The secret's out on Edinburg High's defense

EDINBURG — Finding bulletin board material in the Internet age isn’t very difficult. Edinburg High junior linebacker Ciro Reyna says his teammates have found a wealth of it and are using it for motivation as they prepare to take on Del Rio in Saturday’s Class 5A Division I area playoff in San Antonio.

“Some of their guys on MySpace are talking about how this is just going to be another game for them,” Reyna said.

That’s about right on target when the subject of the Bobcats’ defense usually comes up. Edinburg High coach Joey Caceres hesitated this week when he was asked about one of the more underrated units on his team, as if he was hiding classified information.  But, after his Bobcats held a Brownsville Hanna team that had averaged nearly 400 yards and 40 points per game to 130 yards and 14 points, it is hardly a secret now.

“The (news)paper, everyone at our school and all the Hanna people didn’t think we could win,” Reyna said. “I think we showed some people we could play.”

The Bobcats’ front seven had plenty to do with that. After Hanna’s quarterback Randy Rey went out with an ankle injury in the first quarter, they stacked the line and held running back Enrique Saldaña, a 1,600-yard rusher during the regular season, to 85 yards on 18 carries.

“When their quarterback went down, everything we had prepared for had to change,” Reyna said. “We went to our basic stuff, and it worked.”

Edinburg High will need a lights out effort on Saturday to overcome Del Rio’s highly-touted running back tandem of Josh Washington and John Steed, who split time at tailback.

“Our game plan was to get (Saldaña) before he got started,” Caceres said. “That was the key. We are going to have to do the same thing this week. (Washington and Steed) are the ones we are going to have to stop.”

The Bobcats’ front seven consists of ends Joe Fuentes and Michael Resendez; tackles Brian Garza and Michael Padilla; and linebackers Reyna, David Guevara and Rogelio Ortiz. They also get good support from Bobby Guerrero, a converted linebacker who rotates at end, and strong safety Jeremy Salinas will likely creep in to provide an eighth run-stopper if needed.

“We have strong linebackers and experienced people on the line,” Fuentes said. “We believe we can do the job and stop the run.”

Edinburg High’s defense ranked third in District 31-5A, giving up 276 yards per game during the regular season. Caceres expects the team that plays the best defense will win on Saturday. Del Rio held Donna to just 115 total yards.  Caceres believes scoring points will be difficult, and he will take advantage of every point his defense can give him. Generating offense off the defense will be a key. The Bobcats returned an interception for a touchdown and forced two safeties (one was intentional) against Hanna last week. Caceres is hoping for similar production this weekend.

“I’ve put a little pressure on the defense,” Caceres said. “I’ve told the kids that it’s going to be a defensive battle, and we need to win it.”

David Hinojosa covers sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via e-mail at dhinojosa@themonitor.com.