Mustangs rally falls short against Three Rivers

The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs returned to Mustang Stadium for the home opener against the Three Rivers Bulldogs Friday, Sept. 6.

The Mustangs started the game slow against the Bulldogs, quickly trailing, 22-8, at halftime; Nixon-Smiley scored on a connection from sophomore quarterback Eric Rodriguez to junior running back Julian Amaya for 36 yards to close out the half.

“We started off a little slow in the first quarter, but we started picking back up. We started picking up on some of their tendencies and some of their strong points. And once we started doing that, we're able to start gassing. We have certain sets that we really like,” Kirby said.

The Mustangs quickly responded in the second half with a 10-yard touchdown by senior running back Aiden Flores from a 12-play, five-minute drive.

The crowd from Mustang nation stayed in the game and the players kept their composure despite trailing all the game.

“I'm just real proud of the fact that these guys didn't let up. Usually going into halftime with a big deficit, sometimes guys just start to quit. And we definitely fixed some things from last week [against Luling], and they showed it tonight, so I'm proud of it for that.” Kirby said.

The defense held Three River’s offense to zero points in the second half; senior defensive back Tristen Mikesh and sophomore defensive back Jaydin Munoz each recorded an interception on Bulldog quarterback Cody Sells.

“Defense went out there and busted their tail enough, and we're so proud of them of that, because we knew what they wanted to do, scrambling on that quarterback really good. He has a strong arm, and we were able to get into our coverages that we should have been in from the beginning, and we started fixing some things. So the fact that they're able to learn and fix and adjust, that's a huge, huge success on their part.”

The Mustangs will go back on the road Friday, Sept. 13 against the Flatonia Bulldogs, who fell to the Sacred Heart Indians, 21-20, last Friday night.

“We're going to fix some mistakes, some execution errors that we had on offense and on defense. You know, from the little film we already saw on Flatonia, they're a well-coached program. They’ve got some good kids over there, some good athletes. And frankly, we're not worried about anybody. We're worried about ourselves more than anything; we're gonna continue to grow as a team and as Mustangs, because it takes all to go after a team like, that so we're excited to get better next week.” Kirby said.

The Mustangs dropped to 0-2 in their 30-22 loss to Three Rivers.

The Flatonia game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

--STATS--

OFFENSE:

Passing:

E. Rodriguez: 3/5 completions for 70 yards for one touchdown and two interceptions

Rushing:

A. Flores: 14 carries for 88 yards and one touchdown.

E. Rodriguez: nine carries for 48 yards

Garet Rodriguez: eight carries for 38 yards and one touchdown

Receiving:

J. Amaya: one reception for 36 yards and one touchdown

T. Mikesh: one reception for 28 yards

A. Flores: one reception for six yards

DEFENSE:

Total Tackles:

Karson Rhodes: 11 total tackles

Davian Ramos: 10 total tackles

Khali Jantes: eight total tackles

Ryan Paez: seven total tackles

Nicholas Martinez and Jaylun Rodriguez: six total tackles

Jaydin Munoz, A Flores and John Garza: four total tackles

J. Amaya and Adrian Zamora: three total tackles

Mystik, G. Gonzales, and Alan Espino: one total tackle

Tackles for loss:

D. Ramos: two tackles for a loss

K. Rhodes and R. Paez: one tackle for a loss

Sacks:

R. Paez and D. Ramos: one sack

A. Espino: 0.5 sack

Interceptions:

T. Mikesh and J. Munoz: one interception