The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs hosted the Dilley Wolves Friday, Oct. 25 at Mustang Stadium on Homecoming Night for their fifth district game of the season.
Unfortunately, Nixon-Smiley fell to Dilley, 50-15.
The Mustangs and the Wolves battled hard in the first half; the Mustangs kicked the game off with a 46 yard touchdown by quarterback Eric Rodriguez and added a pick-six by cornerback Tristen Mikesh to close out the half.
In the second half, Dilley shut down the Mustangs on offense and took advantage of the turnovers that happened.
Mustangs head coach Paul Kirby knew this was going to be a tough team to face entering Friday's game.
“After a big play like Tristen Mikesh had, and we are rolling, rolling hard going in, they just came out with a really good game plan tonight to chip away at us and some undisciplined things that we did, some uncanny things that we did on both sides of the ball,” Kirby said.
Kirby added his special teams played better than they had the last couple of weeks.
Punter Julian Amaya punted the ball three times for 165 yards and pinned the Wolves at their two-yard line in the first half.
The Mustangs are in a three-way tie with Karnes City and Stockdale for the fourth and final playoff spot in the district with games to play against both teams.
Kirby and the Mustangs have already started looking at film for the Karnes City game Friday, Nov. 1 and know the playoff implications.
“We’ve got to make sure that we watch our film and learn from mistakes, and we have to eradicate that stuff. That is plain and simple — undisciplined football is not the way to win. We preach chasing perfection, doing the little things right, and they caught us on some things,” Kirby said.
“As far as Karnes City is concerned, they're going to be in the same boat we are. So is Stockdale. It's gonna come down to the last two games. We need to really focus on this week and be very determined. The theme of the week is savage and we’ve got to maintain that. Not brutally savage. We're talking about the introspective, challenging of yourself to be great, to find a way to be great. And that's what we're gonna have to do over the weekend to get them set up for Monday,” Kirby added.
The Mustangs and the Badgers have played each other 13 times since 2008; Karnes City leads the series with a 7-6 record.
Nixon-Smiley has beaten Karnes City three years in a row.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Karnes City.
--STATS--
OFFENSE:
Passing:
E. Rodriguez: 1/4 pass completions for five yards and interception
Rushing:
J. Amaya: eight carries for 56 yards
E. Rodriguez: seven carries for 54 yards and one touchdown
Garet Gonzales: eight carries for 38 yards
Joe White: five carries for 16 yards
Receiving:
T. Mikesh: one reception for five yards
DEFENSE:
Tackles:
Davian Ramos: 12 total tackles
Nicholas Marinez: 11 total tackles
Khali Jantes and Timothy McGlothine: 10 total tackles
Adrian Zamora: seven total tackles
J. Amaya: five total tackles
John Garza, Jaylun Rodriguez, and Karson Rhodes: four total tackles
Adan Zavala, Gavin Garcia, and Mystik Swenson: three total tackles
Henry Benavediz, G. Gonzales, Ryan Paez, and Noe Hernandez: two total tackles
T. Mikesh, Jose Olvera, J.R. Paez and Cesar Vazquez: one total tackle
QB Hurries:
J. Amaya: one quarteback hurry
Interception:
T. Mikesh: one interception
Pick-Six:
T. Mikesh: one pick-6 for 33 yards
Fumble recovery:
R. Paez: one fumble recovery