HIDALGO — Through everything the Hidalgo Pirates have experienced  — all the losses and dates with the District 32-4A Executive Committee — coach Robin Kirk has had the same mantra: We’re going to be all right.

The Pirates might be all right eventually, but they aren’t the No. 5 Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets. And that was confirmed in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday night.

The ’Jackets recovered four Pirates fumbles, intercepted two passes and scored on defense and special teams on their way to a 55-7 win. Nathan Gomez caught two TD passes, Eric Morales ran for two more, Brandon Montoya and Emir Alcala also had TDs while Alonzo Toscano had an 86-yard kickoff return for a score and Luis Hernandez scored from 82 out on a fumble recovery to power E-E to a lopsided win in its District 32-4A opener.

Friday was Hidalgo’s first game since Tuesday’s DEC meeting when the Pirates were forced to forfeit their opener for using an ineligible player, the second violation by the program in two months. If that distracted the Pirates or wore them out mentally, Kirk didn’t indicate it. He praised their mental preparedness and overall readiness for Friday’s game.

Instead, what hurt the Pirates (0-4, 0-2) was simply how well E-E played and how the ’Jackets (3-0, 1-0) continued to perform how they were expected to prior to the season.

“To be honest with you I thought it would be about halfway down the season before I really thought we would be in full gear, every phase of the game,” E-E coach Joe Solis said. “Tonight, these kids played excellent football.”

In Hidalgo, the ’Jackets faced a team they expected to be primed and frustrated by the start of their season. After taking a 13-0 lead just 3:08 into the game, E-E allowed Hidalgo’s Johnathan Cantu to catch a 13-yard TD pass from new starter Michael Alvarez to pull to within 13-7 with 71 seconds left in the first.

For that brief moment, it looked possible the Pirates could stay close to E-E. Then Toscano returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a TD, the first of 42 unanswered points to put the game away for E-E.

“It turned a lot. It gave us momentum,” Toscano said. “It gave them the disadvantage and it helped us a lot. It came out big.”

Kirk hoped the Pirates would do the same Friday night. Though they were routed, Kirk saw positives. He said he was encouraged by seeing his team try to block late extra points with the game well out of reach. He saw Alvarez give the offense a different dimension in his first start.

And though he didn’t say it, perhaps the best thing to come out of Friday was just the fact it ended another tough week for the Pirates. Now they can move forward with their new QB and try to make the postseason out of a wide-open district instead of holding their breath worrying about what a committee of school administrators decides about their future.

“(The players) are at a point in their season where they know these next six games we’ve got a shot,” Kirk said.

The ’Jackets, meanwhile, haven’t needed reminders they have a shot. On Friday, they re-affirmed why the District 32-4A title will either be theirs or Weslaco East’s.

“We knew we were going to have a tough game,” said Montoya, who scored one TD and also had two 2-point conversions. “We were ready to work hard and whatever came up we were ready to take on.”

Brian Sandalow covers District 32-4A football for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.

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