BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Growing up, Edinburg Vela’s Daniel and Nick Enriquez always played football together.
Now, the brothers get to do it in blue and black on Friday nights.
“It’s amazing,” Nick, a senior, said. “We have been playing since peewee together, and now to be on the varsity squad next to each other with the lights shining bright and the fans just screaming our names, it’s fun. It’s great.”
Nick and Daniel, a junior, both play safety for the SaberCats defense. That defense accomplished a major feat this week. The unit moved from second place in District 31-6A to first place in yards allowed per game, at 257.8. The jump came on the heels of Vela’s first shutout of the season — a 53-0 blowout win over PSJA Southwest.
“That was extremely important for us as a unit,” Nick said. “Every week, we are working to get a shutout, and sometimes we come up short. But this week, we worked hard all week. We were going at it in practice, stressing getting that shutout. And Friday night came, and we preformed.”
Getting the job done on defense is nothing new for the Enriquez brothers. Last year, Nick led the SaberCats with 200 total tackles.
“Nick had a successful year last year,” Vela coach John Campbell said. “We got very fortunate. Heck, we inherited the defensive MVP. … He plays our premier spot on defense, so to speak. … He is playing a spot that we are able to do multiple things with, where we can insert him in the run game and also, as obvious from what he has done in the secondary, pass coverage responsibilities, as well. And he is playing it like a champ.”
What makes the brothers’ excellence on defense even more impressive is that they started off playing offense together. In those peewee football games, Nick played quarterback, and he would find Daniel, a receiver, open for touchdowns.
The brothers are still producing touchdowns. They have already combined for three touchdowns this year.
Nick scooped up a fumble on a kickoff and returned it for a touchdown against Edinburg North in Week 5.
Daniel has proven to be a game-breaker on punt returns, giving Vela some points on special teams this year.
“His punt returns have been huge for us this year,” Campbell said. “We premise everything off the pressure. Ironically, the main pressure guy is Nick. We are either going to pressure the punt, or base it off the return game. Nick is the pressure guy, and then obviously Daniel is the return guy. It’s made for a pretty dangerous combination.”
While Daniel’s performance has come as surprise to some, Nick knew it was coming.
“Daniel, his freshman year, they have a YouTube video of his highlights, and all he was doing was scoring touchdowns on punts,” Nick said. “Last year, the coaches would tell (Daniel) they weren’t going to use him on punt returns as a sophomore. I would always tell them, ‘You have to go with Daniel.’ Sure enough, this year, with these new coaches, they put him in, and he showed out.”
The Enriquez brothers can change the game in so many ways. They have a combined three interceptions on the year. Then there are the fumble recoveries, and the punt returns, and they have both been used in the kick-return game. Those big plays they can create are a huge benefit to the SaberCats.
“When those plays happen, it hypes us up,” junior middle linebacker Luis Gutierrez sad. “It helps the team. It builds the momentum, and that helps the whole team get going.”
Next up for Vela is a road game against PSJA Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Friday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
“We are excited,” Daniel said. “We are trying to go 1-0, and we are trying to get the goose egg again and come out with the win.”
Playing on Vela’s defense is not an easy task. Vela players have heard rumblings over the last couple years that the defense wasn’t as good as the numbers would suggest.
“They always claim that we have a weak defense,” Gutierrez said. “We have a strong offense, of course, but to make a good team, you have to have all three parts. We are just as much a part of making this team a good team.”
That strong offense also puts pressure on Vela’s defense. The SaberCats move at a very quick pace, employing a no-huddle attack. The unit can also score quickly, and from anywhere on the field. One-play drives are not a rare occurrence for Vela.
“Sometimes, I kind of feel bad for them,” junior running back Aaron Alvarez said with a chuckle. “Because as soon as we get on, we get off. It’s the way our team runs. And the defense handles it really well. But it’s definitely not easy.”
Despite all of that, the Enriquez brothers continue to impress in their second year playing together on varsity. Every Friday that they get to line up together is still a surreal experience for Daniel and Nick.
“It’s really cool,” Daniel said. “I like looking over and seeing him. We have good communication, and we try to shut them down and not let them convert any passes.”