BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — The Weslaco High Panthers dealt with a new coaching staff, an inconsistent offense and an onslaught of injuries that kept this perennial playoff contender out of contention in 2017.
Two games into 2018, the Panthers have never looked better with coach Michael Salinas calling the shots. Weslaco High scored in double-digits in all four quarters of its 58-7 thumping of Edcouch-Elsa on Thursday night.
“We have to eliminate some penalties and play a little cleaner,” Weslaco High coach Michael Salinas said. “I’d say we needed to work on finishing drives, but we scored in all three phases. I’m proud of their effort. We have to find a way to stay grounded and continue to improve.”
The Panthers (2-0) were led by the steady hands of junior quarterback Jacob Cavazos, who threw three touchdowns and ran for one last week at McAllen Rowe and duplicated that performance versus the Yellow Jackets on Thursday.
“We’ve come a long way as a team since last year,” Cavazos said. “We have a lot of guys that we can trust now to come together and take care of the task at hand. Our O-line has been great for us, our receiving corps is excellent and our running backs have been outstanding. We think we have a great team.”
Weslaco High scored its first touchdown on a 15-yard run from Jaden Cavazos at the 6:31 mark of the first quarter. Only two minutes and 16 seconds of game time elapsed before Jacob Cavazos found Jaden on a short pass that he turned into a 59-yard touchdown to put the Yellow Jackets in a 14-0 first-quarter hole.
“Our plan this week was to start fast on offense, and we executed on all cylinders,” Jaden Cavazos said. “Jacob threw me a great ball. He’s really developed the last two years. He understands the offense better. I think he likes distributing the ball to us.”
Jacob Cavazos has thrown his six touchdown passes to four different receivers. The newest touchdown recipient was senior tight end Isaac Villarreal, who scored from 14 yards out to push the Weslaco High lead to 38-0 late in the third quarter.
“We’ve challenged him to make good decisions with the ball in his hands,” Salinas said of Jacob Cavazos. “He doesn’t have to make a big play every play, so he’s going to manage the football game. He’s done a good job, to this point, taking care of the football. We’re proud of him for that, but he’s got to continue to improve.”
The Edcouch-Elsa (0-2) offense continued to struggle Thursday after getting blanked by Corpus Christi Veterans 38-0 last week. Sophomore quarterback Raven Rojas started instead of senior Albert Treviño, but coach Bradly Chavez used the two interchangeably throughout.
Late in the fourth quarter, Treviño broke the Yellow Jackets’ scoreless streak with a 3-yard touchdown run.
“We’ve been trying to get him (Albert) running since Week 1,” Chavez said. “The main thing is getting a sense of what jells for our offense. We’re trying to see what works. Some days, they work. Some days, they won’t. Some days, we make the right reads. Some days, we don’t.
“At the end of the day, what I want is for our guys to compete. At some point in time, we have to put our foot in the ground and say, ‘We’re going to win, and we’re going to do it this way.’ This will be a great week for our kids to come out and continue to work. They (Albert and Raven) did a good job tonight. It just wasn’t enough for what we needed.”