playing four quarters. But these bad breaks just seem to get us early.
“You can see the greatness of this team. But that won’t come without fixing the little things.”
Los Fresnos is in the same boat as E-E in that it, too, is inexperienced and rebuilding. But the Falcons (1-1) did not turn the ball over in the first half, and scrapped touchdowns off a botched kickoff return and fumble. A stingy Edcouch-Elsa defense was enough to keep the ’Jackets within striking distance.
The Yellowjackets looked like a different team in the second half, and particularly the fourth quarter. Down 25 heading into the fourth, E-E scored three straight touchdowns in a little more than five minutes to get within 35-31 with 6:24 left.
“We have to get a poise about ourselves and do what we need to do to execute,” said Los Fresnos coach Clint Finley, who watched a 19-0 second-half lead against Edinburg North last week dissipate into an eventual 22-19 loss. “That’s two games in a row that we struggle in the fourth quarter. We have to do something to develop experience and confidence.”
But Los Fresnos held off E-E. The Yellowjackets’ last shot came within the final minutes, when it turned it over on downs with ineffective runs and an incompletion.
“We’ve had great execution in the first two games in the first half,” Finley said. “But we’e going to have to be even better. I’m proud of the way our guys played, but we have to be better.”
E-E even outgained Los Fresnos 326-205 in total yards. The aforementioned defense, led by a relentless defensive line of Ray Dinnall-Guerra, Gabriel Rodriguez, Alex Garza and Julio Contreras, was clutch, forcing two turnovers and holding the Falcons to 3.7 yards per play. But the Yellowjackets will point to the three turnovers (two of which led to touchdowns) and 10 penalties for 72 yards as key reasons for defeat.
“You have to play a perfect game when you play teams like Los Fresnos,” Marichalar said. “We played better. But we didn’t play perfect.”
AGUINAGA STARS LATE
Sophomore quarterback Marco Aguinaga played better in his second varsity start.
Aguinaga keyed Edcouch-Elsa’s fourth-quarter rally and finished by completing 6 of 20 passes (4-for-8 in the second half) for 113 yards and a TD and running 13 times for 126 yards and two more TDs.
“I guess it’s that I’m anxious,” Aguinaga said of his slow starts. “I get more comfortable because I’m adjusting. I think that’s natural and I can’t really control it, but you can see us picking it up in the second half. We just have to tweak some things.”
BETTER ‘D’
Edcouch-Elsa’s defense, which was porous last week at McAllen Rowe, showed considerable improvement, particularly in the linebackers and defensive backfield.
Marichalar moved running back Lino Sanchez back to outside linebacker, Sanchez’s old role, and moved Andrew Segura and Ricky Moreno, offensive starters, to the secondary.
Segura collected an interception, while also scoring a 76-yard touchdown off a run in the first quarter.
“We played better,” Marichalar said. “Was it perfect? No. Our linebackers and secondary did better, but they still had some mental mistakes. But it will come. We’ll get it fixed as coaches.”
UP NEXT
Edcouch-Elsa closes its non-district slate by hosting Edinburg North next week. The Cougars are 2-0.
North trailed 19-0 before rallying to beat Los Fresnos 22-19 in Week 1, and then nipped Brownsville Rivera 24-21 in overtime on Thursday.