VAQUEROS WIN 80-0

By RAUL GARCIA JR. | Edinburg Daily Review

EDINBURG – The UTRGV Vaqueros (3-0) treated their home crowd at Vacker Stadium to an unforgettable night, dismantling Langston University 80-0 in just the third game of their inaugural football season.

“This conference is good. So we, you know again, next week’s going to be a tough ball game. We’re going to have to get ready to play and attack it the same way we have these three weeks,” Head Coach Travis Bush said. “So we are proud of the way our guys played and finished it up. You know, we came out, special teams made good plays. The defense made good plays. We scored on both ends, and then we got the run game going there in the second half.”

UTRGV hosts Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium.

“We’re just focused on one week at a time,” Bush said. “And to keep getting as good as we can get.”

The atmosphere was electric at Saturday’s game against Langston well before kickoff. UTRGV cheerleaders waved their pom-poms in rhythm to the drumline, while UTRGV fans filled the stands as the marching band performed the school fight song, forming a massive “V” at midfield. Both teams came in with something to prove: UTRGV fresh off a comeback road win at Prairie View A&M, and Langston still searching for their first victory after a tough start.

The Lions won the coin toss and elected to receive, but the Vaqueros’ defense immediately made their presence felt. A false start backed Langston up, and shaky passing forced an early punt. That opened the door for UTRGV’s explosive offense, which wasted no time.

UTRGV Quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger connected with Xayvion Nolan for a deep touchdown strike on the opening possession, giving the Vaqueros a quick 7-0 lead. Moments later, special teams delivered a highlight when Tyler Day broke loose on a fake punt for a 70-yard touchdown, sending the student section into a frenzy.

“I tripped up a little bit, and then, you know, I seen my guys blocking for me,” Day said. “Last time I scored a touchdown was sophomore year, JV football. So this is, yeah, a little new to me.”

The defense joined the scoring party when Elijah Graham etched his name into the record books with the program’s first interception and return for a touchdown, a 26-yard pick-six that pushed the lead to 21-0.

“We’re just starting to do our assignment and be tougher, and I feel like we’ve done a good job through our practice every week, and our coaches do a good job,” Elijah Graham said.

On the third play of the Vaqueros’ next drive, Marburger sent a deep pass down the left side to freshman Tony Diaz who scored on a 35-yard catch to give the Vaqueros a 31-0 lead.

Marburger and Nolan hooked up again, this time on a dazzling sideline catch-and-run that saw Nolan spin out of a tackle and cut across the field for his second touchdown. The Vaqueros led 45-0 and showed no signs of slowing down.

By halftime, the defense had forced multiple turnovers, including a second interception by Graham, and Fabian Garcia punched in another score to give UTRGV a commanding 52-0 lead.

The fireworks continued in the second half. A quick three-play drive ended with another touchdown, then running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker broke free for a 63-yard sprint to the end zone, stretching the margin to 66-0.

With the crowd on its feet and fireworks lighting up the sky, UTRGV poured it on in the fourth quarter. Freshman Broderick Taylor ended the night of scoring with rushing touchdown, sealing an 80-0 statement victory, the largest in the young program’s history.

The Vaqueros dominated in all phases of the game, leaving Langston without answers and sending a clear message that UTRGV football is here to make noise.

“Like I said, we’ve done a great job doing our job,” Elijah Graham said “We’ve been doing a good job. We’re facing adversity like against Prairie View, because they’re a better offense. At the end of the day, we trust ourselves, trust our training. When it gets difficult, we seem to level up our training, the coaches do a great job.”