Pete Luna| Leader-News
Fullback Landon Klein (No. 45) sticks out his arm in an effort to stave off a would-be tackler. Klein ran for 11 yards on this play during the first period of the Uvalde-Poteet football game last Friday night. He and his Uvalde teammates recorded a 36-0 win over the Poteet Aggies.
The Uvalde Coyotes celebrated their football season home opener with a big victory last Friday.
Playing before a large crowd in the Honey Bowl, they got off to a 27-0 lead in the first half and went on to post a 36-0 victory over the Poteet Aggies.
“It’s always fun to win the home opener,” said Uvalde High School head coach Wade Miller. “It was a team effort as we won all phases of the game, including offense, defense, and special teams play.”
The Coyotes got off to quick start. They scored on their first four possessions of the game.
On their first possession of the game, the Coyotes put together a six-play, 71-yard scoring drive.
Highlighting the drive was a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brodie Carnes to wide receiver Jett Flores.
Devere Willis added the conversion kick and the Coyotes went up, 7-0, with 9:10 left in the first period.
Three Poteet plays and a punt later, the Coyotes began with the ball at their 47-yard line.
Facing a fourth-and-three situation at the Poteet 46, the Coyotes went to the air.
Brodie Carnes completely a short pass to wide receiver Devere Willis, who eluded a couple of would-be tacklers and sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown.
On the conversion play, a pass went incomplete.
Less than a minute later, the Coyotes regained possession when cornerback Matt Blanco picked off a pass at the Uvalde 16 and returned the interception 30 yards.
Starting at their 46-yard line, the Coyotes fashioned a 10-play scoring drive.
On a third-and-long play, Brodie Carnes and Jett Flores combined efforts for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
Devere Willis added the conversion kick to up the Uvalde lead to 20-0 with 3.7 seconds remaining in the opening period.
“It was a terrific start for us. When you get of to that kind of start, you really put a lot of pressure on your opponent,” said Coach Miller.
Four plays and a punt later, the Coyotes began their their first possession of the second period at the Uvalde 40.
On first down, running back Abraham Ale ran 41 yards to the Poteet 19.
Following a five-yard substitution penalty, the Coyotes scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Brodie Carnes to wide receiver Joshua Verdusco. Devere Willis kicked the extra point to extend the lead to 27-0.
Later, Brodie Carnes tossed a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Quinton Gant, but the play was negated by a holding penalty.
Poteet had a scoring opportunity late in the first half as they drove the ball to the Uvalde 11, but time expired.
Uvalde’s first two points of the second half came on a safety.
Punter Chris Mata pinned Poteet back inside their five-yard line with a 58-yard punt.
A bad snap from center left several Poteet backs scrambling for possession of the ball in the end zone.
One back picked up the ball, but he was immediately tackled as Joey Lopez, E’Lijah Carroll, Rylan Diaz, and Caden Smith combined efforts for the safety.
Up 29-0, the Coyotes began with the football at the Poteet 47-yard line following a free kick.
Following a false start penalty, the Coyotes scored on a 51-yard pass from Brodie Carnes to Quinton Gant.
That pass, at the 8:19 mark of the third period, was the final pass of the night for Carnes as Coach Miller went to his bench and substituted players the rest of the way.
Carnes wound up completing 12 out of 16 passes for 255 yards and five touchdowns.
“Brodie was on fire,” said Miller. “His receivers all did a terrific job of catching the ball and his offensive line did a good job of giving Brodie time to throw.”
Jett Flores caught three passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, Quinton Gant had three receptions for 79 yards and one touchdown,while Devere Willis caught two passes for 47 yards and one touchdown.
Linemen Adriel Gonzalez, JT Ibarra, Jaxon Parker, Aiden Cantu, and Luke Sagemuehl led the offensive charge for the Coyotes.
Uvalde finished with a statistical advantage over Poteet in first downs, 15-10 and in total yards, 380-92.
Matt Blanco and Alberto De La Garza each intercepted a Poteet pass.
The shutout posted by the Coyotes against Poteet was the first shutout by a UHS football team since 2019 when the Uvaldeans blanked Eagle Pass Winn, 17-0, in the Honey Bowl.
jvolz@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335.
