EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela dominated offensively, defensively and on special teams against McAllen Memorial, and if there was a fourth phase of the game, the SaberCats probably would have won that, too.
The SaberCats steamrolled the Mustangs 63-0 in The RGVSports.com Game of the Week on Thursday night at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg to start District 15-5A DI play.
“We believe in the special teams phase as something we kind of built our program around,” Vela head coach John Campbell said. “It was nice to see us execute in those phases and obviously it paid huge dividends because I think it resulted in 21, arguably 28 points in special teams alone.”
Edinburg Vela (4-0, 1-0) scored three special teams touchdowns — one on a 90-yard kickoff return by Justin Navarro to start the second half and two by Alexzander Sotelo on a blocked field goal returned for six and recovered a mishandled punt in the end zone.
“We just wanted to come out and knew it was going to be a dog fight, so we had to come out and play our A-game,” Sotelo said. “One thing our coach always says, no matter how big your guy is, rely on your speed and technique and do what you can do.”
Navarro is a big-play threat anytime he touches the ball and displayed his ability by returning the second half’s opening kickoff for a score.
“Whenever I get the ball in my hands, I have to try to do something with it,” he said
Edinburg Vela totaled 364 yards of offense in addition to the three special teams scores. Running back Jamal Polley rumbled for 157 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, and Dimas De Leon added 60 yards and a score on seven touches. Quarterback Myles Lopez tossed one touchdown pass on an 82-yard catch and run by Jaxson Shupe.
The SaberCats’ defense pitched its first shutout of the season, limiting McAllen Memorial to 125 yards of total offense. Defensive end Jake Dufner wreaked havoc with two batted passes in the backfield, multiple stops, and tag-teamed with AJ Reyes to help force a fumble on the mishandled punt that led to a Vela touchdown.
The SaberCats move on to another marquee matchup against PSJA North (3-0, 0-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at PSJA ISD Stadium.
McAllen Memorial (1-3, 0-1) will look to snap its skid against La Joya Palmview (3-0, 0-0) at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
