Eagle Pass Eagles Fall to Edinburg Vela Sabercats 28-10 in Area Football Championship, Finish Season 9-3 Overall
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017
The mighty Eagle Pass High School Eagles fell to the Edinburg Vela High School Sabercats in the 2017 U.I.L. Region IV 6A, Division 2 Area Football Championship 28 to 10 in a hard fought game on Friday, November 24, 2017, at the Laredo United Independent School District Student Activity Complex in Laredo, Texas, finishing the 2017 football season with a highly respectable 9-3 overall record and having won the District 29-6A Co-Championship and Bi-District Championship.
The Edinburg Vela Sabercats won the pre-game coin toss at midfield and elected to defer to the second half of the game, giving the Eagle Pass Eagles the opening kickoff and possession.
One could not have asked for better weather for a football game as Mother Nature provided beautiful blue skies filled with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.
The Eagles received the opening kickoff and started their first possession of the game at their own 25 yard line. The Eagles explosive offense led by quarterback Richie Luna and workhorse running back Dee Andre Torres went immediately to work on the swarming Sabercats defense with a combination of hard runs and short passes, driving to the Sabercats red zone at their 10 yard line. The Sabercats defense held the Eagles on a third down and short yardage, forcing them to attempt a field goal from 28 yards. Eagles place kicker Jose Riojas booted the 28 yard field goal straight through the goal posts to give the Eagles an early lead of 3 to 0 on a 47 yard drive with 8:28 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Sabercats received the ensuing Eagles kickoff and returned it to the Eagles 47 yard line on a strong return. The Eagles self-anointed “Land Sharks Defense” led by linebackers Haran Rodriguez, David Kypuros, Roger Ulloa, Bernardo Mata, defensive linemen Sebastian Hernandez, Moises Rocha, III, Mario Torres, David Santos, Jr., Kike Villegas, and defensive backs Nico Moyeda, Armando Monsivais, Kristian Barcena, Joshua Monsivais, and Ryan Chisum stifled the dynamic Sabercats offense, foricing them to punt.
The Eagles offense led by wide receivers Albert Guevara, Jose Riojas, Norby Zavala, Rey Mendoza, and offensive linemen Ray Galindo, Tito Villarreal, Jose Laguna, Jorge Guardado, and Alex Martinez began their second possession of the game at the Eagles own three yard line. Eagles standout running back Dee Andre Torres was able to rush to the Eagles own eight yard line before the Sabercasts defense forced the Eagles to punt the football. Punting from the end zone, Eagles punter Jose Riojas got off a short punt as the Sabercats defense pressured him.
The Sabercats potent offense began their second possession of the game in excellent field position at the Eagles 30 yard line. The Sabercats ground game pounded the football and engineered a short 30 yard touchdown drive against the Eagles, culminating on a three yard touchdown run by running back Aaron Alvarez and the point after attempt was good to give the Sabercats the lead 7 to 3 with 3:48 minutes left in the first period.
The Eagles started their third possession at their own 25 yard line and proceeded to march down the Student Activity Complex turf with a combination of runs and short passes to the Sabercats 38 yard line. Facing a fourth down and one yard at the Sabercats 38 yard line, Eagles Head Coach Tom Gonzalez chose to go for the first down attempt with confidence on his offense who had been moving the football well during the first quarter. Eagles quarterback Richie Luna handed-off the football to running back Dee Andre Torres, but the Sabercats Wrecking Crew Defense tackled Torres behind the line of scrimmage to stuff the Eagles first down attempt with 41 seconds remaining in the first stanza.
The Sabercats offense began its third possession at their own 38 yard line, but on third and short yardage standout Eagles defensive end Mosies Rocha sacked Sabercats quarterback Nathan Garcia for a huge loss forcing them to punt.
The Eagles next drive began at their own 44 yard line after a short Sabercats punt. The Eagles offense went to work immediately and engineered a methodical 56 yard touchdown drive resulting in a nine yard touchdown pass from a scrambling quarterback Richie Luna to wide receiver Albert Guevara into the Sabercats end zone and Jose Riojas’ point after attempt was good to give the Eagles a 10 to 7 lead over the undefeated Sabercats with 8:15 minutes remaining in the second quarter, stunning the Sabercats and their fans. The Eagles offense had momentum and the Eagles “Land Sharks Defense” was stopping the heralded Sabercats offense up until this moment in the game.
The Sabercats took the ensuing Eagles kickoff and started their fourth possession of the game at their own 22 yard line. The Sabercats combined their ground game with short passes to orchestrate a patented 78 yard touchdown drive against the heralded Eagles “Land Sharks Defense,” culminating on a nine yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Garcia to wide receiver Justin Cantu and the extra point attempt was good to give the Sabercats a narrow lead of 14 to 10 over the Eagles with 3:31 minutes left in the second quarter.
Both teams exchanged possessions, but their defenses stopped the offensive scoring in the remaining first half of play as the Sabercats took a 14 to 10 lead into half-time.
The Eagle Pass High School Mighty Eagle Band performed during half-time while the Coaches on both teams made adjustments for the second half of play in their respective locker rooms.
The Sabercats took the opening kickoff of the second half of the game and started their sixth possession at their own 29 yard line. The Sabercats went to their aerial passing game more during the second half than the first half. Just when the Eagles “Land Sharks Defense” appeared to stop the Sabercats in their own side of the field, an Eagle personal foul for hands in the face gave the Sabercats offense a big boost to the Eagles 43 yard line. Later in the drive, the Sabercats faced a third down and 12 yards to go at the Eagles 15 yard line and threw an incomplete pass into the end zone, but a referee from the opposite side of the play threw a pass interference flag against the Eagles defensive back. The pass interference penalty gave the Sabercats a first down at the Eagles two yard line instead of a fourth down and 12 at the Eagles 15 yard line. Sabercats quarterback Nathan Garcia scampered into the Eagles end zone on a two yard run and the point after attempt was good to extend the Sabercats lead to 21 to 10 over the Eagles with 6:48 minutes remaining in the third quarter, shifting momentum in the game.
The Eagles sixth possession of the game started at their own 25 yard line, but the now inspired Sabercats defense forced them to punt.
The never say die Eagles “Land Sharks Defense” once again rose to the challenge by stopping the potent Sabercats offense on their seventh possession and forcing them to punt, but the Eagles defense lost standout middle linebacker Haran Rodriguez to a leg injury with 4:24 minutes remaining in the third period. Eagles standout defensive end Mario Torres sacked Sabercats quarterback Nathan Garcia for a big loss of yardage, forcing the Sabercats to punt.
On their seventh possession, the Eagles started at their own 28 yard line and completed a pass to standout wide receiver Jose Riojas up the middle of the Sabercats secondary for a sizable gain of yardage but a Sabercats defender stripped the football from behind causing Riojas to fumble and another lucky Sabercats defender recovered the football at the Eagles 45 yard line with 2::11 minutes left in the third stanza.
The Eagles swarming “Land Sharks Defense” limited the Sabercats to a 40 yard field goal attempt on their eighth possession, but the football sailed wide left of the goal posts, turning the ball over to the Eagles at their own 23 yard line with 1:38 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
On the Eagles eighth possession, Sabercats defensive back Daniel Enriquez intercepted an Eagles quarterback Richie Luna pass attempt at the Eagles 35 yard line with 1:27 minutes left in the third period.
The explosive Sabercats offense capitalized on the Eagles turnover and orchestrated a quick 35 yard touchdown drive on their ninth possession in the game, resulting in a three yard touchdown run by Sabercats quarterback Nathan Garcia and the point after attempt was good to extend the Sabercats lead over the Eagles 28 to 10 with five seconds remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles commenced their ninth drive at their own 30 yard line and began to march down the field to the Sabercats 41 yard line, but were stifled by the Sabercats defense and forced to punt with 9:35 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Once again the Eagles vaunted “Land Sharks Defense” held the Sabercats potent offense on their tenth drive in the game, forcing them to punt with 8:37 minutes remaining in the game.
The Eagles had good field position on their tenth possession at their own 43 yard line, but were unable to muster a first down against the stingy Sabercats defense and forced to punt with 6:48 minutes left in the game.
The Sabercats started their eleventh drive at their own two yard line and the Eagles “Land Sharks Defense caused a fumble but the Sabercats recovered their own fumble and forced to punt with 5:18 minutes remaining in the Area Football Championship game.
With time running short, the Eagles commenced their eleventh drive in the game at their own 40 yard line. Eagles quarterback Richie Luna connected with standout wide receiver Albert Guevara on short pass when a Sabercats defender stripped the football from Guevara and another Sabercats recovered the fumble at their own 29 yard line with 5:06 minutes left in the Championship game.
As customary throughout the entire season, the swarming Eagles “Land Sharks Defense” was called upon to stop the explosive Sabercats on their 12th drive of the game, forcing them to punt with 2:15 minutes remaining in the Championship game.
The Eagles final and 12th possession of the game started at the Eagles 23 yard line but could not move the football against the Sabercats Wrecking Crew Defense and turned the football on downs with only nine seconds left in their heralded 2017 football season. The Sabercats knelt the football to end the game, earning a hard fought victory over the valiant Eagle Pass Eagles 28 to 10 in the Area Football Championship.
The Eagle Pass Business Journal congratulates the Eagle Pass Eagles and Coaching Staff on a highly successful 2017 Football Season with a District 29-6A Co-Championship, the first in 21 years, and a Bi-District Championship.
