EDINBURG — Robert Vela knew Brownsville Veterans Memorial was going to make the Sabercats earn it.
Vela built a 25-point halftime lead and answered each time Brownsville Veterans tried to work its way back into the game, picking up a 42-20 bi-district victory Friday night at Richard Flores Stadium.
The win moved Vela to 10-1 and gave interim head coach Sean Landez his first playoff victory in his first season leading the Sabercats.
“Coach Ramirez does a great job establishing the physicality in his team and the fight,” Landez said. “As you saw, they fought to the very end. They fought respectfully. Kudos and a testament to him and his staff.”
Landez said Vela spent the week preparing for the physical style Brownsville Veterans brought into the matchup.
“We prepared our kids with a mindset that it’s going to be a very physical game,” Landez said. “They understood that it was going to be a dogfight. They fought to the very end, and ultimately when we looked up at the end, it was a W.”
The Sabercats established themselves early.
Vela took the opening possession down the field and George Fauls finished the drive with a touchdown run to give the Sabercats a 7-0 lead.
Brownsville Veterans responded with a 41-yard field goal, but Vela quickly answered.
A long kickoff return from Antonio Villalobos gave the Sabercats excellent field position, and quarterback Caidyn Hoover found Fauls for another touchdown to stretch the lead to 14-3 late in the first quarter.
Fauls scored twice in the opening quarter, but Vela continued spreading the ball around as the first half progressed.
Raul Guzman scored early in the second quarter to make it 21-3.
The defense then created another opportunity when Robert Gonzalez intercepted a Brownsville Veterans pass and returned it into Chargers territory. Vela converted the takeaway into points when Hoover connected with Guzman for his second touchdown of the night.
That sent the Sabercats into halftime leading 28-3.
For Hoover, the emphasis entering the postseason was eliminating the mistakes that had hurt Vela earlier in the year.
“Since it’s playoffs, everyone is 0-0,” Hoover said. “For us seniors, our backs are against the wall. We can’t make room for mistakes.”
That message carries extra weight considering how Vela’s season began.
The Sabercats opened the year with a 10-7 loss to Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, with Hoover still settling into his new role at quarterback after previously playing defense.
Since that loss, Vela has won 10 straight games, captured the District 31-6A championship and now added a Bi-District title.
“Going into this game, it was just being able to execute,” Hoover said. “It cost us early on in the season, obviously Week 1, making those mistakes. Coming into this game, we just planned to be efficient.”
The season between those two points has included several tests.
Vela survived a 42-40 battle against PSJA North earlier in the year and later produced one of its biggest comebacks of the season against Weslaco.
Trailing 33-22 with less than eight minutes remaining, Hoover responded to a late interception by leading two touchdown drives, including the game-winning possession that ended with a touchdown pass to Ryan Rodriguez with 11 seconds left.
After that win, Landez talked about his team’s ability to handle adversity and described the Sabercats’ foundation as “unshakable.”
Friday provided another example of that growth.
Brownsville Veterans continued fighting in the second half, opening the third quarter with a touchdown drive to cut Vela’s lead to 28-10.
The Sabercats answered immediately.
Hoover converted a third down with a completion to Ryan Rodriguez, and Jace Mendoza finished the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run to restore Vela’s 25-point advantage at 35-10.
Brownsville Veterans added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter and later connected on a long field goal to make it 35-20 with just over six minutes remaining.
Again, Vela responded.
Mendoza broke loose on the ensuing possession and eventually powered into the end zone from 10 yards out for his second touchdown, putting the game away at 42-20.
Mendoza entered the night averaging more than 10 yards per carry and became one of several Sabercats to contribute offensively. Fauls scored twice, Guzman scored twice and Mendoza added two more touchdowns.
Hoover entered the postseason with 1,692 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns to go along with 879 rushing yards and 16 rushing scores.
His development has mirrored Vela’s growth under Landez.
Both entered the season in new roles. Hoover was taking over at quarterback, while Landez was stepping in as the head coach.
Eleven games later, Vela is 10-1, riding a 10-game winning streak and moving on in the postseason.
The defense also came up with important plays throughout Friday’s win.
Sameul Luna recovered a first-half fumble, Gonzalez intercepted a pass, and the Sabercats held Brownsville Veterans to just three points during the first half.
The Chargers found more success after halftime but never got closer than 15 points.
Landez said the message at halftime was to expect Brownsville Veterans to continue fighting.
“We reiterated all week long that they’re going to fight all four quarters,” Landez said. “We had to remain focused and make sure that we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, nothing above anything else, and just do our part and execute.”
For Landez, Friday was another milestone in a season that began with him taking over the program.
“It was awesome to have a lot of our guys get their first playoff win and, for myself, first playoff win,” Landez said.
More than the result, though, Landez pointed to how much his team has changed since the beginning of the year.
“Just the level of maturity that these guys have created and have grown through over the course of the season,” Landez said. “Playing with confidence, understanding that there’s no ‘I’ in team and just continuing to do their part for the general well-being of our program.”
Vela now turns its attention to the area round, where the Sabercats will remain at home against San Antonio Sotomayor.
Hoover knows the level of competition will increase.
“They’re a really good ball team,” Hoover said. “It’s North San Antonio, so it’s going to be a completely different skill level than we’ve played against. So we’re just going to prepare how we always do and just roll on.”
For Vela, that means continuing the same approach that turned a Week 1 loss into 10 straight wins.
“We’re going to continue to do what we do,” Landez said, “and have fun doing it.”
