BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
PHARR — The Weslaco East defense came in to PSJA Stadium on a mission: shut down PSJA High’s passing attack.
The defense did just that, and the Wildcats (8-3) built a lead in the middle of the second quarter and never looked back. Weslaco East beat the PSJA High Bears 49-13 on Friday in a Class 6A bi-district playoff game.
“We just beat an 8-2 team, the Bears,” East coach Mike Burget said. “Lupe (Rodriguez), what a heck of a job he did turning this program around. They had almost a 3,000-yard passer. So I am really proud of my defense.”
Junior middle linebacker Freddy Cardenas was a large part of the formula for East’s defense.
“He was honorable mention all-state last year,” Burget said of Cardenas. “What a middle linebacker, and he’s only a junior. That cat plays from sideline to sideline. So I am pretty proud of that guy.”
East’s defense held PSJA junior quarterback Trey Guajardo to 14-of-29 passing for 122 yards.
“We had a weakness in our pass defense throughout the season,” Cardenas said. “Tonight, we took it as a challenge. And we stepped up and came out with the ‘W.’ We can stop the pass, we can stop the run, I say we have one of the best defenses out here.”
On the other end, East senior quarterback Richard LeFevre had a big game, rushing for 90 yards and a touchdown and passing for 119 yards and two scores, but Burget was focused on only one play after the game.
With under a minute left in the first half, LeFevre dropped to pass and looked to senior JC Vargas, but PSJA senior defensive back Gabriel Espinoza picked off the pass.
“I had a little talk with him at halftime about that interception,” Burget said. “He’s changed our whole season around. I got on him a bit at halftime, but if it wasn’t for Richard, we wouldn’t be in the position we are. He’s had a great, great season, and now he is leading this team.”
LeFevre knew he would hear about the pick, and he came out in the second half on fire to help put the game away.
“I’m always in trouble,” LeFevre said with a grin. “We came out with a different intensity in the second half. It’s his job. It’s written on his little card he has in his office. It says, ‘Gets to rip players’ butts.’ It just put a mindset in me that, ‘OK, now it’s time to go.’ And we came out and rolled.”
Guajardo started the game 4 for 4 to help lead the Bears’ opening drive into the end zone. The drive culminated in a 20-yard touchdown run for Guajardo.
Weslaco East responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that lasted just under eight minutes and ended with a 24-yard pass from LeFevre to senior Jaime Banuelos.
After that, Guajardo hit a wall, completing 7 of his next 18 attempts going into halftime.
It was Weslaco East’s ground game that was the difference in the first half. The Wildcats had 116 rushing yards at the half, led by LeFevre, who had 49 at the break.
Weslaco East took its first lead of the game at 7:23 of the second quarter, when Vargas got the ball on a toss around the left side. Vargas raced to the pylon and secured a 7-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead.
“It was good to see JC Vargas back,” Burget said. “We are going to build him up. I hope next week we can use him a little bit more.”
Vargas missed the previous five games with a leg injury but was suited up and able to play in limited action on Friday. He finished the evening with five carries for 38 yards and a touchdown, plus one catch for 36 yards and a score.
East used multiple players in the ground game, as seven rushers had more than 20 yards on the night.
Senior running back Freddy Gonzalez was another player who returned from an injury Friday. He broke his ankle in Week 3 against Edinburg Economedes.
“We got Freddy Gonzalez back. People didn’t realize that,” Burget said. “He ran that touchdown in, and the crowd and our players went crazy. They have a lot of love for these seniors that got hurt.”
As much as it was exciting for Vargas and Gonzalez to get back on the field, their play may have done even more for their teammates’ confidence.
“It was very big,” LeFevre said. “We are glad to have JC back and to have Freddy back. They are two key players on our team. The whole season, they were down. They kept their composure, but you could tell. To see them come back and play another down, and to see them both score, it brings back life to everyone, even the coaches.”
PSJA High finishes the season 8-3.
“What we were able to accomplish in one year, I’m very proud of them,” PSJA coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “I know we didn’t finish off the way we wanted to — lost the last three games — but its like I told them: ‘I’m proud of you guys. You made the playoffs.’ Not the way we wanted to go out. For a half, they played lights out. We had some chances. If things would have bounced a different way, perhaps we would have had a different outcome.”
The Bears have a young squad, and they will be a force to be reckoned with going forward. Trey Guajardo is a junior, Marco Guajardo is a sophomore, linebacker Jacob Sanchez is a sophomore and defensive back Andrew Liszt is a junior.
“Next year, we will be bigger, better, stronger and hopefully competing for a district championship,” Rodriguez said. “We learned a lot about our kids. As a coaching staff, we have to go back and evaluate us as coaches and everything we did this year. And it’ll be our job to come back stronger next year.”
In the end, Weslaco East earned the right to carry on to face Laredo Alexander in the area round at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Student Activity Complex in Laredo.
“PSJA is a good ball club,” Cardenas said. “They are a very high-scoring offense. Tonight, we proved that our defense is way better than they are.”