DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Weslaco East coach Mike Burget swears up and down that the Wildcats will pass more this season.
Friday night’s season opener at Sharyland High, he said, just wasn’t the time or place.
East started the 2016 season looking a lot like the Wildcats of old, pulling out a methodical 21-14 win over the Rattlers at Richard Thompson Stadium.
Boasting a physical 6-foot-4 quarterback with a powerful arm in Richard LeFevre, the plan all spring and summer was for the Wildcats to utilize more of a passing game this year. But that wasn’t necessary as East amassed 264 yards on 57 carries and only attempted two passes, completing one.
“We did pitch the ball backwards 12 times today,” Burget joked about any semblance of an aerial attack. “But seriously, you’ll see us throw the ball this year. We have a great quarterback and great receivers. I promise, you before the end of this year, you’re going to see that ball go in a forward direction at Weslaco East.
“But Richard, our quarterback who’s got probably one of the best arms in the Valley, came up to me and told me tonight, ‘Coach, the middle’s weak.’ So I listened to him.”
Six ballcarriers took advantage of the open field, none more so than Fabian Castro, who used a plethora of cutbacks to produce 196 yards and a TD on 32 carries. East jumped ahead to a 14-0 lead by halftime as the offense could afford to move the chains at its leisure thanks to an opportunistic defense.
East junior defensive back JC Vargas collected three interceptions, including the game-sealing grab on the Rattlers’ final desperate drive, and was part of a committed plan to blanket 6-foot-1 senior Edgar Alanis, the Rattlers’ top receiver.
On the last takeaway, Vargas said he knew Rattlers quarterback Alan Alvarez, making his debut as a varsity signal-caller, would be eyeing Alanis. Vargas made the read, sprinted step by step with Alanis and then made the catch to end the dramatics.
“We know Edgar is a tough receiver,” Vargas said. “I knew No. 2 (Alvarez) was going to always look for him as his first read, so that was the biggest thing. We stopped them pretty good and we were physical out there.”
Alanis, who had 930 receiving yards and nine touchdowns last season, had five catches for 42 yards. Sharyland High coach Ron Adame said the Wildcats’ defense was focused on stopping the pass, so the Rattlers went to a run game that was effective (160 yards on 28 carries), but not enough.
“I worried about our defense at the beginning of the year,” Burget said. “Not that they aren’t good or talented, but they are small. But we have 30 guys benching over 265, 270 pounds. So even if they might be undersized, they’re strong enough to handle what’s coming at them.”
Alvarez struggled during the first half, completing just 2 of 11 passes for 10 yards and throwing two interceptions. But he looked considerably better during the second half, completing 6 of 7 passes and rushing for a touchdown as he led a late comeback.
But with 36 seconds left, after Weslaco East turned the ball over on downs on Sharyland’s 22-yard line, Alvarez launched a bomb that was well short of Alanis but perfect for Vargas.
“I asked him if he’d seen the outlet and Alan said he was covered,” Adame said of the final play. “We can’t second-guess it. Alan did the best job he could for us and we’ll get better from week to week.”
Overall, the Rattlers compiled 253 total yards. They did not commit a penalty all night and outplayed the Wildcats during the second half.
But it all came up a bit short.
“This was a measuring stick for us,” Vargas said. “It was a great chance to see what we had. Two great teams. As they said this week, iron sharpens iron when you get two teams like this and that’s what we got.”