During last year’s 0-10 season, PSJA North allowed an average of 34.7 points per game. On Friday against PSJA, the Raiders allowed only 7, eclipsing last year’s win total with a 14-7 victory.
“Our defense played really well,” North coach Jorge Peña said. “We swarmed them. We played really smart defense. We worked real hard on tackling all week, and we tackled well.”
The key to the Raiders’ undersized defensive unit is speed. Peña and defensive coordinator Cruz Gaitan have installed a system similar to what Mario Peña is running at Mission High. The group is fast, aggressive and blitzes often.
“We’re moving all the time,” PSJA North coach Peña said. “We rarely take on blockers head on.”
Outside linebacker Nico Jaime scored the decisive touchdown against PSJA, corralling a tipped pass and taking it the other way for a score.
Raiders coach Peña also highlighted defensive tackle Matt Garza as one of the unit’s standouts.
GROUND GAME
Edinburg Economedes coach Gabe Peña knew his team would have a balanced rushing attack coming into the season. The Jaguars weren’t going to have a 1,000-yard rusher, but hopefully multiple players would rack up a few hundred.
Through one game, Economedes is right on track.
Doroteo Arreola — playing halfback for the first time in his career — ran six times for 94 yards and a touchdown. Cresencio Izaguirre carried 12 times for 63 yards and a score. Jesse Gonzalez also found the end zone, toting the ball seven times for 29 yards. Even quarterback Edward Garcia scored on the ground, as Economedes defeated Brownsville Hanna 35-13 on Thursday.
“That’s just what I wanted,” Peña said. “We’re going to have a stable of guys touching the ball.”
Ten players carried the ball for Economedes, as the Jaguars amassed 273 yards on 46 carries. Even after falling behind 13-0, Economedes didn’t veer away from its slot-T offense.
“Nobody pushed the panic button,” Peña said. “That says a lot about the character and toughness of our young team.”
MAJOR TURNAROUND
On Friday against Los Fresnos, a 54-yard catch from a sophomore wideout gave Edinburg North the spark it needed.
After Los Fresnos scored to take a 19-0 lead with 8:40 to play in the third quarter, quarterback Martin Rodriguez connected with Justin Guerra for the big gain. Rodriguez scored a rushing touchdown on the next play, sparking a run of 22 unanswered points in North’s 22-19 win.
“I guess it was good, old-fashioned momentum,” Edinburg North coach Rene Saenz said. “Things just started going our way, and the kids started believing.”
North had been able to move the ball prior to that point, but finishing drives was an issue. Whether it was a bad snap, a penalty or a misalignment, something caused each drive to stall.
That changed in the second half, and the defense complemented the effort by forcing four turnovers during the final 20 minutes.
Rodriguez ran for 48 yards on 16 carries in his first game as North’s starter at quarterback. He completed only 5 of 18 passes for 89 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but Saenz said Rodriguez was hardly to blame for the poor stat line. The wet, humid conditions made the ball difficult to grip, and North receivers dropped about three passes.
Rodriguez left the game in the fourth quarter due to a minor ankle sprain, so sophomore Christian Espinoza entered and managed a run-heavy offense during the team’s final two drives.
Saenz said he believes Rodriguez will be available for Thursday’s game against Brownsville Rivera.
“We expect him to be OK for this week,” Saenz said. “We still might start Christian, but we expect Martin to be in there. It’s definitely not something that’s long term.”
[email protected]