Apaches playoff hopes end in loss to Salado

The Gonzales Apaches will miss the postseason in 2024 following a 14-0 home Senior Night loss to the Salado Eagles Friday, Nov. 1.

The Apaches struggled to execute key plays against Salado, but the defense shut out the Eagles’ offense in the last three quarters.

“Just some key plays that didn't go our way. You know, a couple of turnovers we thought we had that could have swung the momentum in the game, and we just never could find a groove offensively and constantly put ourselves behind the chains and early downs,” Apaches head football coach Joey Rivera said.

Salado took advantage of its onside kicks against the Apaches and drained the time of possession.

“The offside kicks really hurt us. Really kept the ball away from us, and those two scores that they ended up getting was the difference,” Rivera said.

The Apaches will take on Jarrell in the regular-season finale Friday, Nov. 8 on the road.

Rivera knows what his team has got to do to win the final game of the season.

“We’ve got one more left, you know, that pretty much shot our playoff chances right there, but we find out what kind of kids we got and coaches we got. Come back, come to work on Monday and ready to go,” Rivera said.

Kick off for the Jarrell game is set for 7:30 p.m.

--STATS--

OFFENSE:

Passing:

Tyler Hoffman: 5/14 pass completions for 69 yards

Travis Malveaux: 1/2 pass completions of 17 yards

Rushing:

T. Hoffman: seven carries for 42 yards

Ayden Ramirez: 12 carries for 38 yards

T. Malveaux: two carries for 14 yards

Keath White: one care for two yards

Receiving:

Damion Hunt: three receptions for 41 yards

Jermane Upshaw: two receptions for 30 yards

T. Malveaux: one reception for 15 yards

DEFENSE:

Isaac Gonzales: 10 total tackles

Landon Rhoades and Dylan Hunt: five total tackles

T. Hoffman, John Izaguirre, and Joshua Antony: three total tackles

J. Uphaw, T. Malveaux, Damion Hunt, Braydon Garcia, Bryce Eleby, and Christian Jurek: two tackles

Luis Zuniga Jr., Sebastian Gallegos and Gary Lewis III: one total tackle

Sacks: I. Gonzales, J. Izaguirre and J, Anthony: one sack

Tackles of losses: I. Gonzales, J. Izaguirre and J, Anthony: one tackle for a loss

Interceptions: T. Malveaux: one interception