Mavericks-Central Catholic Football Game Report: Fri. Sept. 23, 2016

C.C. WINN MAVERICKS FOOTBALL GRIDIRON NEWS

Mavericks rumble over

Central Catholic Buttons 27 to 14

Best Start in School History

By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central

“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”

Coming off their dominating victory over the Mission Eagles last Friday night, the C.C. Winn Mavericks varsity football team under the direction of head football coach Eric Villasenor culminated their non-district portion of their schedule on Friday, September 23, 2016 when they hosted the perennially tough San Antonio Central Catholic Buttons in a 7:30 PM non-district gridiron encounter at the Cozel Foster-Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Central Catholic Buttons came into this game sporting an overall season record of 2-2 while the home standing Mavericks ventured in with a 3-1 mark. The home standing Mavericks scored by land and through the airway to defeat the visiting Buttons 27 to 14. Improve season record to 4-1 Best start in their 11 year history!

The visiting Central Catholic Buttons received the game’s opening kick and after minimal gain were forced to punt. However during the punt put the Mavericks were penalized for roughing the punter so the drive continued with the Buttons driving close to the red zone but the Mavericks defense gave the loyal Mavericks Nation in attendance a preview of coming attractions as they held their ground and forced the Buttons to turn the ball over on downs at the C.C. Winn 25 yard line.

The Mavericks offense took over but they too had minimal gain and were forced to punt. The Mavericks attempted a fake punt but came out just short of picking up the first down so the Buttons took over at the Mavericks 26 yard line. Once again the Mavericks’ defense flexed their might holding fast and forcing the Buttons to attempt a 31 yard field that was no good.

The Mavericks offense went back to work from their own 25 yard line and methodically marched down the field with a 10 play 75 yard scoring drive with 8 rushing plays and 2 passing plays. The Mavericks two big plays during their first scoring drive were a 20 yard gain by running back Danny Rios and the other being a 33 yard completion from quarterback Julio Ruiz to tight end Jose Rodriguez. The scoring drive concluded with a 14 yard touchdown pass from Julio Ruiz to Jose Rodriguez who was wide open in the right flat with 2:34 showing on the first quarter clock. Mavericks’ placekicker Christian Rodriguez converted the point after to give the Mavericks the early 7 to 0 lead over the Buttons,

Supported by their ever present and loyal Mavericks Nation who game in and game out truly come out to support their beloved Mavericks win, lose, or draw, inspired the Mavericks hard hitting and swarming defense to nullify almost every Buttons offensive series throughout the first half of play. Carlos Tijerina, Enrique Garza, Jacob Guerra, Victor Olguin, Ernesto Villasenor, Alberto Duran Rene Auces, Rey Vasquez, Alex De Jesus, Alonso Vallejo and company completely stunned the visiting Buttons as they held the City of San Antonio’s 5^th leading rusher to only 48 yards rushing during the first half of play with a very aggressive team oriented defensive scheme.

The only success or the Buttons in the first half came in the middle of the second quarter when they executed a 52 yard scoring drive capped off with a 2 yard plunge to pay dirt by Austin Vargas with 7:58 left in the first half. Franco Querido tacked on the game tying extra point.

The Mavericks countered with a well orchestrated 66 yard scoring drive with time winding down on the first half mixing the running game with their aerial game. The Mavericks culminated the drive with a near perfect 20 yard touchdown pass from Julio Ruiz to wide receiver Ruben Esquivel who made a sensational catch in the end zone with a defender draped all over him with only 12 seconds left before halftime. The extra point snap was muffed but the Mavericks took the 13 to 7 lead into their halftime locker room.

During the halftime break the Thundering Maverick Band and the new Internet sensation Silverline Dance Team put on another rousing performance with their rendition of Footloose which brought the partisan Mavericks Crowd to their feet with a loud approval.

The third quarter of this game proved to be a defensive struggle with the Mavericks defense continuing to showcase their strength and aggressiveness as they made a sensational goal line stand at the 16 yard line where they forced a fumble recovered by the Mavericks linebacker Ernesto Villasenor.

The Mavericks offense continued to tote the pigskin down the field by land and air thanks to in part to the excellent blocking of the Mavericks unsung heroes the offensive line of Emmanuel Orta, Luz Garcia, Sebastian Lopez, Jaime Fuentes and Mario Elizondo who provided great pass protection and blocking to turn their running backs loose all game long. Early in the fourth quarter the Mavericks manufactured a 46 yard scoring drive punctuated with a brilliant 31 yard sprint to pay dirt by quarterback Julio Ruiz right through the throat of the Buttons defense with 11:02 showing on the fourth quarter clock. Christian Rodriguez added the point after to give the Mavericks a 29 to 7 lead,

On the ensuing kickoff the Mavericks special teams made their presence known as they forced a fumble which was recovered by Miguel De Los Santos at the Central Catholic 39yard line.

The Mavericks quickly capitalized on the turn over with a 33 yard touchdown pass from Julio Ruiz to Ruben Esquivel with 8:02 left in the game. Norberto Barragan split the uprights with the point after to extend the Mavericks lead to a comfortable 27 to 7 lead.

Late in the game the Mavericks once again put up a magnificent goal line stand at the C,C. Winn 6 yard line where they forced the Buttons to turn the ball over on downs, The Mavericks offense immediately went to work on getting the ball out of their own shadow of the goal post but unfortunately the Mavericks fumbled the ball away right back at their 35 yard line which gave Central Catholic one final opportunity to add another potential score.

The Buttons took advantage of the turnover moving inside the red zone and finally converting on a fourth and goal with a 4 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Julian Oviedo to slot back Austin Vargas with only 12 seconds left in the game, Franco Querido converted the final pint of the game but the mighty C.C. Winn Mavericks came away with a well earned 27 to 14 victory to improve their season record to 4-1 which is the best start for the Mavericks in school history. 

Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the mighty Mavericks on their convincing victory over the Central Catholic Buttons in a game in which the Mavericks offense, defense as well as their Special Teams each contributed towards the victory.

The Mavericks have an Open date next week but will return to action on Friday, October 7, 2016 with a road trip to San Antonio, Texas to kickoff their quest for the 2016 District 29-5A football crown with a 7:30 PM matchup against the McCollum Cowboys at the famed Harlandale Memorial Stadium located at 4002 Roosevelt Ave. Eagle Pass Sports Central invites the entire community of Eagle Pass, Texas as well as all former Eagle Pass alumni in and around the greater San Antonio area to go and support the mighty Mavericks.

OFFICIAL INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATS:

MAVERICKS OPPONENT

 First Downs 12 18

 Att./ Yds. Rushing 35/178 37/140

 Yards Passing 187 209

Total Yards 365 349

 Pass att./comp./int’s 9/15/1 21/33/0

 Return Yards 32 24

 Punts /Avg. 3/36.03 3/30.0

 Fumbles/Lost 1/1 3/2

 Penalties/Yards 6/65 8/70

OFFICIAL INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATS:

 PASSING

 #8 Julio Ruiz 9 comp. 15 att. 1 int.. 187 yards 2 TD’s

 RUSHING:

#7 Ruben Esquivel 2 att. 18 yds..

 #8 Julio Ruiz 14 att. 71 yds. 1TD.

 #11 Alfonso Cardona 1 att. 2 yds.

 #21 Danny Rios 15 att. 80 yds.

 #22 Omar Hinojosa 3 att. 7 yds.

RECEIVING:

 #7 Ruben Esquivel 2 rec. 53 yds 2TD’s.

 #11 Alfonso Cardona 1 rec. 45 yds.

 #21 Danny Rios 2 rec. 6 yds…

 #82 Jose Rodriguez 3 rec. 78 yds. 1TD

OFFICIAL INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATS:

#32 Ernesto Villasenor 9 solo 5 assists 1 fumble recovery 1 QB Sack

 #23 Alonso Valleo 8 solo 2 assists

 #30 Rey Vasquez 8 solo 2 assists

 #31 Rene Auces 6 solo 2 assists

 #20 Alex De Jesus 5 solo

 #42 Alberto Duran 5 solo 4 assists 3 tackles for a loss

 #28 Raul Gomez 4 solo 1 assist

 #76 Carlos Tijerina 4 solo 5 assists 4 tackles for a loss

 #92 Jacob Guerra 4 solo 3 assists 2 tackles for a loss

 #65 Victor Olguin3 solo 4 assists 2 tackles for a loss

 #2 Brandon Wheeler 1 assist