SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
SAN ANTONIO — After Weslaco East senior quarterback Antonio Cedeño was injured during the final week of the preseason, the Wildcats entered a mad dash to get junior Ramsey Vasquez ready to run their offense.
Vasquez is a safety who East coach Mike Burget had been working into the offense as a receiver, running back, and maybe even in a wildcat package. Once disaster struck at the worst time for the Wildcats, Burget knew Vasquez was his best option under center.
“I had to work all week long to get the signals down,” Vasquez said. “My boy Josh (Gonzalez) was helping me with that. I had to learn all the signals, plays, formations, everything. It was a lot.”
Vasquez was ready to step in under center come Saturday’s opener, but Weslaco East suffered a 26-21 loss to Manor at Alamo Stadium.
“We made young mistakes,” Burget said. “We have some key guys back, but we are also young at some big positions. We made some young mistakes. We had one week to get our quarterback ready. Ramsey was our free safety, and we had a week to get him ready. I don’t think people understand how hard that is.”
Cedeño was East’s No. 1 quarterback throughout preseason practice, and Burget said he’s expected to return within a couple of weeks.
Vasquez often ran to the sideline after plays to get the play call and relay it to the huddle.
He also still played some at safety, punted and returned kicks and punts for East on Saturday.
“The trainers keep me fresh,” Vasquez said. “They give me Pedialyte, water, cold towels, more water, and everything.”
Vasquez ran the offense effectively, but the lack of a passing threat allowed Manor to crowd the line and prevent the long runs East is accustomed to. Vasquez attempted one pass on the afternoon — an incompletion with pressure in his face.
“Ramsey makes people bounce off of him. I don’t know how he does it. He’s just a stick,” Burget said. “He’s a good kid. He is going to make big things happen for us this year.
“He will do whatever we ask. He would probably play nose tackle, if we asked him to.”
East showed why it is known as the strong side, rushing for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Vasquez had a game-high 73 yards on the ground and scored all three TDs for East during a physical matchup played in peak Texas heat. Junior Randy Cardoza ran for 35 yards, and Gonzalez, a junior, added 29.
“That little sophomore we got, Gio, I thought he did really well,” Burget said, referring to Giovanni Guerra, who had four carries for 15 yards. “Josh finally got his feet going in the second half. Randy, our fullback, got some good carries.
“Our fans wanted us to pass more. It’s like they haven’t watched 13 years of East football.”
Gonzalez was not interested in highlighting his personal achievements Saturday.
“I was just listening to my coaches,” Gonzalez said. “I just did what they told me to do.
“I trust my O-line, so I follow them and trust my fullbacks,”
Gonzalez was quick to praise others, having a much easier time recognizing his teammates’ skills than his own.
“Randy did a little bit of everything today,” Gonzalez said. “He was in there smashing people. He was running the ball when asked. He did great.”
Gonzalez did much of the same for East, and he stuck with it, even after a rough first half. He was able to get loose a few times in the second half, and he showed the promise the Wildcats know exists.
The strongest side for East on Saturday was defense, but Burget was quick to point out even that group wasn’t perfect.
“I still don’t think we played well on that side,” Burget said. “We played good on that side, don’t get me wrong. They flew around and caused turnovers. But the thing is, sometimes we are misaligned. That is going to kill us. We know that, and we have to work on it. The defense carried us tonight, and they are going to carry us all year.”
Senior linebacker Freddy Cardenas was all over the field Saturday, breaking up screen passes, sacking the quarterback and stuffing the run. Jacob Banda and the rest of the D-line were stout throughout. The defense was asked to play a lot on Saturday, and with each offensive three-and-out, the defense grew a little more fatigued.
Perhaps the biggest gaffe on defense loomed largest at the end of the game.
The game was scoreless through the first six minutes, and East looked capable of holding back an uber-athletic Manor offense. East had Manor at a fourth-and-3 at the East 34-yard line. The Wildcats line jumped, and flags came flying from every referee. The East defense froze, staring at the flags, while Manor quarterback Nate Jackson took his drop and looked to his go-to target, Ernest Musue. Musue also knew the play was still alive and ran his route. Musue was so alone, he could have caught any ball thrown even remotely close to him. He did catch it, and he turned to see the field was wide-open in front of him. In space, no one on East was going to catch Musue. He was gone before half the defense even realized the play was live.
What could have been the stop that sparked East became the play that ignited the Mustangs.
Burget knows scheduling matchups like this is always a risk, but he maintains that it helps the team long term.
“Ramsey came in and led us against a great team,” Burget said. “This is a playoff team. They have two Division I kids over there, that I know of. Maybe three with that big ol’ defensive end. Non-district, I put Manor on the schedule, Laredo Alexander, Hanna and Harlingen. They are all playoff teams. We try to play the best, and we are going to come up short sometimes, but we will be ready for next week. It would be easy to build a schedule to get us to 4-0. But that is not the purpose of being a head football coach.”
Vasquez said he agrees.
“This is great preparation for what lies ahead for us,” Vasquez said. “They were flying to the ball, hitting us. They got us better, and they got us ready for the next few weeks.
“We learned that we keep fighting. We always keep fighting. We were down 26-7, and we came back and scored two in a row.”