Edinburg’s defense controls Coyotes; playoff hopes still alive
EDINBURG — Edinburg’s original high school, the Bobcats, took care of business as they held off La Joya, 24-17, here at Richard R. Flores Stadium on Thursday.
The dub places the ‘Cats in second place within a competitive District 31-6A as they improve to 6-2 on the season, with a 2-1 record in conference play. The Coyotes fall to 3-5 overall, and a 1-2 tally in the district standings.
EHS received the pigskin to start the ball game and showed little to no trouble moving the chains to La Joya’s red zone. Edinburg quarterback, Aidden Sanchez, utilized his arm as he connected with his receivers — particularly Nathan Peña — while showing he can turn on the jets to spread the Bobcats’ offense.
Sanchez connected with Peña on a scramble as the receiver was pushed out of bounds at the 2-yard line. From there, Sanchez — in a twins right, shotgun formation — punched it in for the first score out of 2-yards out for the 7-0 lead.
After a sparring of drives, the Coyotes were looking to score to put some points on the board before the end of the first quarter.
La Joya’s senior quarterback, Owen Benoit, who has emerged as one of the region’s top quarterbacks due to his dual-threat abilities, was contained on the first few drives by the ‘Cats offense. However, with 3:08 left in the first, a handoff to Fabian Arjona led to a 7-yard touchdown run to knot it up at 7-7.
Before the end of the first, EHS’s Xavi Lopez knocked down a 25-yard field goal for the 10-7 lead going into the second quarter.
With 6:14 left in the second quarter, the Bobcats faked a trips left screen pass as Sanchez booked it to the right-hand side of the field for 12 yards to enter La Joya’s red zone territory. After a penalty by the Coyotes — which were abundant this game — Sanchez scrambled on a quarterback keeper for his second touchdown of the game to make it 17-7.
There were a couple of missed opportunities in this game that really ailed La Joya’s chances on the offensive end. On the Bobcats’ 20-yard line, a dropped pass by Arjona led to a 3rd down interception as Benoit scoped down the field for a receiver, only for Edinburg’s Brandon Salinas to be waiting for him.
At the half, it was 17-7, Bobcats leading.
La Joya showed some guts in the second half as they went for it on fourth down twice and capitalized on those conversions. The interesting thing about the Coyotes’ first drive of the third quarter is they ate up about 9 minutes of game time to keep Edinburg’s offense off the field.
The time usage did pay off as kicker Abrham Armijo dialed in from 35 yards out for the field goal to make it 17-10 going into the fourth.
In the fourth, Edinburg’s offense did get stunted as they were not able to move the chains. After a few minutes, La Joya encroached into scoring territory at the 20-yard line. In field goal formation, Edinburg’s senior defensive end, Uziel Flores, blocked it to help fend off any points on the board from La Joya.
Flores said that being one of the defensive captains and seniors, he felt it was his duty to step up and bring momentum back to his squad
“Being one of the seniors and being one of our captains, I just had to step up and make a big play for us,” he said after the game.
But his heroics weren't done there.
With 4:48 in the fourth quarter, the Coyotes’s Arjona fumbled at the 45-yard line in which Flores sprinted all the way to the end zone untouched to seal the deal for the Bobcats.
“I just picked up the ball and saw nothing but green grass,” Flores said of the game-winning play. “I had to take it, had to use my speed, I used my strength, (and) just pushed through. … I just had to push through for us.”
La Joya did come back and score on a subsequent drive as Benoit threw a 17-yard dart to Dante Perez as he dived in for the score. However, it was too late for La Joya to try to make any comeback.
“It was a great team win,” Head Coach Joe Peña said after the game, soaked with water from the jugs that his players doused him with.
Peña, who is in his second year with Edinburg, led the Bobcats to the playoffs last year, in which they won their first playoff game in over 10 years.
This year, they are looking to get into the playoffs once more. However, they still have Vela next Friday and Weslaco the week after waiting for them.
“We have to get ready, fix our mistakes, and keep going forward,” he said.
The original ‘Cats of Edinburg will play the Vela SaberCats next Friday at Richard R. Flores Stadium. As for the Coyotes, they will try to bounce back against Weslaco over in La Joya that same day.