E-E clinches 32-4A crown

ELSA — After the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets defeated Roma 26-3 Friday night, the players, coaches, and fans stuck around to find out the Weslaco East-Mission Veterans final. After the public address announcer announced that Weslaco East defeated Mission Veterans, the Black Hole erupted as the Yellowjackets secured their fifth consecutive district title.

Edcouch-Elsa improves to 5-0 in district 32-4A and holds a two game lead over Mission Veterans with one week to go, thus giving the Jackets another district title to add to their overflowing trophy case.

“This is such a great honor having won five consecutive district titles here at Edcouch-Elsa and I have to give credit to the staff and the kids. They definitely deserve this,” said Edcouch-Elsa head coach Joe Solis. “Our goal from day one was to bring another title back here to Edcouch-Elsa and we accomplished it tonight.”

The Jackets scored first as fullback Anthony Perez punched it in from 1-yard out with 1:15 left in the first quarter, giving them a 6-0 lead.

But, Roma (0-4, 0-8) answered back as Albert Castillo nailed a 28-yard field goal with 5:46 left in the first and cut the lead to 6-3.

Then, Edcouch-Elsa (8-1, 5-0) tailback Roger Garcia (11 carries-132 yards, TD) scored on the first play from scrimmage as he scampered 57-yards to the house and the Jackets took a 12-3 lead into the half.

Then, quarterback Erik Nino (3-8, 47 yards, TD) took over as he hooked up with Alex Cisneros on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 3:33 left in the third quarter, thus extending the lead to 20-3.

Nino (11 carries-112 yards, TD) gave the Jackets a 26-3 lead when he scored on a 1-yard run with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I talked to Erik at halftime and told him that he needed to lead this team and he did just that,” said Solis. “He got the offense rolling and really gained his confidence as the game rolled on.”

The Jackets defense was also impressive as they held the Gladiators to 221 yards of total offense and made some crucial stops and created key turnovers in some key situations.

Roma head coach Max Habecker Jr. said that he was pleased with the effort his team put forth against the Jackets.