The Uvalde Coyotes will celebrate their return to the playoffs – and homecoming – when they host the Somerset Bulldogs Friday night at the Honey Bowl.
Somerset (7-2, 3-1 in 14-4A-DI) will play in their second consecutive homecoming. The Bulldogs’ homecoming was last Friday against Boerne. The Greyhounds spoiled it with a 34-14 win in a game where the winner would take sole possession of first place in the district. Somerset now seeks to take second place in the district, which they can do with a win as long as a Fredericksburg win at Boerne is by a small enough margin not to complicate things.
As for Uvalde, with their school year starting late, they pushed their homecoming back to Friday.
Somerset got a strong rushing performance from Josiah Lugo (24 carries for 168 yards and a touchdown), but Boerne limited the rest of the offense to 134 yards in the Greyhound win. Boerne was the first team to hold Somerset under 21 points in a game this season. Only Antonian, in the Apaches’ 45-27 win over Somerset, has scored more points in a game against the Bulldogs this season. “We got opportunities to make some things happen – really, both sides of the ball,” Somerset coach Koy Detmer reflected”, and we didn’t make the kind of plays you have to make in those kinds of games to give yourself a chance.”
“We got deep into plus territory several times, but we didn’t finish off some of those drives, which really hurt.”
“It was a tough game, but a great experience for our kids, being in a game like that, and I think it’s gonna serve us well going forward.”
Of course, Somerset is still a team with seven victories. Wade Miller, head coach at Uvalde, is suitably impressed.
“Sonny’s not there anymore,” Miller said, referring to Sonny Detmer, the legendary Somerset coach and father of Koy, “but it’s the same system, and they’re so good at it. It looks like nothing has changed at all from father to son. They’re always going to be good, and they’re always going to be tough.”
Sonny Detmer passed away during the 2020 season. Koy Detmer took over as the Somerset head coach in 2021.
“Of the four years I’ve played them (including Miller’s tenure at Tuloso-Midway), this is probably their best team.”
For Uvalde (5-4, 2-2 in 14-4A-DI), their 31-6 road win against Memorial earned them their second playoff berth in five years. The Coyotes can even jump to third with a win by 15 or more points or a win combined with a Fredericksburg victory over Boerne. “We haven’t had a bad week of practice all year. We’re capable of playing with Somerset… if we’re able to run the ball, we’ll be able to stay in games.”
Uvalde dominated the Minutemen from the beginning. The Coyotes ran the ball 40 times for 316 yards. (“We ran the ball a bunch. It was the best our O-Line has played all year.”) Four runners gained 52 or more yards, led by sophomore Abraham Ale’s 8 carries for 98 yards. (“I didn’t know he was at 98 yards or I’d have given him one more carry!” lamented Uvalde coach Wade Miller.”) Jeyden Gonzales, who’s been playing while recovering from injuries, had 7 rushes for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Rodriguez passed for 53 yards and a touchdown while running for 70 yards.
The Coyotes ran 50 plays to Memorial’s 28, limiting the Minutemen to 129 yards total offense. Uvalde did not have to punt. Memorial’s 6 points came on a Francisco Ontiveros touchdown run with 3:09 left in the game.
“They’re significantly improved from last year,” said Detmer of the Coyotes. “They’re playing hard… we’re definitely going to have to be ready to go when we go down there. They’re a quality team.”
A variety of playoff scenarios are still possible in 13 & 14-4A-DI. The first round opponent for Somerset or Uvalde will be among the group of Canyon Lake, Davenport, and Lampasas, with specifics still to be determined.
This is Detmer’s fifth year in a row in the playoffs as a head coach, counting his last three years at Mission. Detmer sees the Uvalde game as a stepping stone to playoff readiness. “We have a road ahead of us that we’re preparing for. I feel our guys will do that.”
Wade Miller will coach in his first playoff game since 2016, when he was the head man at Woodsboro. “We just want to play well. You always want to play well going into the playoffs.”
Mark Kusenberger
October 30, 2022
Read more from Mark on his blog at https://mkusenberger.wixsite.com/website/blog