BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
LAREDO — From the moment Edinburg Vela received the ball to start the second half, the momentum had already begun to swing.
After needing a final-minute field goal to win last week, Vela was happy to take a four-point lead to the locker room on Friday. But the first drive of the second half proved to be the final blow.
Vela mounted an 11-play, 72-yard drive that lasted 5:12 and culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run from Nathan Garcia.
The score tipped the scales, and Vela earned the 28-10 win against Eagle Pass in the area round on Friday at the Laredo Student Activity Complex. Vela advanced to face Austin Westlake, which beat Smithson Valley 51-31 on Friday, in the Class 6A Region IV semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ray Akins Wildcat Stadium in Portland.
“We are pleased,” first-year Vela coach John Campbell said. “That was a goal when we came in. Obviously, we had a late transition, but we felt like if we could get all the pieces in place and speed up the transition, we had the talent to get into the third round. We feel very fortunate that we are able to get that accomplished.”
After Garcia’s touchdown run opened the third quarter, Vela’s defense loomed large.
On Eagle Pass’ next possession, Vela senior defensive lineman Timothy Ellington notched back-to-back sacks to pin the Eagles deep for a punt.
Then, Vela punted the ball back to Eagle Pass, and junior quarterback Ricardo Luna completed a pass to Jose Riojas. Riojas was streaking down the middle of the field when Vela senior safety Nick Enriquez stripped the ball away from him. The ball bounced from player to player, with no one able to get a clean grip on it.
“That was a pretty dramatic one,” Campbell said. “I was standing on the sideline like, ‘Would somebody please pick up the ball? As long as they are wearing a blue jersey.’”
“What was going through my head was, ‘Get the ball no matter what,’” junior safety Daniel Enriquez said. “I kept track of it. Everybody was fumbling it. I took the initiative, and I picked it up and tried to put our offense in good field position.”
Enriquez followed a stellar bi-district performance with another standout game on Friday. On top of the fumble recovery, he also had a pick on the next Eagle Pass possession, which set up Vela for its final touchdown.
“Daniel has been that spark plug for us,” Campbell said. “He has a lot of athletic ability. He sometimes makes us hold our breath, freelancing a little bit, but at the same time, he makes plays all the time. Once again, he came up big.”
During a 34-32 win against Brownsville Hanna last week, Enriquez blocked a field goal, blocked an extra point, returned a punt for a touchdown and started the game with a big kickoff return.
Eagle Pass got on the board first with a field goal, but Vela responded with a 4-yard touchdown run from junior running back Aaron Alvarez.
Eagle Pass quickly answered, though, with an 11-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Albert Guevara from Luna.
Vela scored the final blow of the half, a 9-yard pass from Garcia to Justin Cantu, who was waiting in the end zone.
Getting Cantu involved in the passing game was a major part of Vela’s offense on Friday. Garcia struggled out of the gates, airmailing a few easy passes and even missing a wide-open deep ball that would have been a touchdown. Once Garcia hit Cantu, he found his rhythm and grew comfortable.
“That was a big part of what we were able to do in this game plan,” Campbell said of Cantu and Garcia connecting often. “Once Nate and everybody kind of settled in, we were able to execute that.”
Garcia finished the game 21 for 33 for 208 yards and one passing touchdown, and he also ran for two touchdowns. Cantu finished with 12 catches for 127 yards and a score.
On the ground for the SaberCats, Alvarez had 59 yards and a touchdown, and senior Sam Valenzuela added 61 yards.
For Eagle Pass, senior running back DeeAndre Torres had 16 carries for 77 yards.
“He was running around us in the first half,” Enriquez said. “But, we drew up a game plan, and in the second half, we just dominated. In the secondary, we worked on our coverage and stopped them.”
Once Torres was limited, the Eagles became one-dimensional, relying heavily on Luna. Luna finished the night 21-of-31 passing for 153 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
With Austin Westlake on the horizon, Vela is looking forward to a tough test in the next round.
“I just tell our guys every week to go 1-0,” Enriquez said. “That’s what we did this week. Now onto the next.”