Jaguars roar past Cougars in district opener

EDINBURG — Edinburg Economedes had its district opener against Edinburg North circled on their calendar since last season ended. The Jaguars saw their campaign end in the Region IV-6A quarterfinals to the Cougars last year, leaving a sour taste in their mouths.

Economedes got a small measure of payback Tuesday, taking down Edinburg North 2-0 at Richard R. Flores Stadium to kick off their District 31-6A slate.

“We’ve been waiting for this game since last year,” Edinburg Economedes head coach Juan Rodriguez said. “The kids have been doing a great job. I feel like we’ve been playing a lot better as a team now. I know today we started off a little too fast I feel. Once we slowed it down and started playing our game, I feel like we did a lot better as a team. … It is a great win. Whether its them or someone else, but it is a little sweeter as they were the last team we lost to last year. We can’t look at them like that though. It’s just another opponent. Every week now we just want to go 1-0 until we get to that championship, which is our goal.”

Both teams struggled to create opportunities early during the contest, with neither team able to control possession and create chances.

That changed during the 29th minute, with Juan Lugo taking a through pass and zooming past the defense before hammering the ball into the right side of the net for the game’s first score.

“That goal I made was to give us the advantage,” Lugo said. “It was to pick us up. I felt good being able to make that goal and pick my team up. We just have to keep working.”

Lugo’s goal flipped a switch for Economedes, with the Jaguars controlling possession nearly the entire rest of the contest.

The non-stop attacking led to multiple scoring chances, but yielded no results until the 63rd minute when Rosbel Galvan delivered a strike past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

Defensively, the Jaguars managed to erase any real scoring chances by the Cougars, keeping them off the board for the win.

Edinburg Economedes Rosbel Galvan dribbles the ball downfield during a District 31-6A contest against Edinburg North on Tuesday at Richard R. Flores Stadium in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | The Monitor)

“Since last week we’ve been work on our defense,” Rodriguez said. “We knew they loved sending it to No. 10 and No. 9 from the games we watched. The guys already knew. The minute they got the ball, we started dropping and covering that up. I think our guys executed that game plan today.”

The Cougars will look to bounce back and earn some points at home Friday, hosting Weslaco High (0-1-0) at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the win earns the Jaguars three points to start district play giving them an early advantage in the race for the 31-6A title. They’ll look to build off the district opening victory Friday, taking on PSJA High at 7:30 p.m. at PSJA High School.

“We’re going to take advantage of these three points,” Lugo said. “We’re 1-0 now, but we still have more games to go.”

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