BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — The Edinburg Economedes Jaguars threw the ball 93 times last year. For some, even that paltry number was too much.
“If I threw the football six times a game, I’d have some coaches tell me that I was (messing up) the system,” coach Gabe Pena said. “We do tweak the offense some when we throw, but we do believe in running the football.”
Econ relied on a revolving door of backs a season ago. On average, more than six Jaguars carried the ball on a game-to-game basis, including a 35-13 rout over Brownsville Hanna last August when nine athletes took turns in the backfield.
“Our kids believe in the system,” Pena said. “We know we got them hooked when they come up to us and say, ‘Coach, don’t mess with the bread and butter.’”
Despite his limited number of attempts, outgoing senior quarterback David Garcia was effective when the ball was in his hands, throwing for 842 yards on 43 completions, including eight touchdowns. With Garcia graduating, former tailback Jesse Gonzalez is getting snaps during spring practice to prepare himself for his new role. Last year, Gonzalez rushed 66 times for 295 yards and six touchdowns.
Filling in-part for Gonzalez will be current junior Charlie Vela, who Pena says will be the team’s “go-to” back in the fall. Vela gained 392 yards on the ground last year on 53 carries (7.4 yards per attempt). Vela pulled a right hamstring earlier last month at an area track meet in Weslaco, and watches spring training in street clothes.
“I’m just watching and trying to learn the plays,” Vela said. “I’m ready for the responsibilities, though. I’m used to it.”
The Jaguars were also used to making the postseason, after doing so during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. A third-straight playoff appearance eluded the team last year as they finished fifth in District 31-6A with a 2-4 record. Pena partly credits a young defensive squad, as well as a 34-14 loss to PSJA Memorial.
“Turnovers were a big problem for us last year,” Pena said. “And that was uncharacteristic of us. Not all year long, but the game that kept us out of the (playoffs) against PSJA Memorial, we had eight turnovers. That’s almost unheard of. I’d never had a game like that. We didn’t deserve it.”
FOLLOW THE LEADER
According to some members of the Jaguars, one element missing from the team a season ago that caused them to miss the playoffs was leadership.
“During practices, people would mess around big time,” Vela said. “Coaches wouldn’t control it, or at least they decided not to. I would say we had too much confidence. We were up against PSJA North, but they just passed us. That’s probably just overconfidence.”
Junior defensive lineman Alexis Alvarez, one of a handful of upperclassmen on the defensive side of the ball, still seems upset about how the team’s immaturity affected play on the field.
“We just didn’t have that central motivation,” Alvarez said. “We didn’t have a captain to always pick us up. We just slacked off. It always felt like we were joking around in practices sometimes. The coaches can only do so much. Once they turn their back, it’s on us.”
TEAM IN THE MIRROR
Economedes will play the McAllen Memorial Mustangs for a fifth-straight season this fall. The most recent bout between the programs ended with a 69-38 Mustangs win. Both sides have won two games.
“I want to keep (Memorial) coach (Bill) Littleton on my schedule as a non-district opponent,” Pena said. “That’s my measuring stick for where my program is. He’s been very successful year-in and year-out. I look at him as a barometer of where we are from the freshman team on up to varsity.”