EDINBURG — No. 1 PSJA North blanked No. 4 Edinburg Vela 30-0 in the RGVSports.com Game of the Week on Friday at Richard R. Flores Stadium for the Raiders’ 15th consecutive regular season win and fourth shutout in five games to start this season.
The state-ranked Raiders improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in 15-5A DI competition, while the SaberCats drop to 4-1 and 1-1 in district.
“I’m thinking, ‘Wow’, right now. I’ve been a part of teams that have scored a lot of points, but I haven’t been a part of one that’s done it like this,” PSJA North head coach Marcus Kaufmann said. “We’re playing really, really good defense right now and I feel like we’re getting better. That’s a really, really good football team right there that we just did that to. We got a long way to do what we want, but we’re getting better every week and that’s all you can ask for.”
PSJA North entered the RGVSports.com Game of the Week averaging nearly 500 yards of offense per game, while giving up just over 120 yards per game defensively.
On Friday night against the SaberCats, it was the PSJA North special teams unit that set the Raiders up for success.
Jaden Fuentes returned the opening kickoff 84 yards to the Vela 7-yard line, which led to a short touchdown run by quarterback Julius Arredondo. Later in the first half, the SaberCats defense forced the Raiders to punt near midfield. PSJA North punter/defensive back Leroy Palacios caught the snap, saw the rush coming from his right, and sidestepped a Vela defender with nothing but green grass in front of him to pick up the first down. That set the Raiders offense up in the red zone for a 4-yard Fuentes touchdown run. Kicker/linebacker Raul Isasi also drilled a 36-yard field goal for a 17-0 halftime advantage.
The Raiders added to their lead with second half touchdowns on a quarterback sneak by Ale Aparicio and a 46-yard run by Ethan Guerra.
“We’ve been working for this, no days off, and we knew what was coming,” Guerra said.
PSJA North’s vaunted “Blackshirt Defense” forced two second-half turnovers as Palacios made his third interception of the season off a tipped pass. Then, defensive end Danny Garcia disrupted a Vela handoff in the backfield, which allowed linebacker Mikey Gonzales to jump on the loose ball. The Raiders are now giving up just 3.4 points a game through five weeks.
“This is a message to everybody in the district. We’re ready,” Palacios said. “This was a playoff game. We love this atmosphere.”
PSJA North and Edinburg Vela now enter the District 15-5A DI bye week in Week 6. The Raiders return to action Oct. 5 at home against La Joya Palmview (2-3, 0-2). The SaberCats will look to get back in the win column against Rio Grande City (2-3, 1-1) on Oct. 6 in Rio.
