PHARR —PSJA High dominated the first half of their district opener against Edinburg Economedes on Thursday, outgaining the Jaguars 331-37 on offense. Still, the Bears entered the half with just a two-touchdown lead, turning the ball over five times during the opening half.
The Bears cleaned up their mistakes during the second half, outscoring the Jaguars 33-6 during the final two periods en route to a dominating 55-13 victory over Edinburg Economedes at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.
“You know offensively we came out a little flat during the first half. I guess those two weeks off, kind of a little jet lag from them,” PSJA High head coach Lupe Rodriguez said. “The defense played well all night other than that one long touchdown in the second half. I think our offense came together the second half. This is what we talked about, the non-district schedule paying off and making things seem easier for us now that we’re in district play. We kind of showed that during the second half.”
The Bears racked up 544 yards of offense, averaging 7.4 yards per play and punting the ball just three times. Junior quarterback Jaime Lopez led the offensive onslaught, completing 33-of-53 passes for 457 yards and five touchdowns.
Lopez connected with six different receivers on the night. His plethora of weapons were on fully display with Andrew Castillo, Christian Gamboa, Caleb Salas and Ryan Vallejo each on the receiving end of a touchdown pass from Lopez.
Senior Andrew Castillo led all pass catchers with seven receptions for 135 yards and a score. Sophomore receiver Caleb Salas added eight catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
“We made some changes. Gamboa was out pretty much the whole non-district,” Rodriguez said. “He’s back now and he’s healthy. We made a change in our lineup because of that. But all those four receivers are as good as we’ve had here since we started. Jaime (Lopez) has a lot of weapons to go to. They showed it tonight. The versatility of that receiving corp was big tonight during the second half.”
The Bears’ defense stifled the Jaguars during the first half, allowing just 37 yards. Edinburg Economedes finished with 194 total yards, going 1-of-15 on third down and turning the ball over twice.
Senior defensive end Jorge Rios was a wrecking ball for the Bears’ defense, coming up with several tackles for loss, including one sack. Rios also served as the team’s kicker, going 7-of-7 on extra points.
“Jorge Rios is one of our lone returning starters. He worked hard during the offseason,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of the other guys on defense are underclassmen. I told them, they grew up a lot during the non-district schedule. We talked about what doesn’t hurt us will make us stronger. It definitely has made us stronger, that non-district schedule. I like the way the defense came out and played and how tough they played.”
Sophomore running back Miguel Saucedo, who entered the game as the district’s leading rusher, was the Jaguars’ lone bright spot offensively, toting the rock 20 times for 101 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears improve to 1-0 in District 31-6A play with the victory, with the Jaguars dropping their fourth straight, falling to 0-1 in league play.
“It’s very big for the morale and just for us to get going in the right direction,” Rodriguez said. “We were 1-4 but I thought we could have easily been at least 3-2. What matters is not how you start but how you finish. That has been the message to our team, lets finish. Our goal is to be district champs and I truly believe we can accomplish that.”
The Bears (2-4, 1-0) continue district play against La Joya High (0-5, 0-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at La Joya ISD Stadium in La Joya. The Jaguars (1-5, 0-1) return home for a district contest against crosstown rival Edinburg High (2-3, 0-0) on Oct. 14 at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg.
