he Edinburg Vela SaberCats are the only show in town this weekend with a Region IV-6A DII area-round matchup against San Antonio Taft at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
Eight other Rio Grande Valley teams hit the road for their second-round games, but the SaberCats will attempt to protect home field and punch their ticket to the regional quarterfinals, while tackling a tough opponent in the process.
SABERCATS OFFENSE
Edinburg Vela’s offense has playmakers at every position, but the fire-starter for the SaberCats has been do-it-all athlete PJ Rivera.
Rivera shined during Vela’s 17-7 victory over San Benito during the bi-district round with 139 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Look for Rivera and running back Ted Galvan (820 rushing yards, eight touchdowns) to open things up for the passing game led by quarterback Chase Campbell. Receivers Carlos Tamez and Justin Vega, with Rivera thrown in the mix, provide dangerous downfield threats for Campbell, while the re-emergence of tight end Jaden Tovar adds another offensive weapon to the Vela arsenal.
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
Edinburg Vela marches into the area round with the No. 1-ranked defensive unit in the RGV, which has allowed 140.5 yards per game to opposing offenses during the regular season.
The SaberCats have proven to have playmakers at every level of its defense with a ferocious pass rush led by Daniel Arce, Gavynn Coca, Jake Dufner and Nilson Garcia.
A speedy linebacker core has proven capable of shutting down the pass and the run with athletes Ethan Aguirre, Adrian Alvarez, Ian Nova and Ryno Rodriguez. The SaberCats’ ball-hawking secondary featuring Joshua Garcia, Miguel Ibarra, Matthew Luna and Justin Navarro is coming off a two-interception performance against San Benito in last week’s area round victory.
They’ll be tasked with stopping a Taft team that runs an option offense with two ball-carriers with more than 1,000 rushing yards in quarterback Justice Hurt and running back TJ Andrews.