Friday at the Honey Bowl, Uvalde will commemorate one of its greatest days… even as it remembers its worst.
Uvalde will honor their 1972 state championship on Friday night as part of their home opener against Eagle Pass Winn. That team went 15-0, and was led by head coach Marvin Gustafson and assistant Jerry Comalander. Both men have football stadiums named for them in San Antonio.
Jerry and Mary Comalander and members of the late Marvin Gustafson family will be attending the game.
These and other heartwarming plans have been ongoing since last February, well before the shooting at Robb Elementary on May 24th.
Classes have not started yet at Uvalde CISD, but the district will hold a 2 p.m. pep rally Friday. Members of the 1972 team will attend and be honored. Several members of the championship team have volunteered to give a pregame speech to the team, but Miller is still doing his best to keep things as normal as possible for his own players. Speeches from everyone so close to kickoff, would overwhelm the team. He said the 1972 players could meet his team in the film room after the pep rally.
“Comalander and Gustafson….those two could give a pregame speech if they want to.”
Going into their game at Carrizo Springs, Uvalde coach Wade Miller assured his team, “just go do your thing, and if you just play and compete, win or lose, the community will feel better about itself.”
The Coyote football team indeed did their community proud.
Uvalde 21, Carrizo Springs 13.
The significance of the points scored by Uvalde struck a chord throughout the state.
Eagle Pass Winn coach was among many to note that the number of points scored matched the number of lives lost on May 24th. “How about the 21 angels looking down on them on Friday night?” Villasenor marveled. “When I saw that score about 10:30 when we were done with our game, I thought…Oh my gosh. How about that….it’s like a godsend.”
Winn coach Villasenor had his own connection to the tragedy. One of the teachers, Eva Mireles, was a classmate of Villasenor’s at Eagle Pass High School.
Miller readily saw that the Carrizo Springs game was more than a football victory. “There were more people at that game – probably times 3 – than at any of our road games last year. We almost filled the visitor’s stands at Carrizo.”
“We actually got to have a night where something special for this community happened, something good for this community happened… it was a night you could be proud to be from here, and that hasn’t been the case for the last couple of months.”
The Coyotes’ improvement on the field came partly due to a rigorous off season work. “They’ve come out of it stronger, more mature, and ready to go.”
No Coyote exemplified that work ethic better than Chris Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a first cousin of Justyn Rendon, who wears #21 to honor the number of lives lost on May 24th.
Rodriguez, also the Coyote’s best baseball player, was slated to be the quarterback and inside linebacker in 2021, but Tommy John surgery in May cost him the football season. “The kid never missed a practice,” Miller enthused. “Even if he couldn’t work out, he didn’t miss a workout.”
“And he played lights out. He was our middle linebacker and he played really good Friday night.”
Miller recognized the players making their varsity debut as well. “All of our lineman were on JV but one last year, most of our receivers, two of our three running backs…. and I wanted them to realize that for them to come out and play that hard and play that composed, in a rivalry game, AND what all they’ve been though…
“I wanted them to be proud of themselves for once.”
The CC Winn Mavericks, a playoff team for each of the last two seasons, struggled in their opener against a strong Eagle Pass team, losing 49-7. “They are the best Eagle Pass team I’ve seen in a while,” said an impressed Villasenor, who is starting his tenth year as the Mavericks’ head coach. “They are good in every phase of the game.”
Observers would do well not to underestimate the Mavericks based on the lopsided loss to Eagle Pass. CC Winn has good team speed, led by running back Jeremiah Robinson. Robinson is the focal point of the bruising running attack; he rushed for 127 yards against Eagle Pass and has drawn interest from North Texas, Howard Payne, and Sul Ross. Quarterback Abiel Cardona, defensive back Jonathan Salayandia, linebacker Jamie Barrientos, and defensive back Armando Lechler also run in the 4.5-4.6 range.
CC Winn began in June planning ways to honor Robb Elementary for the football game. T-shirts will be available with the “W” Winn logo and the “Uvalde Strong” slogan over a state of Texas backdrop.
Decals will also be added to the helmets; one will say “Prayers for Uvalde”; the other will be a Uvalde helmet logo, worn on the back of the CC Winn helmets while the regular Maverick logo remains on each side.
Eagle Pass Winn at Uvalde will be a testament to the value of Texas high school football.
“This Friday, It’s going to bring TWO communities together, and see (them) merge as one, and respect and appreciate the Uvalde community cause I know our fans are first class,” said Villasenor. “Our spirit groups, our band… everyone involved is really excited to be involved with it Friday night.”
“The best reward we can give the Uvalde Coyotes on Friday night is to play our best.”
The solemn remembrances will be juxtaposed with the celebration of Uvalde’s 1972 championship. The emotions for the people of the Uvalde will be mixed, but very strong.
Villasenor can hardly wait.
“The stage will be electric. (These) are games you want to be a part of! This is Texas high school football! Friday night lights… you can’t beat it!”
Mark Kusenberger
August 30, 2022
Read more from Mark on his blog at https://mkusenberger.wixsite.com/website/blog
