GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — As McAllen Memorial running back Adam Grace was sprinting down the sideline for a 70-yard rushing touchdown in a game that had long been iced away, running back Trevor Speights was sprinting right along with him on the opposite sideline.
He knows that feeling pretty well. More often than not, he was the one sprinting into the end zone on Friday.
Speights finished with 285 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries as McAllen Memorial rolled to a 69-38 win against Edinburg Economedes on Friday at McAllen Memorial Stadium.
“We still have a long way to go to reach our potential,” Speights said. “We’re getting there. But this right here, is just to show the Valley we can put up points.”
McAllen Memorial was completely unstoppable on offense in the first half, gaining 390 yards on 39 plays and scoring on all six possessions. The Mustangs were methodical, picking up 18 first downs and holding the ball for 15 minutes and 15 seconds.
Speights, the reigning All-Valley player of the year, scored the first two touchdowns, racking up 204 yards on 18 carries in the first half alone.
“Trevor is the key. He is the No. 1 player on this year,” quarterback Fabian Pedraza said. “I believe he is the best player in the Valley. Having him in my backfield is awesome.”
Speights is no stranger to big games, and this ranks up there with the best of them. He finished just 9 yards shy of his career high — a 294-yard game against McAllen Rowe on Oct. 12, 2012.
“He had an outstanding ball game,” coach Bill Littleton said. “He made a lot of big runs.”
Jonathan Sanchez added a pair of 1-yard touchdowns on quarterback sneaks, amassing 89 yards on11 carries overall.
Pedraza also had a hand in three touchdowns, scoring on a 2-yard keeper and finding Alvaro Rocha for strikes of 47 and 28 yards.
“We got it going a little bit,” Littleton said of the passing game. “We still have to get better at it, but we saw some signs tonight that we can throw the football when we need to.”
After completing only 1 of 6 passes for 10 yards in a loss to Sharyland last week, Pedraza was 8 for 9 passing for 140 yards and the two touchdowns.
“It was very important to jump back on track,” Pedraza said. “We were off track for a while. … It felt like we recovered real well from our loss last week.”
The Jaguars struggled to move the ball consistently on offense in the first half. Their only success came from taking advantage of play-action when Memorial loaded up the box. Rolando Resendez caught a pass for 51 yards, Alan Garcia caught a 34-yard pass, and Austin Reyna made an outstanding diving catch for 31 yards.
But, aside from those three big plays, Economedes gained just 31 yards on 16 plays.
The group played much better over the final 24 minutes, reaching the end zone on four of their first five possessions. The slot-T offense finally appeared to create confusion for Memorial’s defense, as Economedes ran for 189 yards after halftime. Doroteo Arreola finished the game with 11 carries for 90 yards and three touchdowns. Cris Izaguirre also scored twice, on runs of 4 and 17 yards.
But even as Economedes rallied, Memorial’s offense kept scoring. The Mustangs punted twice to start the half but then scored touchdowns on their final four possessions.
“Overall, I thought the kids played extremely well tonight,” Littleton said.
GETTING ONE BACK
McAllen Memorial had lost to Edinburg Economedes each of the past two years. The Jaguars defeated the Mustangs 24-21 in 2012 and 28-21 in 2013.
THE TRENCHES
Speights and Pedraza both credited their success to the offensive line.
“My offensive line is off the charts,” Speights said. “I have the best offensive line, I think, in the country. I’m blessed.”
UP NEXT
McAllen Memorial travels to Bobby Morrow stadium to face San Benito next Friday.
Economedes is also in action next Friday, playing host to PSJA High.