Category: Natalia Mustangs & Lady Mustangs

Eric Smith
The Natalia Mustangs(1-4, 0-2) suffered a tough Homecoming loss last Friday night at the hands of the Karnes City Badgers (4-1, 1-1). Three Natalia turnovers combined with missed tackles, injuries and an explosive KC offense resulted in a 50-14 Badger victory. In the end, this continues to be a work in progress for a group of youthful, hard working young men and a 1st year staff in Natalia.
“We did not make enough plays on offense early in the game to keep us in it,” Natalia Head Coach Jason Reynolds said. “We have to do a better job of playing complimentary football against good teams like KC.”
The Badgers may have been picked dead-last by Dave Campbell Texas Football, but they came out playing like a top-3 district teams last Friday in Natalia. They showcased a beefy line with a lot of talent in the back-field and a stringy defense that did not make a lot of mistakes.
Natalia struggled to establish their line of scrimmage offensively as starting QB Leo Cortinas came back from injury. Unfortunately, he went back down with a tweak to his injury resulting in back-up QB Mason Giera coming in. 
Giera had a number of bright spots with success thru the air…

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Eric Smith-Staff Writer
The Dilley wolves used a huge second half push to run past Natalia in the 15-3A (Div.II) opener last Friday night in Frio County 64-19. Natalia trailed the Wolves just 20-13 at the half, after showing promise in the first half. “After a good job of responding in the first half with a late touchdown to cut the deficit, we had too many mistakes and turnovers in the second half and the game got away from us,” Coach Jason Reynolds said.
It was a competitive first quarter of action at Gosch Field, as the Wolves struck first on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Rodriguez to Jacob Lopez. This allowed Dilley to take a 7-0 lead following a PAT by Santiago Cruz.
The Mustangs were able to strike back before the end of the quarter, as Zach Peralta capped off a nice Natalia drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown. Juan Gonzales put the PAT up and through allowing for a tied game 7-7.
Dilley was able to strike with two touchdowns in a row including on following a turnover. One was a 13-yard Bubba Reyes run and one was a 20-yard Rodriguez pass to Isaiah Lamber allowing for a 20-7 lead.
Natalia was able to strike right before half on a Peralta touchdown getting the Stangs within 20-13 at the half. This is as close as the game would be.
Dilley outscored Natalia 18-6 in the 3rd quarter and 26-0 in the 4th quarter courtesy of a potent rushing attack and a slew of Natalia turnovers thru the air and on the ground.
Natalia’s 3rd quarter touchdown was thanks to a nice Mason Giera pass down the visitor sideline to…

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The Natalia Lady Mustang volleyball team will host Hondo this Friday in Natalia at 5:00 p.m.
They opened district last week in Crystal City with a close four game match. They were shy of the first game win at 23-25. Second game ended at 15-25. Bounced back to take the third game 25-21. Fourth game ended 19-25 with Crystal City taking the win 3-1 overall.
Abigail Fulton- 1 kill, 1 ace, 6 points, 21 digs, 4 assist, 33 serve receive.
Anaya Jones- 22 kills, 4 points, 2 blocks, 30 digs, 1 assists, 10 serve receive
Marissa Castro- 1 points, 1 digs,1 serve receive
Kira Jimenez- 1 dig, 1 serve receive
Yahdi Lujan- 9 digs, 1 assists, 18 serve receive.
Abriella Garza-…

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lleyball team and John Paul IIs team worked hard for the win during four tough games. Natalia won the match overall by taking the last three games, 25-22, 25-18 and 25-18. They were edged out of the first game 21-25 but worked it out and took the last three for the overall win.
Natalia Lady Mustang Coach Tara Cortinas said, “They adjusted well. I’m incredibly proud of the girls for their hard work and perseverance. It’s what got us the win.”
Abigail Fulton- 1 kill, 1 ace, 6 points, 17 digs, 15 assist, 18 serve receive.
Anaya Jones- 19 kills, 4 points, 3 blocks, 14 digs…

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Eric Smith
Staff Writer
The Natalia Mustangs used an impressive rushing game (36-rushes-325 yards) to overall dominate the flow of the game in their season opener last Friday on the road vs. the Skidmore-Tynan Bobcats. Natalia was led by Sophomore QB Leo Buentello, who rushed 17 times for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
“I was really happy with how our kids competed for four quarters,” Coach Jason Reynolds said. “Our coaching staff did a great job making adjustments and our kids executed. It feels good to get the first win of the season, but we have a lot to clean up.”
The Mustangs opened the game with an impressive scoring drive, as they marched 71 yards down field with a heavy dose of…

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Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Natalia got their 2024 season underway as the Mustangs ran in the Badger Cross Country Invitational this past Saturday.
Sebastian Soto led his squad by placing 39th with a time of 17:27. Juan Gonzales was next in for Natalia in 60th place and crossing the line at the 18:33 mark.
Denton Nelson placed 70th in the field of 87 coming in at 19:46 followed by Jacob Banda who placed 85th with a time of 22:57.
Natalia makes the short trip to Castroville this Saturday to participate in the Panther Invitational.