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Sunday, September 5, 2010 | Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County: Since 1929
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Edinburg expected to bring tough defense
Published November 20, 2009
A team’s record can be deceiving.
Despite qualifying for the Class-5A, Division I football playoffs with a record of 5-5, the Edinburg Bobcats have shown they belong with an 18-14 bi-district round upset of then 9-1 Brownsville Hanna.
The win sent the Bobcats into the area round of the playoffs where they’ll meet the Del Rio Rams.
The area game will be played Saturday at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and Del Rio is scheduled to be the visiting team.
Gauging the Bobcats isn’t easy.
They and Del Rio did not play a common opponent this season, but they held a tough Mission Sharyland team that finished the regular season 10-0 to 19 points in a tough 19-14 loss.
Their longest win streak this season was two games, but their longest losing streak was also only two games.
If Edinburg hopes to be successful against a Rams team that beat Donna 31-7 in its bi-district opener, the Bobcats will need its defense to have another stellar game.
After knocking Hanna’s starting quarterback out of the game in the first quarter, the Bobcat’s defense challenged the Hanna to beat them with its running game.
Brownsville couldn’t do it as its star rusher was limited to just 85 yards and Hanna’s total offense dropped from its usual 400 yards per game to just 130.
They also showed they can take advantage of mistakes, intercepting a Hanna pass and returning it for a score. They also forced Hanna into a pair of safeties.
The Rams were equally strong in their playoff opener.
Del Rio’s offense produced its sixth game this year of 30 or more points, and with Josh Washington and John Steed both healthy, expect more of the same from the Rams’ ground and pound offense.
But the Bobcats’ offense will need to find a way to succeed against the top defense in District 29-5A and one of the top defenses in the region - Del Rio’s “Wrecking Crew.”
By holding Donna to seven points the Rams actually lowered their scoring defense to 9.45 points per game.
Edinburg’s big playmakers are Jaime Sauceda and Steve Treviño.
Sauceda leads the team in rushing with 487 yards and three touchdowns, though Luis Guajardo is the team leader in rushing scores with seven.
Treviño is the team’s dangerous wideout threat with 45 catches for 742 yards and seven touchdowns, but only one other receiver has more than 10 catches.
He led the team with five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown against Hanna which was the game-winner coming with seven seconds left in the contest.
Under center will be quarterback Steven Guerrero. Guerrero took over as the starter after Isaac Escobar went down with an injury earlier in the season.
Combined they’ve thrown for 1,294 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Guerrero has the lion’s share of the TD passes, having thrown seven of them including one against Hanna.
Neither team is taking the other team lightly, so expect a physical game as both teams hope to extend their seasons at least one more game.
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