CORPUS CHRISTI — Fourth-and-five was Edinburg Vela’s unlucky down Friday afternoon.
On two occasions during the first half of the SaberCats’ Region IV-6A DII semifinal matchup against Austin Vandegrift at Cabaniss Stadium, Vela’s defense forced the Vipers into two fourth-and-5 yards to go situations. Vandegrift converted both times for touchdowns, eventually pulling away for a 38-14 win over the SaberCats.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, in these types of games, it’s about executing your assignment whether it’s first down or fourth down, and they did and we didn’t in those situations,” Edinburg Vela head coach John Campbell said. “That ultimately became the difference in the ball game. It’s a little bit unfortunate because our defense played really well at times, but there’s some of those critical scenarios where we came up short and paid for it pretty badly.”
The District 31-6A champion SaberCats finish the season with a 12-1 record in what was the program’s fourth trip to the regional semifinals in five years. Austin Vandegrift (12-1) advances to the Region IV-6A final for a meeting with Austin Westlake (13-0), which beat PSJA North 56-0 on Friday in San Antonio.
The Edinburg Vela defense made things difficult for Austin Vandegrift quarterback Brayden Buchanan early on by forcing two three-and-outs during the first quarter. The levees eventually broke, however, as Buchanan threw three second quarter touchdowns to give the Vipers a 28-0 halftime lead. The Baylor baseball commit finished 11-for-21 for 235 yards and five touchdown passes to four different receivers.
The SaberCats defense held the Vipers offense to 366 total yards, below their season average of 407.9.
“First drive I thought we came out good. We put our best foot forward, but towards the end of the half and rest of the game, we kind of got lost in the clouds. Mental mistakes really hurt us this time,” senior linebacker and team captain Ryan Rodriguez said.
The SaberCats struggled to generate offense during the first half, which led to a halftime change. Vela went to junior receiver and backup quarterback Bobby Garcia, a mobile threat, to take over behind center.
The move paid off quickly as Edinburg Vela put together an 81-yard scoring drive that was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown run by Garcia with 7:50 to play during the third quarter.
The SaberCats went back to Campbell to close the show and he helped navigate the offense downfield for another score on their final possession. The Vela quarterback connected with tight end Jaden Tovar for two catches for 34 yards, which set up a 5-yard touchdown run by PJ Rivera to cut into Vandegrift’s lead.
Rivera finished with 128 all-purpose yards and one rushing touchdown.
Rodriguez said he’ll remember this group for living up to the SaberCats’ standard of a 10-0 regular season finish, a district title and multiple playoff wins.
“It’s probably the greatest team I’ve ever been a part of. I’ll remember this (for) the rest of my life.”
Campbell credited his team for the amount of hours and hard work his players, staff and school community dedicated to the program despite dealing with a limited offseason amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These kids didn’t have a conventional offseason, per say. The amount of work that the coaches, the families, the staff had to put in going back to last January when we didn’t have kids in school — just to be out here on the playing field at the beginning of the year was special, and then to be able to put together a season such as this, in this type of fashion,” Campbell said. “Words don’t explain the amount of work that went into this one, and it was a team effort from the community, administration, staff, everybody. … This one will hold a special place in my heart just because of the work that went into getting them on the field.”
