Edcouch-Elsa's offense awakens in win over Valley View
HIDALGO — Edcouch-Elsa, the worst offensive team in District 32-4A entering Week 5, exploded Friday night against Valley View on its way to a commanding 42-21 victory at Tiger Stadium.
Isaac Prado’s game-high 160 passing yards and two touchdowns, along with Jesse Jalomo’s 79 catching yards, helped the Yellowjackets (2-3, 1-1) obtain their first district win of the season while giving the Tigers (1-4, 0-2) their second straight defeat.
“It’s just not about me. It’s the whole team and that gave us the win tonight,” Prado said. “We’re going to continue to work hard and come back with this momentum next week. Me and Jesse know each other very well being seniors and that helped us break the game open.”
Even though Xavier Perez’s three early touchdowns gave his team a comfortable 21-7 lead at the half, the quarterback-receiver connection for the Yellowjackets was instrumental in the third when they pulled away.
“Me and Isaac connected big tonight,” Jalomo said. “We had some mistakes here and there but were able to pull it out with some big plays. Valley View was a good team but fortunately our hard work paid off and we beat them.”
At the half, the Tigers penalties totaled half of their total offensive yards (75-146).
After yet another three and out series for the Tigers, the Yellojackets stung first on a 45-yard punt return by Perez at the 3:48 mark of the first quarter. Forty seconds later E-E’s defense made its first major impact, forcing a fumble on the Tigers 31-yard line, leading to another Perez touchdown.
The early offensive splurge was music to Yellowjackets coach Joe Solis who has seen his team score a total of 25 total points this season.
“This was the best game of the season for our offense. We played for four quarters and executed very well,” Solis said. “Our defense was good tonight making some key plays. Our defense is going to be there for us but our offense was the difference tonight.”
E-E’s offense didn’t let up in the second half as it scored touchdowns in its first two series to put the game out of reach.
On a positive note for Valley View, Miguel Mata rushed for a game-high 124 yards and scored two TDs.
