DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
ELSA — Going up against the Rio Grande Valley’s seventh-best defense, per yards allowed, in Mercedes, Edcouch-Elsa’s primary M.O. on Friday night will be to keep dual-threat quarterback Marco Aguinaga clean and free to make plays for the Valley’s second-best offense.
That means the offensive line of center Elijah Sanchez, guards Ricky Estimbo and Erick Rodriguez, and tackles Rigo Cardona and Justin Ortiz has a central role in the 64th meeting of the two mid-Valley rivals at Mercedes.
“It’s discipline. It comes down to that,” E-E coach Joe Marichalar said of the key for the O-line tonight. “I don’t necessarily mean it in the sense of not making mistakes or doing all the right things. What I mean is knowing what your job is and doing it effectively. There are going to be errors, there are going to be mistakes. It’s about being disciplined enough to move on and fight for the next play.”
So that means doing what the O-line has done all along to this point.
The Yellowjackets (4-2, 2-1 District 32-5A) have relied on an offense that features the district’s top quarterback in Aguinaga and its top two wideouts in J.J. Flores and A.J. Rodriguez. The offense averages 39 points on 454.7 yards per game. Aguinaga has rushed for 537 yards and four touchdowns and thrown for 1,345 yards and 18 touchdowns.
However, the senior has had plenty of room and time to work. Aguinaga has only thrown two interceptions in 185 pass attempts and been sacked three times. That’s a credit to his front five.
“These guys have improved a lot and I’ve gained a lot more trust in them throughout this season,” Aguinaga said. “It’s really about trust. These guys are very disciplined in how they block and they do a great job of letting me make plays.”
Offensive coordinator Gene Garza said the O-line is aggressive and smart. Marichalar said the linemen are able to handle the diversity the position calls for.
The Yellowjackets are generally a pass-heavy unit, so the linemen have to be mobile and able to “kick-back and sink those hips and lock on to people,” Marichalar said. But with the recent emergence of the running game, they’ve also played more with their hands on the ground and attacking downhill.
“The big keys for this offense is being in great shape and being great with our footwork,” Estimbo said. “We’re uptempo, we’re fast. We play that way, but we also practice and train that way. It’s really fun.”
They also know if they mess up, Aguinaga is there, more often than not, to make up for it.
“We take on the basics, which is the in pocket, but having Marco gives us more freedom,” said Sanchez, one of Aguinaga’s best friends since the fifth grade. “Whenever one of us messes up, he can still make a play out of it. But it still comes down to being more physical than our opponent.”
Mistakes have been few and far between this season. Discipline is a strength of the offensive line, and that comes from experience and practicing whistle to whistle.
Under the direction of O-line coaches Frank Martinez and Jesus Garza, the ball is snapped on a whistle and the play is blown dead on a whistle, just like in a game, so the linemen are trained to never stop competing until the right time.
“These guys are well tuned in that the play is over when they hear the whistle, not when they see people running or see other guys let up,” Marichalar said. “Sometimes we’ll see on film a run to the right side, our left side is blocking and engaged and they don’t even realize the ball hasn’t been run to their side. It’s good stuff.”
Four starters return from last season; only the 6-foot-3 left tackle Ortiz is a newcomer. The line is not the biggest — Ortiz is the tallest, followed by the 5-11 Estimbo and Cardona, 5-10 Rodriguez and 5-9 Sanchez — but they are deceptively fast and “tree-trunk strong,” as Marichalar calls it.
During the offseason, the linemen work on their core and mobility. They spend a lot of time in the weight room, but just as much time on the track working on explosion and speed.
“They bond well together, they work well together and they’re very disciplined,” Aguinaga said. “We have high expectations for this offense, and they keep improving game by game. We’re not even close to what we’re capable of being.”