Mustangs slip by Vela; Economedes undefeated

The ninth week of the high school football season has come and gone.

Teams continue to vie for their respective district crowns and even more so, are eyeing their spot in the playoffs.

Here’s a recap of a couple of the football games that played out this past weekend.

Mustangs stun Edinburg Vela

This was one of the game’s that the region — more so, local football fans — had their eyes on.

Two of the top teams of the Valley went at it on Thursday as the Edinburg Vela Sabercats (6-2, 4-1) traveled to McAllen to take on the Memorial Mustangs (6-2, 5-0).

It was one of those games where neither team was able to pull away from one another — similar to a sparring match. On paper, and even record wise, the teams were evenly matched.

According to the box score, the slightly better first and fourth quarter sealed the game for the Mustangs as both those periods bought the stampede 10 points that Vela could only cut into and mend it to three.

Edinburg Vela’s defense didn’t make it easy to score for the Mustangs though as their secondary made it increasingly difficult for QB Kane Coy to get anything going. More so, it was tough for the senior to get into a stride and get a groove on against one of the Valley’s best defenses — especially with SaberCat Caidyn Hoover in the backfield.

The Mustangs turned to the running game to get some marks on the board.

Two of McAllen Memorial’s own did most of the running as Jayden Soliz and Braxton Speights hit the ground and never looked back.

Soliz led the fray with 16 carries on the night and having himself 205 yards. Most importantly, he had two touchdowns. Speights showed his finessing skills thoughout the game as he had himself a score. On 16 carries, he took home 81 yards. Coy had himself a rushing TD as well, despite the tough night on throwing.

With that Vela suffered their first district loss of the season. They will take on La Joya Palmview (6-2, 3-2) on Halloween. On the other side, the Mustangs remain undefeated in district play. They will prepare to take on intracity rival Nikki Rowe (4-4, 3-2) on the same day.

Economedes Jaguars remain undefeated

This intracity matchup ended with Economedes taking home bragging rights as they remain undefeated (8-0, 3-0). Johan Nunez had himself a night with 14 carries and three touchdowns.

The Jaguars look to take on La Joya (4-4, 1-2).

The Bobcats (5-3, 2-1) take on Weslaco (6-2, 3-0) on Halloween.