MISSION — Alek Gonzalez’s three-touchdown night powered the Sharyland High Rattlers over the Edcouch-Elsa Yellow Jackets in a bi-district playoff meeting.
Gonzalez scored two touchdown receptions and returned an interception for a touchdown as the speedy star athlete shined the brightest in a 32-7 victory Friday night at Richard Thompson Stadium.
“The twins, Alek and Alan, are huge, they have been on varsity for four years now,” Sharyland High coach Craig Krell said. “They are part of our offense and part of our defense. Having those guys healthy is absolutely huge.”
Yellow Jackets quarterback Alvaro Amaya found Jayreed Amaya for a 14-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone after Gonzalez scored his third touchdown to make it 32-7.
Turnovers sealed the Yellow Jackets’ fate in the third quarter. The Rattlers had four takeaways in the quarter and went up 25-0 after senior running back Alan Guerrero ducked under a tackler for a touchdown.
Two Rattlers interceptions early in the third quarter stopped the Yellow Jackets from cutting the lead after Edcouch-Elsa started both possessions in decent field position.
The third interception, the second of the half, was on a deep fade. Rattlers cornerback Fabian Garza had ample time to see the ball in. Garza then pitched the ball to Gonzalez. The safety took the ball deep into Yellow Jackets territory.
Gonzalez then snagged a deep slant and leaped into the end zone, and the Rattlers went up 17-0.
“We started off slow in the first half,” Krell said. “Defensively, we got a couple of turnovers and ended up scoring on the defensive side of the ball — kind of sparked us. Come out in the second half, same thing happened. Defense got us going with a couple of more picks, and we let loose.”
Gonzalez scored his first touchdown in the second quarter. The safety read the quarterback’s eyes, jumped the corner route by the receiver he was covering from his safety position, proceeded to pick off the ball and then took it to the house to make it 9-0.
Sharyland High opened the scoring in the first half with a 20-yard field goal by senior kicker Mikaeli Nguma.
The Rattlers (7-4, 5-0) move on to face either San Antonio Veterans Memorial or Harlandale in the area round.