BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
Edinburg Vela (8-0, 5-0) started rolling early and never looked back in a 48-7 win against PSJA North on Thursday at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
The SaberCats notched a field goal from senior kicker Austin Garza on their opening drive to start the scoring.
North (2-6, 2-3) had the ball in a third-and-long situation when Vela junior defensive back Daniel Enriquez intercepted a pass and returned it more than 40 yards for a touchdown to put the SaberCats up 10-0.
“We went down there and got points on the board, but we didn’t really finish the drive,” Vela coach John Campbell said of the opening drive that resulted in Garza’s field goal. “The pick six was definitely a momentum swing. After that, we were able to keep a short field and get up on them a little bit. We were able to really control the ball from there.”
Senior Brandon Guzman and sophomore Justin Cantu each hauled in a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Nathan Garcia. Senior running back Sam Valenzuela had two rushing touchdowns.
“I thought our offensive line and our backs did a good job of getting the running game going tonight,” Campbell said. “They did particularly well in the second and third quarter.”
EDINBURG ECONOMEDES 24, PSJA SOUTHWEST 7: At Pharr, junior quarterback Albert Guerra and senior running backs Lee Maldonado and Gabriel Ornelas led the Jaguars (3-5, 1-4) to their first district win of the season. The Javelinas remain winless
on the year at 0-8 overall and 0-5 in District 31-6A. Economedes got on the board first, leading 7-0 less than 5 minutes in. The Jaguars lead ballooned to 17-0 before the half after the Jaguars defense recovered a fumble in the end zone.
DISTRICT 16-4A DI
KINGSVILLE KING 32, GRULLA 3: At Rio Grande City, each team scored on its opening drive, putting the score at 7-3 after the first quarter.
Brahmas senior quarterback Omar Navejar caught fire in the second half and led his team to a 22-3 halftime lead.
Grulla dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in district. King improved to 5-4, 2-1.