East rolls to win over Roma

WESLACO — There was lighting and thunder in the sky before kickoff, leading to a 40-minute delay to start the game, but then there was lightning and thunder on the field thereafter once the game was kicked off.

And that big storm was a Weslaco East squad, which put on another flawless performance in an easy 51-6 win over Roma in a District 32-4A contest Friday night at Bobby Lackey Stadium.

At the midpoint part of the season, the Wildcats remain one of the supreme teams in the Valley as they racked up 552 yards of offense, including 454 rushing, with six touchdowns.

Weslaco East (5-0, 2-0) was a perfect 7 for 7 in the red zone while the defense was one play away from its first shutout of the season. In fact, no one scored on the Wildcats in the first half of any game this season.

On whether Weslaco East can run the table the rest of the regular season remains to be seen. The Wildcats know they are in a tough district, and that’s why coach Armando Cuellar remains cautious on whether they can be stopped.

“The worst thing anybody can do is look ahead,” Cuellar said. “We need to stay focused on what’s on task.”

The 5-0 start is the best of Cuellar’s career as he seeks his first outright district championship.

The only major mistake was a 67-yard TD catch by Roma’s Oscar Pompa in the fourth quarter for the Gladiators’ only points. Most of Roma’s (3-2, 0-2) offensive production came during mop-up time as the Wildcats defense simply dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half, only giving up 58 total yards.

Defensive end Frank Ramirez and his army chased quarterbacks Saul Guerrero and Exiquio Gonzalez and managed to get three sacks and one safety. The unit entered Friday fourth in the Valley, a mere two yards better than Roma’s group.

“We’re one of the best defenses in the Valley and no one pays attention to us,” said Ramirez, who also caught a TD pass. “It kind of bothers me, but just as long as we know is all that matters no matter what the Valley thinks.”

Make no mistake, East can play offense too. The Wildcats managed to score on their first three possessions while a safety was sandwiched into one more TD for a 30-0 lead. Bobby Gonzalez led all rushers with 269 yards. Bryan Guzman came into Week 5 as the Valley’s leading scorer and added two more TDs along with 65 yards on the ground. Quarterback Alonso Salinas was 6-of-11 passing for 98 yards with one touchdown and one interception.