Eric Smith
Staff Writer
The Lytle Pirates continued to make recent history, as they defeated the West Campus Cougars (1-2) 33-0 to improve to 3-0 on the season as they prepare for a big rivalry this Friday vs. Natalia. Coach Mike Trevino continued to praise his squad for their efforts and continued improvement and execution.
“We will celebrate every victory,” Coach Mike Trevino said. “West Campus gave us all we could handle as they are well coached and played hard. We were able to start the game fast paced with an opening drive touchdown and that paced us.”
Lytle did open the game with a nice drive as mentioned, which lasted almost 10 minutes and concluded with a 3 yard touchdown run by Chase Guevara with 5:37 to go in the 1st quarter of action. The PAT failed, but the Pirates held an early 6-0 lead.
The black and gold were able to hold WC on their ensuing drive and get the ball back before executing once again in the 2nd quarter. This 2nd Q touchdown came from QB Drew Gonzales, a 5’11” senior QB who scored on a 10 yard run with 11:50 to go in the 2nd quarter. This time, the two point try failed, as the Lytle lead was improved to 12-0. This lead would stand at the half, as the remainder of the 2nd quarter was a bit sluggish on both sides offensively.
“We stalled out a bit in the 2nd and 3rd quarter offensively,” Trevino said. “We were able to finish the 4th quarter with two final touchdowns to seal their 3rd straight win.”
4th quarter scores came as Jair Flores caught a 9 yard pass from Gonzales with 7:44 to go in the game followed by a Weston Jackson 4 yard run. On the final TD by Jackson, he also found the endzone on the 2 point try, fueling the Pirates to their 33-0 victory.
“Both QB’s (Toby Davila and Drew Gonzales) played very well,’’ Trevino said. “They each found a rhythm and contributed heavily to our 300+ yards total offensive night.”
According to Trevino, Guevara, an outside WR also had a solid night and had some explosive plays that allowed them to capitalize on one TD score and one rushing TD.
Final Offensive Numbers
Lytle had their best night offensively vs. the Cougars. Lytle ran 65 plays for 380 yards of offense which included 144 passing and 236 rushing yards. Lytle also had an impressive 16 1st downs and just one turnover (interception).
Davila finished 3-10-42-1INT. Gonzales finished 6-7-112-2TDs. Gonzales also led the rushing category with 18 attempts for 107 yards and 1 TD followed by Lindsay who had 2-62 yards and Davila next 12-33 yards. Flores led in receiving, as he went 3-56-1TD as Guevara had 3-47 and Inming 2-26.
Defense impresses again
The Lytle Pirate defense continued to impress on the defensive side of the ball. Lytle held a third straight offense scoreless and Coach Trevino was proud of the efforts.
“Once again we held our opponent scoreless and this time, less than 100 yards of offense,” Trevino said. “We are playing relentless defensive football and we were able to apply pressure throughout the game and as a unit. There were a lot of positives with some back-ups that were able to get into the game.
According to Trevino, his defensive linemen and linebackers continue to dominate. “With a strong group and good rotation throughout the game, it has allowed our boys to be successful.”
Lytle held the Cougars to 39 plays with 61 total yards of offense. What’s impressive here was the fact they held WC to a -negative 19 yards rushing and just 80 yards passing. WC was also 0-8 on 3rd downs and 1-3 on 4th down. Lytle also forced two fumbles and one interception which always helps your chances of success.
Lytle happy to be 3-0, but on to the next
“We have continued to run our race,” Trevino said. “We preach having a windshield mentality in our program and that means what’s next. We focus on what’s in front of us and we try to find ways to illustrate and demonstrate that within our program.”
Rival Natalia next
Speaking of “What’s next”. Lytle (3-0) will prepare for a frustrated and hungry rival Natalia (0-3) squad who has battled three tough opponents in a row and have shown improvements each week. Natalia has won eight straight vs. the Black and Gold. See the Legacy Bowl Preview to see what Lytle Head Coach Mike Trevino and Natalia Head Coach Ilyan Martinez had to say about the big game, which happens to also be the Natalia Homecoming for 2023.
Expect the Black and Gold to “Dig Deep” this week in practice as they look to try and break the drought vs. the Mustangs this Friday at Mustang Stadium.