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Coyotes observe bye week break


Week six of the Texas high school football season is a bye week for the Uvalde Coyotes and for the other seven teams in District 28-5A.

“The bye week came just at the right time for us,” said Uvalde High School head football coach R.T. Gonzales.

“We have used this week to get physically healthy again,” said Gonzales. “The Coyotes have played physical football against five strong teams. We have a lot of guys who are nursing one kind of injury or another.

“This week we have worked on food fundamentals, both individual and team fundamentals,” said Gonzales. “We need to keep getting better.”

One week from tomorrow, the Coyotes will resume their district slate when they travel to Kerrville to take on the defending district champion Tivy Antlers.

That game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff in Kerrville’s Antler Stadium.

“Uvalde has played Tivy for many years,” said Gonzales. “It should not take our staff too much to motivate our kids to prepare for play against Kerrville.

“The Antlers are the defending champions,” said Gonzales. “And they currently are in first place this season.

The Antlers are 2-0 in district play and 4-1 for the season following their 48-7 road win over the San Antonio Kennedy Rockets last Friday.

Their only loss came in a 14-13 decision against the Dripping Springs Tigers in their season opener.

Since that time, the Antlers have reeled off wins over Fredericksburg, 42-35, Del Rio, 48-14, Boerne Champion, 24-19, and Kennedy.

“Tivy has another very good football team,” said Gonzales. “The Antlers are talented and experienced, and they are very well coached.”

Coach Gonzales’ Coyotes, 1-1 in district play and 3-2 for the season, will enter that contest coming off an exciting 24-21 overtime victory over the Alamo Heights last Friday in Uvalde’s Honey Bowl.

Down 14-0 at halftime, the Coyotes rallied to tie the score as they scored 14 points in the third period.

The Coyotes took the scoring lead with a touchdown late in the fourth period.

Heights battled back to tie the score with a touchdown in the closing minute of regulation play.

In the over-time period, the Coyotes stopped the Mules on a pass interception.

The Coyotes then moved the ball into position for a game-winning field goal.

“It was a huge win for us,” said Coach Gonzales. “With our loss the previous week to Memorial, beating Heights was a must win to keep us from going 0-2 in district.

“The win was big for us because it came against one of the top football programs in our tough district,” said Gonzales.

“I was proud of our performance because it was a huge challenge for our players and our coaches to bounce back from the Memorial game,” said Gonzales. “Our kids got behind early against Alamo Heights, but they kept fighting. The Coyotes overcame a lot of adversity to put us in a position to be successful.

“Alamo Heights has a tremendous ball club. It took a lot for us to come-from-behind to beat the Mules,” said Gonzales. “It was just a tremendous team victory.”

Quarterback Donovan Davila and wide receiver D’Andre Carroll teamed up for three touchdowns passes, including passes of five, 79, and 43 yards.

Davila completed 19 out of 29 passes attempted for 300 yards and three touchdowns. He had one pass intercepted.

Carroll caught six passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns.

Wide receiver Christian Rivera had eight pass receptions for 115 yards.

Running back Sotero Martinez Jr. carried the ball 30 times for 140 yards.

Uvalde’s offensive line of tackles Jacob Ibarra and Frank Hernandez, guards Peyton Carnes and Javen Terrazas, and center, Julian Ortiz, better known as the Trench Mafia, led the way for the Coyotes.

The starting offensive linemen were aided by Hector Castro, Juan Chacon, Jesse Fernandez, and Emmanuel Flores, who also saw playing time.

UHS’s o-line helped the Coyotes roll up 19 first downs and 438 yards against a solid Alamo Heights defense.

Defensively, the Coyotes had many standout players, including Ryan De La Cruz, Jesse Robles, Chris Cantu, George Willemin, Diego Gonzalez, Zach Lambert, Cesar Mendiola, Majik De La Garza, and Hector Najera, to name a few.

Robles sacked the Heights quarterback on the play prior to the pass interception in the over-time period.

“That sack and the interception were two really big plays,” said Gonzales.

Heights managed 18 first downs and 354 yards against the Coyotes.

“The Mules have a talented, potentially explosive offense. Our defensive unit did terrific job against them Friday night. Whenever you hold a team like that to 21 points, you have played well,” said Coach Gonzales. “Only New Braunfels and Laredo United have held Heights to fewer points this season. And those two teams are really good Class 6A football teams.”

pete luna|Leader-NewsJesse Robles (No. 30) wraps his arms around Alamo Heights running back George Flesher (No. 23) and pulls him down for a loss of yardage. Robles made many tackles and came up with a quarterback sack late in game to help lead the Uvalde Coyotes to a 24-21 over-time victory over the Alamo Heights Mules last Friday night.

pete luna|Leader-NewsJesse Robles (No. 30) wraps his arms around Alamo Heights running back George Flesher (No. 23) and pulls him down for a loss of yardage. Robles made many tackles and came up with a quarterback sack late in game to help lead the Uvalde Coyotes to a 24-21 over-time victory over the Alamo Heights Mules last Friday night.

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