By Mike Gonzalez | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — It looked as if Friday’s District 31-6A contest between PSJA North and Weslaco East was going to be a back-and-forth showdown.
The opening quarter saw both teams trade successive touchdown drives, with the Raiders opening up a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Then the Wildcats rolled, scoring 35 straight points and cruising to a 49-14 win.
Weslaco East (7-1, 3-1) is now in a first place tie with Weslaco High with two games remaining.
“To beat a team like we did and they were in first place, we played one of our best games of the season,” Weslaco East coach Mike Burget said.
After PSJA North made things look easy, piling up 132 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, Weslaco East stifled the Raiders offense, holding them to 49 yards total and three first downs the rest of the game.
The defensive adjustment wasn’t anything special. The Wildcats simply played the way they are coached: hit, and create turnovers. The unit came up with two of them.
“Swarm to the ball and out-hit them,” linebacker Ram Mendoza said. “That’s the East tradition there.”
PSJA North (3-2, 5-4) was efficient on offense to being with, as saw quarterback George Olivarez cap off an eight-yard run for a score.
After that, the Raiders mustered a trio of three-and-outs, and throwing an interception to Weslaco East’s Ciro Rojas on the final drive of the half. Entering the game second to last in the district, Friday’s outcome was important for the Wildcats in proving how strong their postseason might.
“We’ve been down this road before,” Weslaco East defensive coordinator Rene Guzman said. “Our East defense is there. They got after it.”
With the defense raising their game, the offense rode on the legs of running back Lupe Moron and quarterback Darren Rivas. Moron continued his sensational season by rushing for 217 yards and hit pay dirt four times on his birthday, all in the first half. While Rivas was contained for most of the night, a 56-yard touchdown run helped the senior surpass the century mark for the fourth time in five games to end with 111 yards and one touchdown.
For the fourth time in 2014, the Wildcats didn’t accumulate a single passing yard. The offense flourished, however, producing 428 yards total.
“The offense put up points, our defense played well and caused turnovers,” Rivas said. “The scoreboard says it all.”
After jumping to a quick 2-0 in district, the Raiders have now dropped two of their last three league games and have gone from sole possession of first place heading into Week 9, to third place with a half a game lead over Edinburg North, which had a bye this week. Now North has gone from district title talk to now walking on egg shells with two weeks left.
“We’re gonna regroup just like everything else,” Pena said. “We’ll go back and go to work. We got beat.”