BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
The East Side is still the Strong Side, but that narrative seems to have disappeared outside the program during recent weeks.
“I sort of laugh when I look at the rankings,” East coach Mike Burget said. “I guess if a team goes 3-0, 2-0, they are great, but I guess people don’t look to see who they played.”
East started the season playing Manor and Laredo Alexander, both out-of-Valley teams that qualified for the playoffs last year in competitive districts.
The Wildcats were without their starting QB, senior Antonio Cedeño, for those two games. Cedeño wasn’t the only Wildcat dealing with injuries, either. Still, the defense didn’t allow a touchdown against Alexander, and had the Bulldogs not scored three times on offensive turnovers, the game might have felt a bit different.
The East defense is as good as, if not better than, promised, and that unit is only getting better, Burget said.
Last week, East was scheduled to play Brownsville Hanna, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather. While the loss of snaps for younger players was a blow to the Wildcats, Burget said East is taking a positive outlook on the situation.
“We are banged up a little bit, so we got a week to heal,” Burget said.
While some fans may have sounded the alarms concerning East football, Burget said the team is as confident as ever.
“Our coaching staff is great. I don’t think people remember, a couple years ago, we started district 1-3, and we end up going three deep,” Burget said of the 2016 season.
The Wildcats are looking for the same kind of turnaround this year, and Cedeño may be one of the keys to getting there. He saw his first game action in Week 2 against Alexander. Cedeño completed just 1 of 8 passes for 14 yards and an interception in limited time.
“We threw him in there. I wish I wouldn’t have, if I had to do it all over again,” Burget said. “He only got a couple days practice, and it wasn’t fair to him. But, you know what, he handled himself well. He handles himself like a young man should on the football field. He’s trying to get used to the speed of the game, and I think he will be much improved this week, but we will see.”
While the hope is Cedeño can spark the offense Friday against Harlingen High, just having him under center frees up a lot of things for the Wildcats.
“Anytime you can add some depth and get our starting quarterback back, I think that will jump-start us,” Burget said. “Manny Gomez has a great defense like always, and he likes to send a ton of people. So, we are going to see if he can hang in there and hold up to a great ballclub, like Harlingen. It’s really good to have him back. It takes a little bit of pressure off of Ramsey (Vasquez) and Josh (Gonzalez, junior running back) and all the offensive guys. We will see how he handles it.”
Vasquez, the junior Swiss Army Knife, has filled in admirably for Cedeño, but he’s not a natural quarterback.
Now, with Cedeño back, Vasuqez is freed up to do what he does best.
“He’s starting on defense, I can tell you that,” Burget said.
Vasquez has four tackles and one interception on the season. As a sophomore in 2016, Vasquez made 54 tackles with six interceptions.
“There is no panic here,” Burget said. “We are confident as ever, and I believe we have a great ballclub here.”