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Coyotes face big road challenge


Uvaldeans play at Carrizo Springs tomorrow

The Uvalde Coyotes will face their first road challenge of the season tomorrow when they travel to Carrizo Springs to play the Carrizo Springs Wildcats in football competition.

Kick-off time for the game at Carrizo’s Frank Carter Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Both the Coyotes and the Wildcats enter action tomorrow seeking their second football victory of the season.

Coach Will Cockerill’s Wildcats, 1-1 for the season, defeated the Jourdanton Indians, 14-7, in their season home opener last Friday night.

“It’s going to be an interesting football matchup Friday night. Some of my coaching staff were a part of the Carrizo Springs coaching staff last season. We know Coach Cockerill and most of his coaching staff. And we know their kids,” said Uvalde High School head football coach R.T. Gonzales.

“We were excited to play the Coyotes when we coached at Carrizo Springs last football season,” said Coach Gonzales. “I am sure that the Wildcats will be fired-up and excited about playing our Coyotes Friday.”

Offensively, the Wildcats run a wing-T offense using multiple fronts.

“The Wildcats have a big, physical offensive line that is well-versed in run blocking and pass blocking,” said Gonzales. “They have a good quarterback, some hard-running running backs in Dylan Alfaro and Gilbert Balderas, and several receivers who can catch the ball, including Darian Jobe.

“Defensively, the Wildcats are fast and physical. They can bring a lot of pressure,” said Gonzales. “Mario Mendoza is one of their defensive anchors.

“The Wildcats are coming off of a big win over Jourdanton last week.” said Gonzales. “And as well as the Wildcats have played in their first two games this season, we anticipate an even better effort Friday night.

“Carrizo Springs has some talented kids. The Wildcats are well coached and motivated,” said Gonzales. “We know the Wildcats will be ready to play us Friday night.”

Coach Gonzales’ Coyotes, 1-1 for the season, trounced the San Antonio Kennedy Rockets, 36-14, last Friday night in the Honey Bowl.

“I was pleased by the way our kids bounced back following our loss to Monterrey Tech. We made a lot of mistakes in our season opener. It was good to see that we corrected a lot of those mistakes in our play against Kennedy,” said Gonzales.

Up 15-14, the Coyotes scored 21 uncontested points to win the game.

Near the midway point of the third period, quarterback Michael Mata completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Humberto De Leon.

Only a few plays later, the Coyotes scored again when defensive back Isidro Escamilla returned a pass interception 40 yards for a touchdown.

Ahead 30-14 at the end of the third period, the Coyotes put the game out of reach late in the fourth period when Michael Mata tossed a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver D’Andre Carroll.

In the first period, wide receiver Joshua Sandoval caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Mata, while running back David Rodriguez scored on a one-yard touchdown run.

Keith Pendleton hit on two point-after kicks, while Sotero Martinez and Domingo Davila each scored on a two-point conversion play.

“We dropped some passes, missed some assignments, and lost a fumble against Kennedy, but for the most part, we played well,” said Gonzales.

Kennedy rolled up 18 first downs and 424 yards against the Coyotes, but they managed to score only 14 points.

Uvalde’s defensive unit forced four turnovers, including two fumble recoveries and two pass interceptions. One interception was returned for a touchdown.

“I was proud of our defensive play against Kennedy. Our guys bent some, but they did not break much last Friday,” said Gonzales. “We came up with four turnovers, including one pick six.

“We missed some tackles and busted some coverages, but by and large we played much better defense against Kennedy than we did in our season opener,” said Gonzales.

“Our special teams play was good. We had several nice kickoffs and some good punts. We made a couple of conversion kicks,” said Gonzales. “We muffed a field goal, but there was a bad snap on that play.

“Our goal this week is to play better overall. We want to maintain the progress we have made and to try to correct our mistakes from Kennedy,” said Gonzales. “We want to strive to play better football as we prepare for district with these next three non-district games.”

Uvalde’s starting lineup on offense and on defense for tomorrow night will be essentially the same as it was for the Kennedy game.

“Like our first two ball games, we plan to play a lot of kids Friday,” said Gonzales. “We will focus on what we do, try to fix our mistakes, and grow from what we learned in our first two games.”

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