BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Entering their season opener versus the Edinburg North Cougars, the Mercedes Tigers’ quarterback rotation was up in the air.
Senior Israel Alegria earned the starting job, but he had been dealing with an AC sprain in one of his shoulders and a partially broken wrist. The injury kept Alegria off the field during Mercedes’ scrimmage against Mission High and through the first half of Saturday’s game in Edinburg.
“We wanted to see how the (quarterback) options we had did in the regular season,” Mercedes coach Roger Adame Jr. said. “We felt (Horacio) Peqeuño and (Joseph) Carr could do some good things for us, but we weren’t sure what the kids were going to give us and what Edinburg North would show us. It was important that they all got reps tonight.”
The Tigers offense sputtered early with the sophomore Peqeuño, who threw a first-quarter interception and led two other drives that ended in punts. Carr, a junior, replaced Pequeño in the second quarter and helped turn Mercedes’ first threat inside Edinburg North territory into the team’s first offensive touchdown of the season.
But the Tigers’ spread attack didn’t really get off the ground until Alegria arrived in the third quarter. Alegria threw two touchdown passes and Mercedes held on to a three-point lead, resulting in a 19-16 triumph over Edinburg North at Richard R. Flores Stadium.
“I’ve been in this Tiger offense for four years, and I know most of what I need to know,” Alegria said. “I don’t know everything, but I know most of it. We have a great coaching staff with coach (Don) Smith running our offense. They’ve taken me under their wing and try to teach me everything they can.”
Penalties were a big factor on both sides. Edinburg North (0-1), which lost several players via transfers to Edinburg Vela during the summer, was also settling in with new coach Damian Gonzalez leading the program.
On their first scoring drive of the second half, the Tigers moved the ball down the field but were held back by two holding penalties and a false start. Facing a fourth-and-16 from the Edinburg North 22-yard line, Alegria found Alex Rincon for a touchdown that gave Mercedes its first lead of the game.
Later in the quarter, Alegria connected with fellow senior Leeroy Garcia on a 48-yard touchdown to put the Tigers (1-0) up to stay.
“We came out nervous to start, but we have a lot of weapons on this team,” Garcia said. “We use everyone on this team, because we’re all good enough to make a play.”
Garcia finished with a game-high 121 receiving yards.
“We had great receivers like Matthew (Ledesma) and Ryan (Reyes),” Garcia said. “I learned a lot from them. They helped me whenever I needed it. But at the end, it was on me if I was going to step up. I did what I had to do to get the job done.”
The Tigers’ first-half score came when sophomore running back Samuel Jackson took his first carry of the season and bolted to the end zone on an 18-yard rush. The touchdown took place after the Tigers were called for back-to-back false starts.
“It felt good knowing that I was out there doing this for my team and for the fans in the stands,” Jackson said. “Getting this win showed us how much more difficult teams are going be after this. We’re prepared.”