For the Uvalde Coyotes, perhaps a letdown was inevitable.
After an emotional road opener, and an even more emotional home opener, Uvalde suffered their first loss of the season, 21-12 at Poteet.
Poteet (3-0), which averaged over 550 yards in each of their first two games, managed only 305 against the Coyotes. QB Asael Moreno, who completed 67% of his passes in his first two games, was limited to 11 of 27 passing for 120 yards; he did throw for two touchdowns. The Aggies were without the services of injured RB Erik Coronado, who had rushed for 345 yards in Poteet’s first two games.
Uvalde (2-1) was hurt by critical mistakes; two penalties in the red zone cost them scoring opportunities. Uvalde coach Wade Miller credited Poteet for winning the battle at the line of scrimmage, but added the problems with the offensive line were due to penalties and difficulty reacting to slants and stunts, and could be solved.
Poteet led 21-0 early in the fourth thanks to touchdown receptions by Seth Dunn and Alex Lockamy, as well as a TD run by Tommy Gee.
The Coyotes got a spark from Chris Rodriguez, taking snaps at quarterback. He passed for one touchdown of 7 yards to David Perez, then ran for a 1 yard touchdown to produce the final margin. Miller says now the new challenge is finding out how much quarterback play he should ask for from the team’s best linebacker.
While nothing truly compares to Uvalde’s recent experience, Crystal City has had its own tragedy to endure. Their head football coach, David Lopez, died of cancer in May. Desmon Battle took over the Javelina program and has been installing a new offense; the team switches from a Pro-T to a Spread offense.
Uvalde has three assistant coaches who worked with Lopez in the past, including Lopez’s nephew, Michael Garza.
Crystal City (1-2) hosts the game Friday night at the newly rechristened David Lopez Javelina Football Field.
Mark Kusenberger
September 13, 2022
Read more from Mark on his blog at https://mkusenberger.wixsite.com/website/blog