By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys and Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets haven’t faced each other as district opponents in football for 11 years.
They revive their conference rivalry with a District 32-5A game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Benny Layton Memorial Stadium in Elsa.
The game will match teams coming off wins in last week’s 32-5A openers. Porter topped Donna North 31-21, and E-E downed PSJA High 21-7.
Both squads are 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference.
That may be where the similarities end as E-E or “La Maquina” is considered one of the Rio Grande Valley’s most successful football programs, with annual trips to the playoffs to prove it.
Conversely, Porter has endured some hard times on the football field over the years. Still, the Cowboys appear to have one of their better teams this season, and they’re hungry for the same kind of success the Yellowjackets so often enjoy.
“The Yellowjackets are a very good team with a long tradition of winning and capturing district championships,” said Porter coach Tom Campos, who is now in his second season directing the Cowboys. “They are a team that we’re aspiring to be like.
“But we won’t be awestruck,” Campos added. “We are coming in with a purpose, and that purpose is to make a name for ourselves in 32-5A. It’s going to be a heavyweight bout, no doubt. They are a very big team with a great quarterback (in sophomore Marco Aguinaga). It should take four quarters to decide this one.”
Campos, always on the lookout for quotes and slogans to inspire his team, added, “People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”
The Cowboys also have some size on the line and elsewhere in the lineup. They are led offensively by junior running back Jorge Gutierrez, who ranks among the rushing leaders in 32-5A with 415 yards on 82 carries for a 5.1-yard average with three touchdowns. Against Donna North, Gutierrez rushed 31 times for 151 yards and a pair of TDs.
Even though he is a sophomore, Aguinaga is becoming a solid player at QB for the Yellowjackets. He ranks among the district leaders in rushing (474 yards, 7.3-yard average, six TDs) and passing (36 of 69 with two interceptions, 438 yards, three TDs).
Against PSJA High, Aguinaga rushed for 90 yards and passed for 80 yards. He ran 52 yards for a TD and completed a 33-yard pass for a score.
The Yellowjackets are averaging 322.8 yards per game on offense and allowing 322.3 yards on defense. Porter averages 234.8 yards per game offensively and gives up 238.0 yards on defense.
The last time the Cowboys and Yellowjackets met as district opponents was a game for the 32-4A championship played before a packed crowd at Sams Memorial Stadium on Oct. 30, 2003, when E-E prevailed 35-28 in overtime against a Billy Garza-led Porter team.
Attempts to contact E-E coach Joe Marichalar for a comment regarding this story were unsuccessful.