Mustangs roll past Natalia for first district win

The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs returned home for a district game against Natalia Friday, Oct. 11.

The Mustangs earned their first district win by beating Natalia, 45-20.

The Nixon-Smiley defense shut out Natalia’s offense in the first half.

“We’ve got some bad dudes on the line. We just give it our all. We're tough. We're the toughest team in our district. I feel like we could take it all the way,” sophomore defensive Jaylun Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez was one of five Mustangs that recorded double-digit tackles; the defense recorded 103 total tackles against Natalia.

Senior linebacker John Garza recorded 10 tackles in the win over Natalia and he was thrilled that his defense played great.

“We did pretty good on defense. We shut them out at first in the first half; we didn't let them score at all. The next time they scored about 20, but we still did good. We did our job,” Garza said.

The offense scored six total touchdowns: four rushing and two passing.

Sophomore running back Garet Gonzales rushed for 98 yards on 10 carries and scored three touchdowns; two from the ground and one from the air.

Gonzales gave credit to his offensive line for his performance against Natalia

“I've said before in Flatonia we had a great line, and I still think we’ve still got the best back room in the district. You know, we went to Poth last week, and might not have got the win, but we had some good yardage all around. And I just want to thank my line for that,” Gonzales said

Mustangs quarterback Eric Rodriguez completed three out of four passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns.

“We executed their practice. It was the most focused practice of the week. We just executed first. The first half was rough. It was only 16-0, which could have been way more, but we came out for the second half ready to play,” Rodriguez said.

Mustangs head coach Paul Kirby was proud of how his team performed against Natalia.

“We executed accordingly. We did exactly we wanted to do, offensively and defensively. They had some parts from Natalia that scared us a little bit, and we’ve got some guys playing in different positions, and they stepped up for us. It was really good to see that again, this team's really smart, and they are able to adjust well for us anytime we ask,” Kirby said.

The Mustangs will go on the road Friday, Oct. 18 against the YMLA Lions at Alamo Stadium.

“It's a week by week thing, and we've talked about this with them. We've kind of mapped it out, the road to victory, the road to season three, and it's one week at a time. We know how athletic YMLA is. We know. I know that Coach Green over there was a heck of a ball player in his day. We actually played against each other in high school. I don't know if he knows that, but we're expecting a tough ball game with them,” Kirby said.

Kick off against YMLA is set for 7 p.m.

--STATS--

OFFENSE:

Passing:

E. Rodriguez: 3 / 4 completions for 53 yards and two touchdowns

Rushing:

G. Gonzales: 10 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns

Khali Jantes: three carries for 59 yards

Joe White: 11 carries for 55 yards and one touchdown

Juliana Amaya: 10 carries for 30 yards and one touchdown

E. Rodriguez: three carries for 11 yards

Tristen Mikesh: one carry for 11 yards

J. Garza: two carries for six yards

Noe Hernandez: one carry for two yards

Reception:

G. Gonzales: one reception for 32 yards and one touchdown

T. Mikesh: one reception for 21 yards and one touchdown

DEFENSE:

Tackles:

Ryan Paez and Timothy McGlothine: 12 total tackles

J. Rodriguez: 11 total tackles

J. Garza and Jaydin Munoz: 10 total tackles

Davian Ramos: nine total tackles

K. Jantes: seven total tackles

J. Amaya: six total tackles

N. Hernandez: five total tackles

E. Rodriguez, Nicholas Martinez and Karson Rhodes: four total tackles

Adrian Zamora: three total tackles

T. Mikesh and Henry Benavidez: two total tackles

Jose Olvera and Tyler Barrientez: one total tackle

Sack: R. Paez and J. Rodriguez: 0.5 sacks

QB Hurries:

R. Paez: three QB hurries

D. Ramos, J. Garza, and J. Rodriguez: two QB hurries

N. Hernandez, J. Amaya and T. McGlothine one QB hurry

Interceptions:

J. White and J. Garza: one interception

Cause Fumble:

T. McGlothine: one cause fumbe

Fumble Recovers:

D. Ramos and K. Jantes: one fumble recover

Tackles for loss:

J. Rodriguez: two tackles for losses

J. Amaya and R. Paez: one tackle for loss