Area champs

GONZALES — The Gonzales Apaches have used the wind to their advantage at Apache Field before in football as well as soccer. Friday night the boys’ soccer team had to overcome it again to advance to the regional quarterfinals state tournament. Gonzales did just that, taking down the Bandera Bulldogs at home 2-1.

“[The wind] affected the whole game,” boys’ soccer head coach Greg Ramirez noted. “I knew that if we would get the wind first our long ball would be real effective because we had the wind toward our backs.”

The Apaches’ first goal of the game came because of the wind as a long ball that got into the box was misjudged by Bandera’s goalkeeper who came after the ball too late. Rogelio Sanchez chased down the ball and while being draped by a defender, high kicked the ball, poking it over the keeper and into the net for the goal in the 15^th minute.

After the goal, the Apaches continued to push on with multiple shots on target either hitting the cross bar or saved due to great plays by the keeper.

Ramirez took note of the amount of shots and even gave props to his players for remaining composed after the missed opportunities.

“Santiago [Escoto] for the whole year had 144 shots before the playoffs at the goal,” he explained. “When you have that many shots at the goal and he only had 55 go in, you have to be able to keep yourself calm and not get mad and have composure. That’s the main thing that we talk about all the time in practice. Keep your composure. The refs, you don’t want to get any red cards or yellow cards, just stay calm. We did a phenomenal job doing that today, keeping ur composure. It’s difficult to do that when the game is so intense.”

With less than a five minutes to go, the Apaches had three corners in that time frame and were still unable to net the ball, going into halftime with the 1-0 lead.

Back in the second half, the Apaches and the Bulldogs switched sides as Bandera now had the wind advantage against their backs. The Bulldogs attacked the Apaches’ defense with multiple shot opportunities. But the back four held up, especially with the help of John Bashaw who usually plays up front.

“I switched him to defense late because we were getting beat on the left side a little bit,” Ramirez explained. “He had a little bit more control today so we had to switch him back to defense. We put Omar [Velazquez] on top.”

In the 63^rd minute, Bandera’s forward was taken down in the box, forcing game officials to award the penalty kick. Though there were plenty of groans in the home crowd as well as from the Apaches’ players themselves, the PK was still allowed and the Bulldogs would score to tie the game at 1-1 with now 17 minutes left in the game.

Despite the penalty, Ramirez praised his defense as well as his goal keeper during their play throughout the game.

“Our defense played phenomenally,” Ramirez said. “You need to have a top-notched defense in order for the goals not to go in, especially when they had the wind with them this time. Daniel [Barrientos] the goal keeper played awesome. He’ll come out and he’ll do what it takes.”

Both teams countered back and forth until finally around the 75^th minute, the Apaches drew a foul for a free kick. Santiago Escoto took it, crossed it into the box where it was deflected and eventually found the foot of Sanchez yet again for the goal to put up the Apaches 2-1 with 4:56 left on the clock.

“Rogelio had an awesome game today,” Ramirez said. “Today Rogelio played ‘Rogelio’s game.’ He played it his way, his style that he likes. I told him that I wasn’t going to tell him what style to play, [just] come out here and play his own game, his own feeling and let it all out on the field. He did. He showed his true colors tonight.”

Ramirez also gave credit to Escoto for his play up front as well as José Flores for maintaining the middle of the field.

The Apaches took yet another shot on goal but Bandera’s keeper got a tremendous save to keep it 2-1. After surviving a late corner, the Apaches celebrated their win as they move on to the regional quarterfinals.

“[This win] says a lot about the team,” Ramirez said. “It says about how they are willing to fight until the last second. This team that I have is willing to fight until the last second. They won’t give up. They know what is at stake, if we lose we go home, that’s it, it’s done, it’s over, the season is done. They’re not done yet. They want to play more.”

The head coach also gave credit to the fans who almost filled up the entire home side of the stadium.

“It was amazing to see how many people came out to support, that’s for sure. It felt like a football game, it really did. [The support] gives the guys more encouragement, more stamina to stay up and play.”

Tonight the Apaches are at it again, this time they will take on Boerne at Clemens High School in Schertz at 7 p.m. The winner of this game will move on to the regional tournament, taking on the winner between La Vernia and Progreso.