Jack Lane Stadium was packed last Friday night for a showdown between the state ranked Poth Pirates and Natalia Mustangs for what was expected to be a close battle for the district title. Poth came out and did what Poth normally does. They execute on offense and make your defense look worse than it truly is, they find a way to create turnovers and they take advantage of your miscues. As a result, the Pirates were able to hold Natalia scoreless in the first half for the first time this season, en route to a 42-13 victory over the Mustangs.
“Obviously I am disappointed in the outcome of the game,” Coach Ilyan Martinez said. “Poth is a good football team and when you make as many mistakes as we did, that is the outcome. We know we can’t play that way and be successful and we have together better across the board.”
The two big stats that stood out and told the story were the fact Natalia had 3 turnovers and missed 27 tackles on the night.
Things did not start off well for the Mustangs, as they had a 15-yard penalty called against them on the kickoff which started them behind the chains. On play #1, an additional 5-yard penalty put the boys in blue even further behind the chains. This was the type of first half Natalia would experience, as nothing went right offensively.
After stalling out on their first drive, Natalia punted from their own endzone and didn’t get a great punt off as Poth got the ball in great field position on Natalia’s side of the field. Poth needed just one play to strike, as Zane Raabe broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run with 10:39 to go in the 1st quarter of action.
Natalia made some adjustments on defense, but their offense was unable to produce much success in the first half of play.
Poth added their only other first half touchdown with 8:38 to go in the 1st half, on a Matthew Bunn 2-yard drive. Following the PAT, the Pirates led 14-0 and this is how it stood at the half.
Poth came out in the 3rd quarter and took up where the left off. They added two additional touchdowns in the quarter, thanks to a Judge Jorge QB run with 8:28 to go in the 3rd along with a pick-6 by Matthew Bunn. This allowed the home squad to take a commanding 28-0 lead vs. Natalia.
The Mustangs finally got on the board late in the 3rd quarter, as Ryan Rizo found David Silva on a 32-yard strike. The PAT was good, bringing the score to 28-7 with 2:30 to go in the 3rd quarter.
The Natalia defense rose to the occasion and got a stop, giving their offense back the ball as Natalia scored again to start the 4th quarter on a Rizo pass to Adrian Vasquez. This brought the score to 28-13, but this is as close as Natalia would get.
Poth scored on the ensuing drive as QB George scored again with 9:19 to go in the game. Poth capped the game off putting Natalia away, scoring on a 65-yard Jaeden Fangman run with 8:13 to go in the game giving the Pirates all they needed for a 42-13 dominating win vs. Natalia.
“We knew coming in how good their defense was and we expected it to be a defensive battle,” Coach Martinez said. “What we didn’t account for, was the penalties and playing behind the chains early. We punted from our endzone twice at the beginning of the game and that created short fields for Poth for most of the first half.”
Turnovers shift games
As mentioned, prior to the Poth game, Natalia had four turnovers all season. Against the Pirates, Natalia had one fumble and two interceptions.
“Up until Friday, we had done a really good job of taking care of the ball and the turnovers were uncharacteristic of our offense,” Martinez said. “I feel like a lot of that was us pressing and trying to make plays to give us a spark and it resulted in turnovers. These are all things that can be corrected.”
Final #s
The Poth Pirates finished with 339 yards of offense on 44 plays for an average of 7.7 yards per play. This included just 7 yards passing and 332 yards rushing on 39 rushing attempts. Poth did have one turnover and finished with 14 1st downs. George was 2-5-7 passing, as he led on the ground with 13-142-2TDs. Fangman was 3-73-1TD and Raabe 12-63-1TD.
For Natalia, they accounted for256 yards of offense on 62 plays for an average of 4.1 yards per play. Natalia’s Rizo finished 9-20-2TDs-2INTs on the night for 82 yards. Natalia had 174 yards rushing on 42 attempts with 15 1st downs. Adrian Vasquez led rushing for Natalia 14-60 as Luis Buentello had 9-54 and Elijah Banda 6-47. Vasquez had 2 receptions for 35-1TD as Silva had 3-34-1TD.
Defensive Stat Leaders
Assists- Manuel Garcia 7, Devi Perez 4, E. Banda 3, Gabriel Perez 3. Solo Tackles- Christopher Saldana 6, G. Perez 6, A. Vasquez 4. Caused a Fumble- D. Perez 1, Recovered 1.
Final home game: Natalia is Playoff Bound!
The Natalia Mustangs are playoff bound for the 4th time in the past five seasons. With Nixon-Smiley’s upset vs. Karnes City, Natalia has secured 2nd place in district no matter the outcome between Natalia and KC on Friday. Natalia will have their season finale at home Friday as KC comes to town for a 7:30 p.m. battle. Come out and support the boys in blue. See the preview story for more details on this game.
By Eric Smith
Staff Writer