Unbeaten Weslaco East bullies past La Joya Juarez-Lincoln
LA JOYA — Weslaco East dominated La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 28-0 in a District 32-4A game on Thursday night at La Joya ISD Stadium. The most valuable player? A stout and stingy Wildcats defense.
The home team was stagnant offensively, gaining only 58 yards in the first half (86 yards total). Running back Jose Bocanegra accounted for 80 of those yards.
But credit goes to the Weslaco East (6-0, 3-0) defense as it forced two turnovers at crucial points in the game to set up offensive scoring opportunities against Juarez-Lincoln (3-3, 1-2)
“Obviously we were challenged several times when we were on defense and the defense stepped it up,” Wildcats coach Armando Cuellar said. “The defense made the plays when they had to.”
Defensive back Allen Garcia accounted for one of those turnovers, picking off Huskies quarterback Jesse Rodriguez, which would set up an eventual 9-yard touchdown run by Bobby Gonzalez with 4:13 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats’ offense was no slouch either, as it put up 231 yards on the ground, part of a three-rushing touchdown performance. Weslaco East added its other scores on a 4-yard touchdown run by running back Bryan Guzman, and then another on a 14-yard TD pass from quarterback Alonso Salinas to wide receiver Joey Garcia with 9 seconds left in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead at the half.
“With Weslaco East, what you see is what you get,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Aaron Garcia said. “The frustrating part was we weren’t clicking offensively. I think the defense played well, but they had the ball a lot. Honestly I think we got tired a little bit.”
In addition to defense, was ball control was also an important factor as Weslaco East controlled possession for almost three-fourths of the game. A final 16-yard scoring run by Addison Einhorn in the latter half of the fourth quarter provided the finishing touch.
“It was a team effort,” Cuellar said. “I’m very proud of everybody — the coaches, the players — it was a team effort.”
