DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — The defense and the play of some unsung heroes were good enough. The four turnovers and slew of penalties were not, but that didn’t harm Edcouch-Elsa.
As the Yellowjackets kneeled on the ball following a last-minute gasp from PSJA Southwest on Friday night, the bottom line was they remained in the District 32-5A title chase with a 21-15 win at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
“We came out of here with a victory and we’ll take it,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said. “A win is always good no matter how you get it.”
It was far from pretty for either team, and it was perhaps more troubling for the ‘Jackets despite the result.
Quarterback Marco Aguinaga, running back Tey Valdez, receiver A.J. Rodriguez, defensive tackle Norby Fuentes and offensive lineman Miguel Quintana were all sidelined with injuries heading into the game. Things got worse when senior quarterback and current starter Andrew Segura joined them after suffering a hit late during the second quarter.
That forced into action Moses Gomez, the fourth-string signal-caller after Aguinaga, Segura and Valdez, but by then E-E had a 14-7 lead and it was enough.
Marichalar said trainers told him Segura “felt woozy” and he held him out after he got hit for precautionary reasons. Segura will be re-evaluated Saturday.
“It’s a big blow to our offense when you see a guy like Andrew go out, but we had guys who stepped up and that’s what we needed,” said E-E receiver JJ Flores, who caught two passes for 97 yards and a TD. “We were able to come together when it mattered.”
Aside from Flores, it was impressive play from the likes of Gomez (nine carries, 45 yards, TD) and Cristian Garza, among others, who helped keep the ‘Jackets ahead during the second half.
Edcouch-Elsa (6-2, 4-1 32-5A) turned the ball over four times during the second half, but there was no real consequence. Southwest (3-5, 2-3) only turned one of those turnovers into points, and two more times in E-E’s red zone it failed to score.
Three of Southwest’s four turnovers came during the second quarter after it ended the first with a 7-0 lead.
“We had opportunities,” Southwest coach Jesus Reyes said. “We just didn’t make the plays when we had them. We had our chances.”
And it likely cost the Javelinas a shot at the playoffs with two games left.
“It makes it tough,” Reyes said. “We’ve just got to stress playing better.”
The E-E defense, ignited by junior defensive lineman Elias Munoz, kept Southwest’s offense under wraps.
The Javelinas had 290 total yards, but averaged just 3.8 yards per play. Seventy-five of those yards came on Southwest’s opening drive of the game that resulted in a 1-yard TD plunge from Jesus Acosta, Southwest’s star back who had 117 yards on 28 carries.
Reyes praised the relentlessness of Munoz, who invaded Southwest’s backfield early and often.
“We just couldn’t block him,” Reyes said.
But while E-E had spurts of dominance, it almost wasn’t enough.
The Yellowjackets only survived after Southwest turned it over on downs with 21 seconds left on E-E’s 44-yard line.
The Yellowjackets often committed untimely penalties and the offense sputtered for the second straight game, even when Segura was in there.
E-E had 10 penalties for 65 yards and completed just 6 of 24 passes for 125 yards. The run game wasn’t much better, producing just 4.5 yards per play on 29 carries.
In short, the Yellowjackets escaped more than they won convincingly.
“We know we have a lot of things to clean up,” Marichalar said. “As a head coach, I have do a better job of making sure our kids are prepared to face all situations that will happen in a game. We have to have guys ready to go.
“It’s a collective group unit push we’ve got to do as coaches.”