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Coyotes play at Alamo Heights


Tomorrow night, the Uvalde Coyotes will travel to San Antonio for District 14-5A Division II football competition against the Alamo Heights Mules.

Kick-off time for the game in Harry B. Orem Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Coach Mike Norment’s Mules, 3-1 for the season, have posted non-district football victories over New Braunfels, 34-24, and San Antonio East Central, 48-27, while their lone loss, 44-31, came against Laredo United.

The Mules began district play with a 41-0 shut-out victory over the San Antonio Kennedy Rockets last Friday at Edgewood Veterans Stadium.

“Alamo Heights has a good football team. They have won three of their first four games,” said Uvalde High School head football coach R.T. Gonzales. “If not for some turnovers they suffered against United, they might well be entering play Friday with a 4-0 record.”

On offense, the Mules have a lot of weapons, including quarterback Reed Andersen, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior; running backs Joseph Moreno, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior, and John Yznaga, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior; wide receivers Nik Proctor, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior, Aaron Proctor, a 5-foot-9, 155-pound junior, and Weston Davis, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior; and tight end Jack Seger, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior.

Two weeks ago, Andersen completed 19 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns against East Central.

In that game, Yznaga rushed 14 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns, while Moreno had 22 rushes for 113 yards and one touchdown.

Nik Proctor caught nine passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

Last Friday against Kennedy, Proctor returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

“Alamo Heights can hurt you in a lot of different ways on offense. They have a good quarterback and a lot of good runners and pass receivers. Their offensive line is adept at run blocking and pass blocking,” said Gonzales.

Defensively, the Mules are led by the play of linebacker Maki Carabin, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior.

“Carabin leads the defense charge for the Mules. He is an outstanding player,” said Gonzales. “He has been a starter for Alamo Heights since he was a freshman.”

Some of the other top defensive players include linemen Henry Bell, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound senior, and Curtis Gunn, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound junior; and defensive back Trevion Godley, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior, to name only a few.

“Heights’ front seven guys are big, strong, and quick, while their secondary is quick and very athletic,” said Gonzales. “The Mules have played well defensively against some good offensive football teams this season.”

Place kicker Seth Ellis, a 5-foot-11, 155-pound senior, has hit on most of his extra-point kicks this season. He connected on a couple field goals, one from 25 yards out and the other from 30 yards out, against Laredo United.

“The Mules are pretty solid in all facets of their game, including the kicking game,” said Gonzales.

“Alamo Heights has a lot of talent athletes and they are a well-coached team,” said Gonzales. “Friday, they will be celebrating their homecoming. We anticipate a tough ball game on the road.”

Coach Gonzales’ Coyotes, 1-3 for the season, won their district opener last Friday.

They downed the San Antonio Memorial Minutemen, 41-7, in a game that featured two halves of play divided by a 90-minute delay because of inclement weather conditions.

Up 28-0 at the end of the first half, the Coyotes outscored Memorial, 13-7, in the second half en route to their first win of the season.

“The game was a good test for us. The weather delay challenged us to stay focused and to come out and play well in the second half,” said Gonzales.

“We left the first at halftime with a 28-point lead. Sometimes, the team that is ahead will lose some focus and come out with a loss of energy in the second half. We did not want to come out flat and not play well in the second half,” said Gonzales. “But our kids showed mental toughness and played well in the second half. They responded to the challenge and did a great job.”

The Coyotes racked up 22 first downs and 426 yards on the way to scoring six touchdowns in the ball game.

“For the most part, we played well in all phases of the game, including offense, defense, and special teams,” said Gonzales. “We made some mistakes along the way and we have tried to address those things in practice this week in our preparation for Alamo Heights.”

During the last half of the fourth period, the Coyotes had some penalties go against them.

“We had some penalties late in the game. We have to play with more control and discipline. Fortunately, we had a large scoring lead. In a tighter game, those penalties could have hurt us,” said Gonzales. “Hopefully, we will learn from the mistakes and understand that you have to play under control and with a lot of self-discipline.”

No big lineup changes are anticipated for the Coyotes in their game against Alamo Heights tomorrow.

The Coyotes will use essentially the same starting lineup for the Alamo Heights game tomorrow that they used for the Memorial game last Friday night.

“After playing without a few starters in our game against Southwest, we went into the game last Friday at full strength,” said Gonzales. “We hope to be at full strength for our game this Friday night.”

Following action tomorrow, the Coyotes will have the following week off because of an open date in their district schedule.

Two week from tomorrow, the Coyotes will host the Kerrville Tivy Antlers in district competition in the Honey Bowl.

pete luna|Leader-NewsRunning back Joel Valdez (right) breaks away from a would-be tackler during first-half action between the Uvalde Coyotes and the Memorial Minutemen last Friday. Valdez caught one touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown in the game.

pete luna|Leader-NewsRunning back Joel Valdez (right) breaks away from a would-be tackler during first-half action between the Uvalde Coyotes and the Memorial Minutemen last Friday. Valdez caught one touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown in the game.

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