E-E's season ends

KINGSVILLE - Port Lavaca Calhoun was the kind of test the No. 2 Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets hadn't faced in weeks. The Sandcrabs are just as big, physical and explosive as the ‘Jackets, and promised to challenge them in a way nobody had since non-district play.

And, as it turned out, it was the first test the 'Jackets failed all season.

After taking a 14-point lead just 6:34 into the first, E-E couldn't find a way to stop the Calhoun running game much after that. Sandcrabs running back Xaviar Archangel rushed for 290 yards and three scores, quarterback James Ezzell added 96 and three more TDs as the Sandcrabs ended E-E's season with a 48-28 area-round victory.

"Tonight was about patience," Calhoun coach Richard Whitaker said. "We told our kids patience. We felt like that Edcouch since Week 1 against Calallen, hadn't been in a four-quarter football game."

Actually, the last competitive full game the ‘Jackets had been in was their non-district win over Harlingen High. But, regardless of that small fact, the spirit of what Whitaker said was accurate. For the first time in months, the ‘Jackets had to win a game late against an equal team, and it was something they couldn't do.

Because of that, the ‘Jackets didn't reach the heights they expected to in 2008. Even before breaking into the Associated Press' top 10, they spoke openly about making a deep run through the state playoffs.

Obviously, winning just one game wasn't what they had set out to accomplish after going 10-0 in the regular season and winning their sixth consecutive District 32-4A title.

E-E coach Joe Solis, however, was still proud of the effort.

"The thing about it is you always set your expectations real high and they don't pan out for you so what can you do?" Solis said. "If you ask the kids to give you all they have and they do and it won't win the ballgame, there's nothing you can do about it."

There also wasn't much E-E could do about Archangel, whose 76-yard TD run with 59.8 seconds left in the third quarter gave Calhoun a 35-28 lead. It also killed any momentum the ‘Jackets had gained just one play earlier, when Erik Nino found Roger Garcia open in the flat for what turned out to be a 63-yard game-tying TD pass.

Arhcangel, whose Sandcrabs got some revenge for their lopsided area-round loss to E-E in 2006, said he could feel the ‘Jackets weaken late in the game.

"They knew they couldn't stop it. They started pointing fingers at each other," Archangel said. "Right then I knew. The holes started opening up and our line played big. We stepped up big."

For the first time all season, E-E couldn't respond the same way.

"You want to keep playing and playing," said Nino, who passed for 204 yards and 3 TDs. "Since I was a little kid I dreamed about this. It feels badly knowing you're not going to play anymore."

Brian Sandalow covers District 32-4A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via e-mail at bsandalow@themonitor.com.