Eagles will be tested by Wildcats in season opener
By Rey Sifuentes Jr.
Eagle Pass High School wrapped up its summer football session with a scrimmage against Crystal City on Friday.
“We expected to come out in our last preseason scrimmage and take control on both sides of the ball,” Head Coach Tom Gonzalez said. “And that is exactly what we did.”
Gonzalez was gratified with how his defensive unit performed.
“Our defense really played hard the whole game,” Gonzalez said. “They were also hitting people in a manner that we have not seen in a while, they had plenty of aggression. So we were very happy to see our defense play with such intensity.”
The Eagles won six touchdowns to two, but Gonzalez would still like to see his first unit get going sooner.
“We scored all six of our touchdowns on their first team defense,” Gonzalez said. “Crystal City scored twice on our second team defense. We still need to improve on coming out full speed from the very beginning. We have a tendency of starting off slow, especially on offense.”
EPHS kicks off this season by visiting Weslaco East at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Gonzalez expects the Wildcats to hammer their way down the field.
“They like to pound the ball offensively, their players are very big and strong and their forte is their strength,” Gonzalez said. “Their offensive line is huge, their running backs run hard and their quarterback is a great athlete who throws the ball very well. Weslaco east does not throw so much but probably about ten times during a game.”
The Eagles will have to equally belligerent.
“We have to be aggressive on defense, stay low up front and make sure we do not get blown out of the hole,” Gonzalez said. “They like to blast their opponents right up the middle with their two backs leading up in the hole. So we will have to be able to stop all of that.”
Eagle Pass has three non-district games this season to get itself in synch.
“I guess it is kind of a good thing in that it helps prepare you for district,” Gonzalez said. “But we are also playing some tough teams, we scheduled Alamo Heights and Weslaco East, both of whom who have gone three rounds and beyond in the playoffs. We also scheduled Boerne Champion for a scrimmage because we know they are number three in San Antonio . It is one of those things where we are trying to get ready for district because some of our opponents in 29-5A are just as tough.”
The Eagles have two open dates instead of the typical one this season. A big part of that is other teams reluctance of making the trip down here.
“It can very hard to find games, for teams to agree to come down south,” Gonzalez said. “Especially when they are from San Antonio where there are a large numbers of team who have several opponents nearby and do not want to travel. The teams in Laredo ISD also did not want to play us, neither did Uvalde, so it can be very tough to bring opponents to come down here.”
