BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — The QB questions at Edinburg Vela may be nearing their conclusion.
On Vela’s first play from scrimmage Friday, sophomore AJ Sotelo launched a perfect pass to senior Daniel Enriquez, who caught it in stride and raced to the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown against McAllen Memorial. The passing touchdown was Sotelo’s first of the year, but not the last of the night.
On the ensuing extra-point attempt, Vela used its bluff formation to test the feasibility of its two-point package. The SaberCats ran the conversion play, but the pass from Sotelo to senior Aziel Garcia was tipped incomplete by a Memorial defender.
That was about the only thing that went wrong for the SaberCats as they handily beat McAllen Memorial 40-21 at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“AJ continued to make good decisions — continued to make good throws,” Vela coach John Campbell said. “With Elijah (Trujillo, senior), they are competing on a day-to-day basis during the week. AJ had the nod and basically kept it because he was playing pretty well. He made some good throws. He was getting us in and out of the right plays for the most part. So, I thought AJ had a heck of a ballgame.”
Sotelo finished the game 8 for 16 for 169 yards and three touchdown passes. Trujillo did not enter the game for the SaberCats.
“It felt really good to just come out and play the whole game and get through it all,” Sotelo said. “Our offense drove down the field well, and we did some good things tonight.”
On Saturday afternoon, senior Frankie Zuniga got a text saying he may be starting at outside linebacker against Memorial.
“I am the type of player where like, ‘Coach, put me anywhere. I just want to play,’” Zuniga said. “Coach put me there, and he had the confidence in me to start me this game, with only one week of practice. I played my heart out for him. I just want to say thank you to coach Campbell for putting me in this position, because I really wanted to be out on that field today.”
Zuniga earned the shot to fill in for the injured Justice Rivera, and he came up big for Vela.
“Frankie is one of those guys who can do a little bit of everything,” Campbell said. “He is just a natural football player, the consummate teammate. We needed some depth at outside linebacker this week. He is a good athlete, good player. I think he is going to be one of the guys — I was watching him a lot — he is going to grade out pretty well. He played well at outside linebacker, gets the interception and played a heck of a ballgame.”
Memorial was just starting to gain momentum on a drive just before half when Zuniga came up big.
He was shadowing his receiver, who had run a route toward the right side of the end zone.
“I was playing cover 2 high, and I was reading the QB’s eyes,” Zuniga recalled. “I saw the quarterback getting pressure. He rolled out to the left. And then, I saw a receiver open in the end zone. I hauled my butt off from the complete other side of the field to the other. I timed that ball perfectly, and I got the pick.”
Overall, the Vela defense was stout, holding Memorial junior running back Campbell Speights to 64 yards. Junior quarterback Sean Skaugen was also held in check in the ground game, registering just 59 yards from scrimmage, but Skaugen looked to pass more than expected on Friday. Skaugen attempted a season-high 16 passes, and he completed eight, also a season-high.
“We were ready for Campbell Speights,” Zuniga said. “That guy is a tough dude. He’s freaking fast. I didn’t know how fast he was until I was on the field with him. He might have hurdled me one time, but other than that, I feel like I did a pretty good job containing him. Forcing him back inside to help my dogs get the tackle.”
Coach Campbell agreed.
“I feel pretty good about what we did with Campbell. We ended up getting hit on some things we hadn’t seen,” Campbell said. “All-in-all, we held up very well in terms of containing Campbell. We got hit on some passes that we hadn’t seen them do before. But then Ivan (Mendoza) comes back and responds, and on a similar double move, comes back and gets the interception.”
Mendoza, the sophomore safety, had a huge game. The aforementioned interception came at a crucial moment in the fourth quarter, and it set up Vela’s final touchdown.
“I just stayed patient with my route,” Mendoza said. “He cut in, and I just read the ball and got it.”
Mendoza also got his first kickoff return of the season, and he made it count, running for 27 yards and setting up Vela’s longest drive of the night, which was capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run by senior running back Cristian Flores.
“I really wanted one,” Mendoza said. “They finally kicked one to me, and it felt really good to get the team going.”
Flores finished the game with 14 carries for 84 yards and 2 TDs.
“We knew we weren’t going to get too many possessions and we would have to capitalize when we got the ball,” Flores said. “We did that, and it was big for our offense to get that confidence early.”
Between Mendoza and sophomore Jaime Perez Jr., who has three interceptions on the young season, the Vela secondary looks secure for the next few years.
“Me and ‘Mito’ worked all summer for this,” Mendoza said. “All we did was work, and we always tell each other, ‘Bro, lets work hard. All this will pay off in the end.’ It is already starting to pay off now.”
Sotelo had more time to throw than he has all year. Friday, the offensive line was playing lights out, and Sotelo said he thanked them for it after the game. It’s no coincidence that when Sotelo got time and space to pass, he reached a new level of play.
“This game boosted up his confidence tons,” Flores said. “He got his first touchdown pass, finally. We got some time for him. The pocket was looking good. I think we are going to look good in the future. He played well tonight.”