Calallen defense shuts down Alice for win

Wildcats pitch shutout in second half

ALICE - The Calallen defense gave up almost 300 yards in the first half against Alice. Then after halftime, the Wildcats turned it around in shutting out the Coyotes in a 43-22 win Friday.

“We had to make some changes,” Calallen coach Phil Danaher said. “We caught on to their rhythm and their speed. Our kids stepped up and played a lot better in the second half. Alice has a good football team and an explosive offense. To shut them out in the second half is an accomplishment for our defense.”

The game was tied heading into the third quarter before the Wildcats put up three rushing touchdown in the second half.

“That was really a perfect second half of football they played in the second half,” Alice coach Chris Soza said. “They didn’t make any mistakes, didn’t turn the ball over and we didn’t get any breaks.”

The Coyotes threw two interceptions in the second half, the first leading to Calallen’s go-ahead score in a Buddy Wright 1-yard run.

Calallen earned a share of the district 31-4A title with the win. The Wildcats can win the district outright with a win next week over Ray.

Alice can get a share of the championship if Ray beats Calallen and the Coyotes pick up a win over Kingsville.

The first half came as advertised, with the teams answering each other’s big plays in battling to the halftime tie.

The Coyotes controlled the ball much of the half, running 37 offensive plays to the Wildcats’ 16. Alice almost doubled Calallen’s yardage, 283 to 146 in the first two quarters.

“We didn’t get a whole lot of offense in the first half,” Danaher said. “We couldn’t get in rhythm.”

Alice opened up the scoring with a long scoring drive that took more than half of the first quarter and was capped by a Mikey Lopez 8-yard run for the 7-0 lead.

Seconds later, Calallen tied the score on an Avery Cortez 81-yard kickoff return down the sideline to tie the game.

“They got the big special-teams plays today,” Soza said.

The Coyotes did not panic and answered right back with a Steve Villarreal score from one yard out to go back up 14-7.

However, the Wildcats came back with a one-yard touchdown of their own from Given McClure. Calallen missed the extra-point attempt, and Alice kept a one-point lead.

The Wildcats were able to get their first lead of the night, 16-14, on a Tyler Kirksmith 33-yard field goal halfway through the second quarter.

The score was really a success for the Coyote defense because Calallen started the drive at the Alice 26-yard line.

The two teams then exchanged long scoring runs for their final scores of the half.

Lucas Almaraz ran for 53 yards and a two-point conversion for Alice while Calallen had Marcus Price go for 51. The Wildcats again missed the extra point on their score to keep the game deadlocked.

Calallen 13 9 7 14—43

Alice 14 8 0 0—22

A Mikey Lopez 8 run (Alex Castillo kick)

C Avery Cortez 81 kick return (Tyler Kirksmith kick)

A Steve Villarreal 1 run (Castillo kick)

C Given McClure 1 run (kick failed)

C Kirksmith 33 field goal

A Lucas Almaraz 53 run (Almaraz run)

C Marcus Price 51 run (kick failed)

C Buddy Wright 1 run (Kirksmith kick)

C Wright 2 run (Kirksmith kick)

C Tanner Sparks 1 run (Kirksmith kick)



First Downs 9 16

Rushes-Yds. 33-186 31-144

Passing 11-13-0 16-27-2

Yards Passing 107 190

Punts-Avg. 1-35.0 3-29.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-0

Penalties-Yards 4-39 7-50


RUSHING C, Given McClure 4-56, TD; Marcus Price 3-54, TD; Tanner Sparks 16-56, TD; Buddy Wright 10-20, 2 TD; A, Lucas Almaraz 2-54, TD; Miguel Avila 2-(-2); Mikey Lopez 7-5; Alex Ponce 5-(-19); Steve Villarreal 15-106, TD

PASSING C, Sparks 11-13, 107; A, Avila 10-18, 75, INT; Ponce 6-9, 115, INT

RECEIVING C, Nick Ginn 3-32; McClure 2-15; Price 2-17; Hayden Woods 2-29; Wright 1-44; A, Jaime Acuna 2-36; Almaraz 1-26; Robert Castillo 1-7; Lopez 4-32; A.J. Perez 4-32; Villarreal 4-57

This Week's Events