Mavericks-Crystal City Football Game Report: Fri. Sept. 1, 2017

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MAVERICKS FOOTBALL GRIDIRON NEWS

Mavericks fall to

Crystal City Javelinas 20 to 13

Late 4th Quarter turnover proves costly

By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central

“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”

The defending District 29-5A co-champions, bi-district champions, area champions and UIL Region IV State semifinalist C.C. Winn Mavericks varsity football team inaugurated the program’s 12th ever season opener by entertaining the Crystal City Javelinas in a 7:30 PM non-district gridiron encounter at the Eagle Pass ISD Student Activity Center Cozel Foster-Veterans Memorial Stadium.

In a game that was also designated as the Mavericks Parents Night, with the Mavericks varsity football players paying tribute to their respective parents during pregame festivities, the Mavericks suffered a heartbreaking loss when the Maverick running back ran into a   referee which apparently caused a late fourth quarter fumble enabling Crystal City to tally game winning score with 25 seconds left in the game.

After deferring their option to the second half the Mavericks stingy defense led by Ernesto Villasenor, Miguel De Los Santos who had a huge night defensively leading the Mavs defense with a whopping 10 solo tackles. and Isaias Gonzalez immediately went to work registering a couple of big quarterback sacks forcing the visiting Javelinas to punt the ball over from the Crystal City 12-yard line.  After the ensuing punt, the Mavericks offense went to work from their own 45-yard line.

The Mavericks offense with Tony Flores barking signals to just five plays from scrimmage utilizing the running of Gustavo Cabrera and the clutch pass receiving of Jose Blanco who hauled in a sensational 35 yard pass with a brilliant over the shoulder catch to march down the field where the Mavericks tallied the game’s and season’s first touchdown with a five yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tony Flores to a wide open tight end Isaac Villarreal with 7:17showing on the first quarter clock the point after attempt  however failed as it hit the left upright and fell back into the field of play but the Mavericks enjoyed a 6 to 0 lead over the Javelinas.

In the Javelinas second offensive possession the Mavericks defense stood their ground and forced the Javelinas to punt but the Javelinas surprised the Mavericks by successfully converting a fake punt to pick up a key first down to keep their drive alive which saw the Javelinas drive down to the Mavericks six-yard line where once again the Mavericks defense buckled down and intercepted a pass attempt in the end zone by defensive back Xavier Cerezo.  The first quarter ended with the Mavericks holding on to their 6 to 0 lead.

After an exchange of punts in the second quarter the Crystal City Javelinas orchestrated a 51-yard scoring drive predominately utilizing the services of their one-two running back punch with the scoring drive being capped off with a six-yard run to pay dirt by tailback Austin Sanchez with only 34 seconds left in the first half   The Javelinas failed to get off the point after attempt as both teams headed to their respective halftime locker rooms tied at six points apiece.

During the halftime break with the award winning and always entertaining Thundering Mavericks Band showcasing their talent out on the field, Mavericks head football coach Eric Villasenor gathered his coaching staff to go over the first half of play to go over tendencies and implement the necessary adjustments both on offense and defense and it paid off right away in the second half.  In the Mavericks’ second offensive series, the silver and black clad Mavericks supported by a very sizeable Mavericks Nation in attendance engineered an impressive 88-yard scoring drive culminating with an 11-yard scamper into the end zone by workhorse tailback Gustavo Cabrera behind the blocking of the Mavs offensive line with 4:49 showing on the third quarter clock.  Mavericks placekicker Ernesto Fuentes split the uprights with the point after to give the Mavericks a 13 to 6 lead over the Javelinas.

Early in the fourth quarter the Javelinas to their credit who all game long used a ball control keep away offensive scheme managed to manufacture a 64-yard scoring drive by picking up key first downs along the way via their running game as well as their passing game with wide receiver Felix Blanco haling in key receptions against   coverage by the Mavericks secondary unit. The scoring drive was capped off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John Saucedo to wide receiver Felix Blanco with 11:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.  The two-point conversion attempt failed so the Mavericks now held a 13 to12 lead over the Javelinas.

With just under two minutes remaining in the game the Mavericks were faced with a critical third and long situation.  A first down certainly would have enabled the Mavericks to run out the clock and come away with a hard-fought victory.  Mavericks hardnosed running back Gustavo Cabrera took the handoff from Tony Flores and busted loose for a huge gain which was more than enough for the crucial first down but low and behold disaster struck as the referee moved right into the path of the runner which caused Cabrera to cough up the pigskin or did he really as it sure looked like he was already down when he fumbled which Crystal City recovered.  Unfortunately, that’s just part of the game where the human element comes into play and it is certainly not an excuse.

Crystal City capitalized on the turnover mounting a game winning scoring drive that was capped off with a one-yard plunge into the end zone by fullback Jaime Nava with just 24 seconds remaining in the game. Javelinas quarterback called his own number on the successful two-point conversion to give the Javelinas a 20 to 13 lead over the Mavericks. The Mavericks had one final chance when Gustavo Cabrera took a swing pass from Tony Flores a busted loose down the left sideline all the way down to the Crystal City 24-yard line where the Javelinas last defender was barely able to knock Cabrera out of bounds as time expired on the game clock enabling the Crystal City Javelinas to come away with the hard earned 20 to13 victory over the C.C. Winn Mavericks who deserved a better fate.

OFFICIAL TEAM STATS:

MAVERICKS OPPONENT

First Downs                          8                                 13

Att./ Yds. Rushing               26/131                       47/146

Yards Passing                     120                             134

Total Yards                         251                             280

Pass att./comp./int’s                        9/14/0                         7/15/1

Return Yards                                   65                               0

Punts /Avg.                           3/21.6                         3/40.0

Fumbles/Lost                       1/1                              0/0

Penalties/Yards                   6/55                            6/60

OFFICIAL INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATS:

PASSING

#10     Tony Flores              9 comp.   14 att..    120 yds.   1TD

RUSHING:

#6       Jared Roiz                  1 att.             no gain

#10     Tony Flores               10 att. 34 yds.

#17     Gustavo Cabrera     18 att.             97 yds.   1TD

#43     Patricio Hernandez   1 att.             no gain

RECEIVING:

#15     Luis Olvera                 1 rec.            16 yds.

#17     Gustavo Cabrera       3 rec.            24 yds.

#82     Isaac Villarreal           1 rec.             5 yds.   1TD

#88     Jose Blanco               4 rec.            75 yds.

OFFICIAL INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATS:

#2       Brandon Wheeler 4 solo tackles

#3       Xavier Cerezo 3 solo tackles 2 assists 1 interception

#7       Juan J. Garcia 2 solo tackles 6 assists

#21     German Velasquez 5 solo tackles

#24     Isaac Flores 4 solo tackles 2 assists

#32     Ernesto Villasenor 5 solo tackles 6 assists 2 tackles for a loss 1 QB Sack

#33     Miguel De Los Santos 10 solo tackles 5 assists 2 tackles for a loss 1 QB Sack

#42     Cesar De La Garza 2 solo tackles

#46     Ricardo Morales 4 solo tackles 3 assists 2 tackles for a loss 2 QB Sacks

#60     Alexis Morales 1 solo tackle 7 assists 1 tackle for a loss 2 QB Sacks

#62     Ismael Villarreal 1 solo tackle 3 assists 1 tackle for a loss

#79     Ivan Martinez 1 solo tackle

#92     Isaias Gonzalez 3 solo tackles 4 assists 1 tackle for a loss

 

#94     Alejandro Ontiveros 2 solo tackles 1 assist