The Edinburg Bobcats had little trouble with La Joya Friday night at Cats Stadium, dispatching the Coyotes 46-0 in the season opener for both clubs. Edinburg, which defeated La Joya 45-0 in 2010, bettered that with 20 seconds left in the third and basically slowed the pace considerably in the final period to avoid rubbing it in.

Fullback Arnie Alvarado rambled for three touchdowns to lead the way for EHS, which takes on a tougher assignment next week against McAllen, on the road. The first came after an early fumble by La Joya gave the ‘Cats great field position at the Coyotes 24.

With a 7-0 lead, EHS got sloppy a bit on D on the Coyotes, who would gain just 94 total yards with six first downs, reached the Edinburg 35. But a quarterback sack from senior tackle Johnny Espinosa saved the day and forced a La Joya punt.

From there, Edinburg added two TDs, one after a great punt return from Sal Martinez set up Alvarado’s second score, and the other when Ossie Silguero’s interception led to a 29-yard scamper by Victor Montemayor.

The lead was increased at 24-0 at the half when sophomore Kristov Martinez, who performed well all night, boomed a 46-yard field goal with 0:01 left on the clock.

Alex Cantu started at QB for the ‘Cats and withstood a slow start in execution to finish eight of nine through the air. He did lose a fumble in the first half. Ramon Enriquez played most of the second half after Cantu had led the team to a score on the opening drive of the third period. He was 2 of 4 with a short TD to Favian Quintanilla flaring out of the backfield.

EHS gained 266 total yards and took five turnovers while giving two. Martinez made one of the team’s three interceptions and also recovered a fumble, while DB pal Teddy Lara raced 18 yards with a pick for a TD in the third quarter.

Coach Joey Caceres said it was a good start to 2011, and that he was pleased with every facet of the game Friday, especially special teams. Enriquez launched a perfect 38-yard punt with super hang time and it was fair caught at the 7 in the second period, as the ‘Cats won field position again and again.

Adam Alonzo paced the defense with 10 tackles, as the starters checked it in after three quarters. Lara ended with eight stops as did junior linebacker Vincent de la Cruz.

EDINBURG – There were not as many “whoos!” or “oh yeahs!” as one might expect from the average Harlingen football team. In fact, after their 26-14 victory here Friday night over Edinburg, the Cards had to be reminded by their coach to be excited.

“Hey, surely you can make more noise than that,” suggested Manny Gomez as the kids circled ‘round each other for a final show of triumph.

An oddity, perhaps, and one explained by a number of factors, some due to the Bobcats, and some to the type of team Gomez has this season. Taking them in turn: first off, Edinburg gave the number-one ranked Cards a real battle before bowing down, a real battle. It outgained Harlingen in yardage, held the Card offense to four first downs in the second half, and made it punt six times during the night. Six punts usually equates to a month’s worth for the Valley’s dominant powerhouse.

So there was definitely a little bit of that going on, because while the Cards had said all the right things leading up to the showdown at Cats Stadium, about how they knew Edinburg was good and that there would be a struggle, the fact is, they probably thought they were going to blow the ‘Cats out. When you’re Harlingen, you expect it, because by and large through the years, you’ve made it happen, week after week. High standards are hard to live by, but that’s what the best programs do.

Which leads to the second factor, which again has little to do with Edinburg.

Gomez will tell you that the 2010 contingent is quite different from the one that won 12 games and became one of the top 10 units to don the hats throughout 100 years of Valley pigskin. While the 2009 juggernaut took its lead from The Wild One, Mingo Rincon, and hit the field as a flashy, trash-talking group of outlaws who backed up their braggadocio every night, this one is different.

“They are way less flamboyant, that’s the deal,” said the fourth-year coach before the long-anticipated collision in front of a near-capacity crowd. “They do not talk as much trash, and they are pretty calm guys, businesslike in what they do. They work as hard as last year’s team, and they have a lot of talent, but they’re not as crazy as the guys were last year.”

And that has been the big question so far in 2010, with a load of expectations thrust upon the shoulders of what is basically a brand-new team, after most of the starters from the 2009 posse walked the stage at graduation onto whatever lies next for such unique characters. In terms of personality, as well as skill, there may never be a young man taking the Valley hostage like Rincon did in the magical campaign past.

There is no way to justify any sort of comparison between the two clubs, 2009 and 2010, until the season has become way longer in beard and tooth. For now, listen to one of the Card offensive linemen advance the discourse on standards, expectations, and learning curves.

Jeremy Stephenson, called by Gomez one of the team’s best trench warriors, is also somewhat of an intellectual, it turns out. After the Cards finally got shed of the Bobcats, on a night where it was not as easy as it usually is for the Redbirds, the 6-foot-2 interior star had more than a few compelling thoughts to share.

“It got into our minds a little, the way we played in the second half,” said Stephenson, who has some pretty impressive sideburns looping down his jawbones. “Too many three-and-outs, not many first downs, so yeah, I think we knew we should have done better. We always push ourselves to do better, and we never quit, I don’t care when it is. So not being able to do better down the stretch, it sort of got to us.”

Harlingen got the big play early in the half, a 75-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Ledesma to a streaking Patrick Ortega, one of the many tall and talented Card receivers in 2010. But other than that  a play that made it 21-6 with 33 seconds elapsed since halftime – all the group achieved was a field goal and a safety. Luckily, the defense was able to hold the Bobcats out of the end zone until the last 23 seconds, and the result, a 12-point win, made the No. 1 team 4-0 for the season, 1-0 in District 31-5A. But it wasn’t enough, not for a program that lives to kill.

“I think that is one of the best defenses we have played against,” said the candid lineman who has stepped into a leadership role this year quite well. “We’re used to dishing it out, all night, and maybe we’re not used to taking it. I tell you, this was what we needed, because last year, we had so many blowouts, it sort of kept us from being as prepared as we needed to be, mentally, for the big playoff games, like Westlake.”

And there is the linchpin of the argument. Any time a team can go on the road to defeat the No. 3 team in the land by two scores – and really three discounting the last-second scratch from Stevie Guerrero to Cord Arriola of 39 yards inside the final minute – surely the players would walk into the lockers feeling good about the accomplishment,

This the Cards did not do, and it’s because, well, they’re Harlingen. Period.

They outlasted the Bobcats and will move on, but the psychological game has yet to be completed.

“We take pride in our conditioning and we are always in better shape than the opponent,” said Stephenson, echoing the very words of his coach, uttered 20 minutes before kickoff and repeated after the fight. “We do that because we know one thing: if you’re tired, you start making mistakes physically, so in that sense, the physical controls the mental. It gets harder to focus when you’re tired.”

Stephenson, already having said a mouthful, endured the playful teasing of his coach, who walked by during the interview, slapped his bulwark on the backside, and cracked, “Quit lyin’, Stephenson!” Then he concluded a worthy dissertation on Cardinal Football, and more importantly, Cardinal Spirit, which as one knows from the long-time maxim repeated on T-shirts, bumper stickers, and at pep rallies, never dies.

“We have our standards, and that means we don’t quit in the fourth quarter,” he noted, adding that he was not implying that he and his team had done any such thing. “Edinburg gave us a good fight tonight, and as I say, we are going to take this as a good thing, because it shows us what we have to work on.”

There it is, some insight into how marvelous it is to be a Cardinal, and yet, how taxing at times. When one stands athwart the mountaintop, one knows that there will always be worthy challengers willing to take their shot at knocking you off it. Which means that one must work harder than everyone else, be more precise than the rest, and challenge yourself to live up to the sky-high metrics that have been established in a program that may just win game No. 600 lifetime this year if things go right.

It ain’t easy being the Gypsy Prince. Lurking in the shadows lie the usurpers, and they grow stronger with desire by the year, to smite the head that wears the crown…

THE CLASSIC COMMENCES

Now. Because we began with a lengthy exegesis on Harlingen and its philosophical paradigm is not to say that Edinburg was simply a bit player in Friday’s drama. Far from it. The truth is, this team deserves its No. 3 ranking, though the loss will probably send it down a few pegs, such is the maddeningly linear nature of polls.

But with the effort it put on against the reigning champ, EHS can retire from the field knowing that had it not been for turnovers and a vital dropped touchdown pass, it might have, would have, made the final result a helluva lot closer.

Some observers had imagined that they were looking at a pounding, and many felt that the only way Edinburg could win was to throw some trick plays in and get lucky. Now we know that these naysayers were incorrect. Joey Caceres’ crew stood in there slugging with the Cards until the final gun, gaining 69 more yards, eight more first downs, and becoming the first team in the area since Pharr North a few years back to match the Redbirds in physicality.

That can be laid like a wreath of praise at the feet of the defense, which swarmed the ball, attacked like mad hatters, and generally made life miserable for the Harlingen offense, which attained the fairly pedestrian mark of 267 total yards and 10 first downs. Last year’s Bobcat D was one of the best in the Valley, and after Friday, who can suggest that this is not the case once again, at least after four games.

The ‘Cats (0-1, 3-1) suffered their first defeat of the campaign by giving away three turnovers, including fumbles on their first two possessions after taking it into the heart of the smallish Card D with surprising success.

This is a gritty running team that just happens to have one of the Valley’s best quarterbacks as well, behind an improving line. Though Guerrero would pass for 189 yards, he ran for just 10, and though he will no doubt complain to the contrary, was not 100 percent recovered from the turf toe injury that had kept him out of the team’s last game and a half. It was a bad combination Friday, a speedy defense against a QB hesitant to show off his amazing breakaway ability and playmaking magic on the run.

Staying mainly in the pocket, Guerrero had a solid game, but as the Cards carved out an early lead of 14-6, he was barely a factor. Later in the game he tried to summon the powers, but was flattened for four sacks, one of which produced a safety for Harlingen. So intense was his will to succeed against the odds that he bulled into and de-helmeted a Card tackler down the stretch on a keeper, the kid’s hat flying into the air like a beach ball and the player having to be escorted off in a decided daze. But it was not enough.

Enough of the preliminaries, for there is much to discuss on a night where the house was a ’rockin’ and everyone came knockin’, including former Bobcat coach Richard Flores, the Legendary One, plus a host of other big names from the Valley’s football hall of heroes.

OK…REALLY COMMENCES

The rain went away and the afternoon grew muggy, our friends the mosquitoes making a triumphant return into our ears as the hours wore on. The Edinburg side was full way, way early, as Homecoming, Parents Night, and every reunion class from 1976 to 1991 to, I don’t know, 1981 too, was in the building. Bobcat Class of the Civil War…if there had been one, that group might have dug itself out of the grave to show up, medals clinking and bushy beards and magnificent Rebel sideburns teaching even young Stephenson a thing or two about facial hair. Such was the gravity of the business at hand, if you pardon the hyperbole.

Harlingen’s defense is small, as stated, because when your strong safety is one of the biggest horses in the barn, you’re just not big. However, Gomez likes his unit so far because it is reasonably quick and very bright. In fact on both sides of the ball, the coach has thinkers.

“We may not be as fast as last year in the secondary, but those guys play really fast, you know what I mean?” he offered. “They know what they are doing and cut the angles, get to the right spot.”

One of the leaders of the new-look Redbird group in the deep back is a puny-looking guy who plays like a monster. He’s Edward Herebia, and even though he won’t win the Charles Atlas award for brawn, the dude can stick! He would make nine tackles on the night, force a fumble, and score points for every 155-pounder who ever thought he was too small to rattle an enemy’s gums around in his mouth.

But while he and teammate Mike Gonzalez were coming up fast and furious in the early going, the Bobcats were flat moving the ball, the old-fashioned way, with smash-mouth action. Outweighing their foes on the line by many cheeseburgers, the ‘Cats alternated the Aarons, Gonzalez and Garza, and chewed up real estate satisfactorily on the opening two drives. But they fumbled it away at their own 44, with Juan Garcia snagging the loose one.

From there, it was time to meet the Edinburg stoppers, called The Ministers of Defense in these parts. It is a fast and mean group led by senior Ciro Reyna, a tackling machine with the best closing speed of any linebacker in the Valley. Reyna (15 tackles) plus fellow LBs Adam Alonzo (13) and Roy Ortiz (three QB pressures and a sack) are the backbone. Coordinator Rene Cortinas wanted to come in to Friday and see his unit contain the dangerous outside running threat of Harlingen’s Brian Blake by getting to the ball in a hurry en masse. They did that well. (HHS rushed 31 times for 82 yards, Blake totaled 43).

With the early gift, the Cards got to the 25 but then other stalwarts of the home D got into the act, as ends Jazziel “Jazz” Trevino and Stavern Joseph (great names, right?) combined to sack QB Ryan Webb. On fourth down-and-10, Harlingen got eight, with Ortiz leading the charge to limit Webb on the scramble and turn the ball over on downs.

Back to work went the ‘Cats, buoyed by the creditable stand.

Gonzales went for eight and then seven, and then 30, as the Edinburg crowd salivated between screams. The mayhem got even crazier when the drive appeared to be stopped, but punter David Ramirez picked his way for a first down after attempting to pass on the fake. It got stiff at that point from the 28, as Daniel Ramirez (12 tackles to pace the Birds) came up with two licks on an incredibly hard-hitting night.

That little rock, Herebia, then lambasted Gonzalez, forcing a fumble that Ramirez and Zeph Gonzalez fought over for Gomez’ Group. You will have to ask these two who finally ended up with the pigskin, but Harlingen took over at its own 13 late in a brutally physical opening period.

If you liked hitting and did not score a ticket to this war, then you need to walk expeditiously to the nearest wall and bang your head against it a few dozen times, OK? Thanks.

The warriors exchanged punts now, with Edinburg looking for that wall itself after the pair of miscues put the kibosh on what could have been an early lead and the momentum against Harlingen that no one besides Westlake can seem to muster these days.

Then, it started working for the Cards. Ledesma entered the fray behind center and immediately executed a beautiful throw on third-and-5, finding strapping Chris Villarreal on the right sideline with a 22-yard gainer off the roll right. That combo worked again in the early clutch, for 25 yards on a fourth-and-three from the Edinburg 46. Despite some breakneck play from junior tackle Johnny Espinosa, the Cards were threatening.

If EHS had a weakness Friday aside from fumbleitis, it was in coverage, where the Cards exploited first the perimeter and then the deep middle in the second half.

It was Ledesma to Villarreal for the third time on the drive, and it went for six at 6:44 of the half. A nifty 21-yarder down the seam took advantage of miscommunication from EHS and made it 7-0.

Was this the beginning of the end for the underdog? Hell no.

Sal Martinez made sure of that, as he raced 86 yards with the ensuing kickoff before being subdued at the Harlingen 7. The reunion guys – prominently including 20-year Bobcat vet Joe Ramirez, the mastermind behind the city’s uber-successful semipro state champ Landsharks – danced in the aisles.

But it would take four hammers into the line to bring the Bobcats to within a point. Tackle Peter Casas, one of the handful of Cards who saw significant playing time in the 12-1 cruise of 2009, made two statements to keep the ‘Cats at bay, but on fourth down from the 2, Garza plunged onto the stat sheet. Though the holder then bobbled the PAT snap and was cracked down by Herebia, the tide had begun to consider turning.

Gomez would later compare the first half to a boxing match, and one has become accustomed to his use of aggressive analogies, very footbally. He noted that when Edinburg jabbed, his kids jabbed back, and this was on display moments after the Bobcat tally.

Off to the races went Ortega, who had begun the season with a 154-yard receiving effort in the team’s opening destruction of Brownsville Lopez. After 49 yards of fun, he was jostled to the turf by Ortiz at the ‘Cat 36. Eight plays hence, after a 20-yard hookup from Ledesma to Ryan Moncivais, Blake steamed in from the 9 with 1:42 left before the half.

Talk about a buzz kill for the Bobcats! Fourteen to six.

Of course, now Guerrero, the competitor’s competitor, came to the party, running the 2-minute drill like a veteran, which he is, baby face and “Blue Eyes” nickname notwithstanding.

He 7-on-7ed the squad all the way, or almost, with four completions sandwiched around three spikes to kill the clock. The most impressive aerial in the assault was a 31-yarder down the pike to Jon Gonzalez, Guerrero’s Runnin’ Bobcat basketball teammate, and it put the offense a mere eight yards from glory. With 22 ticks left, there followed three misfires under a monstrous rush.

With the chips down, Guerrero and Co. eschewed the field goal that would have brought them to within a touchdown. That Caceres rolled the dice on this play is partly due to the troubles suffered on the ill-fated extra point earlier in the night. But it was also an exemplar of the way Edinburg approached this Game of the Week. The normally taciturn leader had raised some eyebrows during the run-up to the brawl with his willingness to discuss the fact that his team was not coming to the dance to “compete.” Instead, he made it clear that they intended to win the damn game!

Guerrero slipped one between two defenders on fourth down to Ramirez on the slant, and for a moment, it was bedlam, the good kind. However, the talented tight end could not hang on, and that was that.

To the half, with Harlingen bruised but obviously unbowed (recall Stephenson’s words of wisdom about what being a Cardinal is all about). The ‘Cats were pissed, because if they has managed to hang on to the ball three times, they might have been ahead.

What more can be asked of a half of high school football? High drama and cracking hits on every snap. This is what we all parked at Convergys (or beyond) to see!

GET BACK ON IT

As well as the ‘Cats had held up under the pressure of colliding with No. 1, one had the feeling that Harlingen would come out of the dressing room seeking to be Harlingen. It took 33 seconds for this to indeed be the case. Ledesma, who completed 9 of 19 for 185 yards and two scores, sent one sailing into the night, whereupon Ortega gathered it in and outraced them all for a scintillating 75-yard scoring play. Right off the bat, solid play or not so far, Edinburg was in the Danger Zone, down 21-6 as hundreds of fans no doubt had to juggle their nachos awkwardly while mumbling the dreaded question no one looks forward to…”What happened?”

What happened was The Bomb.

So EHS had to come with it now, or risk ending up like Lopez (47-7), Carroll (42-0) and San Benito (45-21), i.e. on the wrong end of a lopsided count. Guerrero, still not scrambling like he can when just right, tossed one to another hoops pal, Cord Arriola, for 20 yards and a first down to the Card 24. Arriola was his main man Friday, with five catches for 101 yards, all after intermission.

But Arron Martinez (eight tackles for No. and Gonzalez stuffed Aaron Gonzalez after a 2-yard gain and then AG (100 yards on the night, 15 totes) got just three when EHS ran the ball on third-and-eight.

The ball went back to the Cards, and the Bobcats had missed another tantalizing scoring chance, this time down 15. But when Ortiz sacked the QB for minus-eight, it was a sign that the ‘Cats weren’t going anywhere.

Right here, baby…we right here!

The next three Card possessions would end in punts, with Reyna jetting into runners’ ankles as is his special skill, and burly tackle Michael Padilla hitting them up high and slinging them down. Padilla was the star of the effort in the second half, with a number of spirited tackles, each of which being followed by an exhortation to the Red and Blue side to get with the cheering, already.

But Harlingen’s stoppers were as good, with Nathan Prado (a fine second half like Padilla and Arriola on the other side) sacking “Blue Eyes” to end one EHS try and Eric Gonzalez (another late hero) providing fresh legs in the secondary.

Fourth quarter, with the ‘Cats hanging tough and Harlingen entering a Blue Period of offensive futility but laying the leather on every defensive snap. The Cards won the battle of field position in the second half with steady punting, with Edinburg, falling victim to what seems to have become a true virus in Valley football, letting punt after punt bounced unharmed, losing 15 and 20 yards every change of possession.

The ‘Cats took over at their own 11 on one such exchange, and a Gonzalez fumble found the mitts of Eric Gonzalez. That led to a field goal of 26 yards by Talek Oxford with 7:26 to go. It was 24-6, and the two-touchdown margin was extended, meaning that EHS would have to score three times to win.

Cynics may note that had Edinburg made the first-half extra point, and then settled for three at the end of the first half, it would have been 24-10. They would technically be right, but that’s a simplistic judgment, one that this observer is not willing to make. EHS went for the gusto, and bravo for that!

After yet another pair of punts, one from each weary combatant, the Cards again backed Edinburg up to its own end zone, and Guerrero was hammered for a safety by Eric Gonzalez and Jose Campos (very active chap). The shadows were growing long on the Bobcat carcass.

Seeking to run out the clock, the Cards instead fumbled it away to EHS’s Teddy Lara. Guerrero mastered a late drive for the TD pass to Arriola, but it was too late. Though they had humbled the Redbird offense in the half, allowing just 46 yards total aside from the Ortega bomb, it was over.

AND NOW WHAT?

Do not say that Harlingen was numb after the final gun. Rather, the kids were somewhat pensive, in their quiet way that Gomez had spoken about hours before. This is not the in-your-face band of big shots that took the Valley by storm in 2009. Instead, the bunch is calm, introspective, and cerebral at times. As a coach goes along the path, he will find that some years bring noise, and others poise, sometimes both.

Gomez, definitely one of the most entertaining interview subjects in the Valley, understands now what he has on his hands for 2010, and intuits that despite heavy graduation losses, and the legions of strong squads gunning for No 1., his Cards are that No. 1, and may just remain so all fall long.

“Edinburg was impressive, they have speed and they hit,” he said afterward. “In fact, I take my hat off to any of the guys who strapped it on tonight, both sides. This was a damn good football game. The team that made the fewest mistakes was going to win, and tonight, we were that team. I think our conditioning paid off for us, we try to work on that all the time. Field position also helped.

“You know what, we watched film on Edinburg for two weeks, and we knew what kind of game it was going to be.”

LOSING SUPERSTAR LEADER GUERRERO

BY GREG SELBER

EDINBURG – It was like one of those old detective action movies, with a crazy car chase, a desperate brawl inside a dark, dank waterfront warehouse, and then the villains hurtling off into the misty night. The hero emerges from the warehouse in pursuit, hops into his car, revs it, and…nothing. The ol’ cable or sparkplug or something somewhere (we are never quite sure what or where or how) has been snipped/removed/sabotaged.

End of the action. The hero sits there in his car, slamming both fists against the steering wheel in dramatic frustration. He’ll have to wait another day to eradicate the bad guys.

Luckily for the Edinburg Bobcats, they were able to put together a half of championship caliber football, and it was enough to take out McAllen High here Saturday, 30-16. That was with Stevie “Ol’ Blue Eyes” Guerrero, the senior fire-starter with as much talent and leadership ability as anyone in the Valley. He paced the team to a 21-3 advantage midway through the second after two long and smooth touchdown drives but was knocked from the game after a somewhat late hit near his own sideline created the ultimate EHS nightmare.

The early word was a painful case of turf toe, which is a hyperextension of a digit, in not-so-plainspeak.

Though he would return to toss a 30-yard touchdown pass in the late-going of the quarter, Guerrero was visibly hobbled, and after the last completion, 30 yards to junior Anthony Acosta with 26 seconds left in the half making it 28-3, he hopped off the field on the toes of the good foot, and was soon seen on crutches, done for the evening and for who knows how long.

So with no Stevie G in the driver’s seat, it was not even close to “es-car-go,” for EHS. More like “nova,” to tell the truth. EHS, dominant to that point, gained just 65 yards in the second half, turned the ball over twice, and saw McAllen get into the groove for a couple of scores. The Bobcat defense came up with a pair of interceptions in the last 13 minutes to keep it sane, and Edinburg took its second triumph of the year. However, the ‘Cats were outgained 358 to 273 all told, and without their fearless guide, seemed deerlike in the Friday Night Lights.

This was a game that had been postponed Friday, after a late-summer deluge seemed to focus on Edinburg in general and Cats Stadium in particular. The lightning strikes were too frequent and the impromptu lakes ringing each sideline too deep. So it fell to Saturday, and the rain went away, it was a nice night, and “Blue Eyes” got hurt. What else is there to say from a Bobcat point of view?

Late in the match, after being fussed and fawned over like a rock star, he finally got a moment to himself. And it was odd to see the local folk hero perched on sticks, by himself, at least 15 yards away from the nearest teammate or concerned trainer. Being the type of kid he is, which is a rare bird with maturity beyond his years and a playful zest for life heretofore unrivaled, he was upbeat about the Major Bummer.

“They say it might end up being a pain tolerance thing,” he smiled, pale eyes showing just the slightest hint of worry. Very slight. “Meaning I can play soon if I tough it out…Hey, I always heard about this turf toe thing watching the NFL, so now I know what it’s about. I think I can play next week, if I can stand the pain.”

Guerrero knew that “next week” was materializing as an early Instant Classic for 2010, the battle starring two of the best quarterbacks in South Texas, magnificent lefty Matthew Kaufmann of McAllen Memorial and himself.

“That’s two Top 10 teams in the Valley, what are they, like number two?” he offered cheerily. “That would be awesome…don’t count me out yet.”

He knows that the decision is not his alone, and that the coaching staff is going to look terribly askance at the possibility of losing its vital sparkplug for the season in a non-district game. EHS has worked too hard the past couple of years to be tripped up by something like that; the ‘Cats are looking more and more like the class of the city after North’s steady reign of late is in jeopardy, and some people have tagged them as worthy competitors against everyone’s favorite villain (the best are always hated), the defending 31-5A champ Harlingen Cardinals.

So with all that big medicine coming down the road, one may not see The Duel next week. Or one may. Depends on a number of factors. But be apprised that in the event of any extended grid time without Guerrero – who has a knack for making the game-breaking play when his mates need it most, and is loved and almost deified by everyone in the program and on its periphery – we’re talking about that old detective movie again…end of the action.

It isn’t necessarily in the stats that we can glean the making of a winner, although glittering numbers are certainly one of the metrics used to delineate such. It’s more in how the team responds with a certain kid at the helm, how much said team can grasp beyond its reach to compile acts of glory that might previously have seemed unobtainable. But before we lapse into the dreaded infomercial territory and testimonial overload, let’s talk about the game, shall we?

SETTING THE TABLE, FIRST-HALF FEAST

Edinburg had wasted La Joya last week, 45-0, with Guerrero throwing three TD passes in the first half and piling up 185 yards before leaving the fray at the half. This time, however, he would do the same exit, but not on such happy terms.

The Bobcats have almost always been a grind-it-out ball club through the years, with big linemen and hard-running backs, plus the occasional star QB such as Jimmy Wright in the 1950s and Clarence Cruz at the turn of the century. They have usually been content to pound the ball, batter away at opposing offenses with mean hats on D, and let the chips fall where they may.

In making the playoffs last year for the first time since 2005, they parlayed that usually stiff defense and the solid run game, with an emerging Guerrero working his magic in a number of close games, to punch a postseason dance card. Most prominent of the cardiac cases was the one against P-SJ-A, where he rallied the troops from way behind to nip the Bears by a point in overtime. That thrilling comeback set the beat for the team’s eventual rise to the area round of the postseason, and had the Red and Blue hordes salivating at just what might be in store for the next campaign.

So the next campaign, or this one, began with the rout of La Joya, but that was expected. In McAllen High, the ‘Cats were facing, after the day’s delay, a unit that frankly was mad as hell coming in.

The ‘Dogs had been flat run out of the game by P-SJ-A Memorial last week, and Coach Tony Harris’s smarting bunch knew that four turnovers, 12 dropped passes, and like that and like that, well, this was not what observers had become accustomed to seeing from The Mac. This is a successful program with a proud tradition, and that meant that Saturday, the Purple Gang was out for revenge.

It started not good for McHigh, again, as the offense was jittery and the defense a step slow. Guerrero broke off four sweet double-digit rushing gains after EHS took the opening kickoff, and the 9-play, 69-yard drive ended in a roar of applause from the gallery when “Ol’ Blue Eyes” took off from the 17 on a roll right, saw the scene and jetted left and goalward, racing untouched into the end zone at 8:38.

The kickoff. After a motion penalty and two incompletes by Justin Salinas, forced by great pressure from speedy end Stavern Joseph (a lithe newcomer who can really jam from the edge), EHS had served notice. The ‘Cats had no plans to become the McHigh Mulligan.

When the Bulldogs got the ball again, another offside call stunted their growth, but a nice 23-yard pickup from Trey Dube righted the ship. They drove to the 19 before trouble arose again, this time with Joseph and powerpack tackle Michael Padilla clobbering Salinas for a minus-7 that spelled doom. McHigh had shotgun-snap woes all night, and it kept the offense from finding any sort of workable rhythm until the second half.

After the D forced the turnover on downs, Guerrero and Friends went to work with an 8-play, 74-yard Bobcat Special behind a line paced by senior muscleman Joey Galvan at guard. Squatty horse Aaron Garza busted loose for a 35-yard run to make the highlight reel and eventually Aaron Gonzalez found paydirt from the 7 at 1:21 for a 14-0 lead.

Guerrero started 1 of 6 through the air, though he is much better than that, a solid thrower with impeccable poise whose arm strength is good, not great. But his running and decision-making on the first two scoring drives were perfect; you cannot rattle the kid, he will find a way to figure it out before the defense can corral him, seeing the field like a basketball general, which he has been for two varsity seasons, and using super instincts to pull the ball down and take off at the right time.

Danger Zone for the visitor, but McAllen has been here before, and responded with a clutch effort that produced a field goal of 34 yards from Jose Arzate, one of the Valley’s most dependable kickers.

Dube, who would rumble for 159 yards on 21 carries with his lethal combo of strength and exquisite vision, knocked one for 16 on the march and it took a couple of hard hits from linebacker Adam Alonzo of EHS to make it three markers, not seven. Alonzo’s brother, Tony, was a fine EHS LB a few years back, and the younger fellow is turning into a perfect complement to superstar Ciro Reyna and relentless tackler Roy Ortiz. This linebacking crew is for real.

Feeling better about the course of events, The Mac kicked away, looking for a quick three-and-out and another Dube Trip. However, when ‘Cat Sal Martinez weaved his way here and there on a scintillating 95-yard kickoff return 12 seconds after the field goal of Arzate, one could sense quite a lot of air expiring rapidly and rudely from the Purple balloon. It was 21-3. Simply put, that was the hackneyed and trite but soberly defensible Key Juncture of the Game.

Quietly desperate now, McAllen answered with another solid excursion, as Salinas (22 of 32 for 216 yards but took a series of hard shots from the onrushing EHS D) found his groove with four straight completions. The ‘Dogs reached a first-and-goal at the 5 but Armando Garza netted just two yards in two tries. A defensive encroachment put the ball at the 1 but then a fairly high snap from center splintered through the hands of Salinas and he was deposited on the turf 15 yards in the wrong direction at indubitably the wrong time. When Alonzo hammered in to block Arzate’s three-point attempt and corner Anthony de la Vina tackled some Bulldog who tried to advance the mistake, it was a very bad thing for McAllen at 4:05 of the second. Alonzo later batted away an extra-point try.

Taking over at the 22, EHS benefited from a personal foul call to get to the 37, whereupon Guerrero found tight end David Ramirez for a pair of first downs. But during this drive, Guerrero was knocked out, and a crowd of teammates, trainers, and who knows, maybe even a priest or two in civvies, formed a mushroom cloud of angst around the fallen warrior. Bleeding from the elbow and with the docs working on, no, not a knee…maybe an ankle, it was bedlam. Though he was carted to the training table, Guerrero soon returned, amid loud huzzahs.

He completed a long out to Acosta, who fooled his man with a little dipsy-doo in the right flat and scooted 30 yards to the house in the closing seconds of the half.

Though it was now 28-3, and the band and student section turning into a human cauldron of glee, in the backs of the minds of the wary was the vision of “Blue Eyes” wincing in pain. As stated, he’d hopped off the field like the winner in a One-Legged Potato Sack Race, and as the teams retired to the dressing room, all eyes were on No. 7. What in the world would happen next?

TIDE TURNS, SOMEWHAT

Harris has said that though this year’s edition of The Mac has some work to do – and the season-opening flop against the perennially promising Wolverines showed this to be true – he is certain that in time, it will be in the thick of the 30-5A race. He noted that there are a number of new kids on the roster who have not faced varsity competition, or dealt with testy moments under the unforgiving glare of the Big Time.

So with a leg, or toe, up on the Bobcats despite a 25-point deficit, McAllen wasted no time in taking advantage of the cruel vicissitudes of fate. Not exactly, really.

Their first possession was a dud, as Dube was dropped for minus-2 by Padilla, and Salinas went INC thanks to pressure from Joseph again, and then a nice play in the secondary from Marcos Castillo. The Edinburg DB group was glutted by graduation, losing such long-time luminaries as A.C. Sifuentes and Jeremy Salinas, among others. But in Sal Martinez at strong safety and Teddy Lara at the free, the ‘Cats have plenty of star power back there.

McAllen’s punt was a woeful 12-yard thing, and the Bobcats rolled from the 32 to the 17 behind backup Brandon Perez before missing a field goal. But the first Bulldog snap was way, way too much, sailing into the end zone 20 yards back, where Salinas avoided a ‘Cat TD by falling on the ball. Now, 30-3, and so much for the quick start against a wounded animal.

When Fabian Quintanilla returned the free kick all the way to the Mac 32 (a penalty made it the 42), it looked like curtains. But the ‘Cats went nowhere with Guerrero on the side, and David Ramirez punted, his kick being downed at the 1.

Could it get any worse? No. McAllen bowed up and began to play Bulldog Football, winging 99 yards with a pair of perfect spirals from Salinas, one for 33 yards and the second, carrying 42, to a sprinting Manny Mendoza for a long-awaited touchdown at 5:14 of the third.

Sophomore Alex Cantu then stepped in for Perez at QB for EHS, to the tune of a three-and-out led by DB Phillip Cantu (nine tackles to lead his team) and inspired play from linebacker Stanley Hanvey, the mountain in the middle who made the majority of his eight licks after the half. The Mac D is not very big and still learning the ropes, but in Hanvey it has a veteran pounder, while junior Jake Wiggins at LB and stellar DB David Champion can hang with the best of them.

A hold ruined the next McHigh try, along with the superb tackling of Edinburg’s Reyna, who made 12 stops Saturday, joining corner de la Vina (10), Martinez (10), and the very talented Lara (a dozen corrals) to lead the EHS charge.

The quarter was on the wane, with the ‘Dogs showing signs of life while the ‘Cats were sluggish and still stunned at the injury news. Then Edinburg put it on the ground and McAllen was there, in the person of Hanvey, whose recovery at the 45 gave Salinas 55 yards to go to keep an improbable comeback going.

Despite a sack from the active Padilla, the ‘Dogs rode a 39-yard smash from Dube to the 13 of the Bobcats but the next four plays told the tale. Ortiz and end Jacob Benavidez popped Dube three yards behind the line and then two snaps later it was Joseph (unsung hero of the night, well, not unsung anymore, one guesses) and big Brandon Anzaldua nailing Mendoza for minus-5.

Lara then picked off Salinas, and that is the four plays. And the tale.

Of course, Edinburg did fumble once again soon after, with Russell Parada for McHigh getting the ball. But by now it was the fourth period. At 7:53, Dube sliced in from the 16 to make it 30-16, after Salinas had gone 4 for 4 on the sequence. By the way, Mendoza caught 11 balls for 121 yards Saturday and is very much in the running for high All-District honors so far. The offense came alive late for McHigh.

The ever-expected onside kick was nearly a go for the ‘Dogs, who had first shot at the ball before ‘Cat Mark Solis made the great scoop to avert disaster. Edinburg then ran off two first downs thanks to a 21-yard poke from Garza (90 yards on eight carries) and a 16-yarder from burly Freddy Guajardo. Down to the 14 but from there, nada, as the Bulldog defense held, forcing a turnover on downs.

Down came McAllen again inside of five minutes, probably out of time but with no shortage of guts. This after all was more than just a win or loss situation, according to Harris. Later, the venerable leader said that though his team, of course, always seeks the win, the second half was all about progress. They had to come out and regain their composure.

“Sometimes it’s more about psychology with the kids than just wins,” he commented after the game. “So while we wanted to win, it was important for us to come out and get better, to get ready for district, and I think we accomplished that, though I know some second-teamers were in on defense for them [EHS] in the fourth quarter.”

McAllen advanced with three first downs, Salinas tossing well and overcoming a 12-yard sack by EHS’s Benavidez and Jazziel Trevino. But it ended as it had begun, with a mistake, as Ortiz intercepted a ball near midfield in the final minute.

FINAL MUSINGS

When Guerrero went down near the end of the first half, Edinburg Coach Joey Caceres was more than livid that there was no personal-foul penalty whistled against McAllen. Later, he was more sanguine about the way the night went. Still, he understands quicker than anyone what a Guerrero-less offense will mean to the program’s quest to repeat as a playoff combatant.

“It’s just different with Stevie out there, no doubt,” said the coach who has taken his team from a 0-10 season just three years ago to the brink of The Return as a Valley power. “He is such a great leader who always seems to get the other players to compete and achieve at the highest level.”

Caceres told his team that the injury was a test of its character, exhorting the ‘Cats to step up and be counted in the interim until their senior rudder can make it onto the field.

“You’ve got to tighten up, every one of you,” he barked. “No matter who’s in there, somebody has to take charge! Congratulations on a good win, now I want to make sure everyone is here Monday, no excuses! We’ve got work to do, men.”

Caceres supposes that his QB will be back soon, and so does Guerrero. After an initial period of distinct dread and terror, it appears that if all things go as planned, No. 7 should be OK in a week or two. Certainly for the 31-5A wars. But truly that is just an educated guess based on preliminary data. None may intuit with unerring certainty how the saga will unfold.

“He’s a fighter, always has been,” the coach noted. “He’ll be back.”