DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Edcouch-Elsa’s 1-2 start to the season, including a four-point loss to Los Fresnos and an overtime win over Edinburg North, was meant for nights like Thursday.
An inexperienced roster is now experienced in close games, and it showed against PSJA High in a 21-7 win in each team’s District 32-5A opener at PSJA Stadium.
“Playing against (Class) 6A teams in non-district can only help you,” said running back Lino Sanchez, whose 1-yard plummet with 8:05 left decided the game. “It paid off, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Sanchez’s winning score came as the conclusion of a lengthy and methodical drive against a Bears defense that had allowed just 14 points on 204 yards per game coming in.
“Our offensive line has been working hard and we exploded moving the ball down the field,” said Sanchez, who finished with 82 yards on 17 carries. “Supposedly, their ‘D’ was No. 1, so it felt real good putting up 21 points and moving the ball like that.”
There were many heroes for the Yellowjackets, who improved to 2-2 with their second straight win.
There was Chon Hernandez’s big 33-yard TD reception with 1:31 left that sealed the deal. There was sophomore quarterback Marco Aguinaga making veteran plays when needed, rushing for a TD and throwing for another. There was a dominant defensive front of Ray Dinnall-Guerra, Alex Garza, Gabriel Rodriguez and Julio Contreras that kept the Bears’ strong running game at bay, holding PSJA to 4.3 yards per carry and forcing and recovering a key fumble.
But aside from Sanchez’s go-ahead score, no play was perhaps bigger than Christian Valdez’s interception of Andrew Castaneda in PSJA territory that set up Hernandez’s score with less than three minutes left.
“I saw (Castaneda) rollout to my side and I knew to stay in my zone,” Valdez said. “Saw the ball, went for it. I did what I had to do. All night we executed defensively. That was just another time.”
It was no surprise to E-E coach Joe Marichalar.
“I told (Valdez), ‘Hey, son, are you ready for stud status?’ He’s a playmaker,” Marichalar said. “Playing the corner position is his baby, and he will make plays when the ball’s coming to him.”
E-E struck early on Aguinaga’s 52-yard run in the first quarter before PSJA High answered on Castaneda’s 43-yard pass to Andrew De La Cerda with 1:16 left in the first half.
But the Bears (2-2) never could get the ball moving in the second half like they did in the first, a combination of Castaneda making just his seventh varsity start and Edcouch-Elsa’s aggressive defense.
PSJA High manufactured 41 total yards in the final two quarters.
“Consistency. Continuity. Knowing what we’re supposed to do,” PSJA High coach Steve Marroquin said of what happened. “The game got to us. The last six minutes … we were right there with them. But it slipped from us.
“We’ve just got to go back to work. We have to learn from this, and I know we will.”
In all, the Bears managed 202 total yards to the Yellowjackets’ 277. The ‘Jackets forced three turnovers and gave it away once.
“Our non-district schedule built character,” Marichalar said. “We have a young group, but they’ve been in close games. They know when to have that sense of urgency.
“They know they can win those close ones.”
SANCHEZ, OTHERS EJECTED
PSJA High senior linebacker Christian Sanchez, an All-Valley pick in 2013, was ejected late in the first half for unsportsmanlike conduct, ridding the Bears’ of their top defensive player and red-zone scorer for the rest of the game.
“I don’t even want to speculate on that,” Marroquin said. “Next man up. Our kids did a great job stepping up. Christian is our leader and he’s great, but we were in position to win with or without him.”
Sanchez was one of four players from both teams ejected during the hotly-contested game.
NEW WEAPON
For a change of pace offensively, Marichalar inserted Valdez, a cornerback and receiver, into the backfield for the second half.
Valdez had 25 yards and eight carries, aside from his interception and one reception for seven yards.
“Tay has the ability to break it,” Marichalar said. “Lino (Sanchez) is more ground-and-pound. We wanted a change of pace.”
Valdez also had a key breakup of what could have been a touchdown reception by Eric Castillo early in the first half.
UP NEXT
Edcouch-Elsa hosts Brownsville Porter, which won its district opener 31-21 against Donna North on Thursday.
PSJA High plays PSJA Southwest, which kicks off its district season against Donna High tonight, next week at Bennie LaPrade Stadium in Donna.