Natalia focused on finishing non-district strong vs Poteet

Photo by Joe David Cordova, courtesy The Pleasanton Express.

Click here for photos of the Mustangs’ win over Jourdanton!

Coming off a huge emotional road victory in Jourdanton, the Natalia Mustangs (2-2) will welcome the Poteet Aggies (0-3) to town for Homecoming 2018. Just as the Mustangs pitched an upset win on Jourdanton’s Homecoming, the boys in blue are focused and determined to not allow the same to happen on their home turf versus the Aggies.
“Poteet is a lot better than their records reflect,” Coach Ilyan Martinez said. “Watching tape, they have had their opportunities to put some points up, but have missed the mark in many games.”
The Poteet Aggies are under the direction of a new Head Coach Darby House who came from Somerville (New Superintendent Charles Camarillo also came from Somerville).
The Aggies are off to a 0-3 start, as they dropped their season opener to neighboring rival Jourdanton 29-0, talented Cole 50-7 and fell last week to St. Mary’s Hall 28-19.
“Poteet is going to be big and physical up front and we will have to be sound and execute our game plan to beat them,” Martinez said. “They always have hardnosed kids who play hard all game. I don’t expect this to be anything less than a very physical game.”
Offensively, the Aggies will run their offense out of the spread led by senior QB Daryn Garza.
“Their QB is the beat of their offense,” Martinez said. “Everything flows through him. He runs the ball hard and can throw it too, so we will have to be ready for the physicality on the front end to make sure we take the pass away on the back-end.”
Other stand-outs include junior RB Eric Trevino who also will go out wide. One other go to man on offense is Luis Guzman.
Defensively, the Aggies base out of a 4-3 cover 3.
“They are physical up front and get off the ball well,” Martinez said. “We will have our hands full blocking their D-line. In the back end, they run multiple coverage’s and try to give different looks. We will have to be very sound in our game plan and take care of the football.”
Defensively, stand-outs include Senior Nose-guard Michael Gomez, senior Tackles Joseph Pena and freshman linebacker Julian Moya.
“We need to continue to improve what we do,” Coach Martinez said. “Coach House and his staff have his kids playing well and they are getting better each week. They have had to overcome some adversity and that is never easy. I know they will be ready for a physical game and I look forward to the opportunity to see our team grow.”
Match-ups in previous years
Over the last four seasons, the Mustangs and Aggies are tied with two wins each. Natalia won the 2017 meeting 24-21. Poteet won the 2016 meeting 36-6 and the 2015 meeting 40-6. Natalia won the 2014 meeting 46-6, so something has to give to break the most recent series which is tied two wins each.
Prior to the start of the game, the club representatives will have their pre-game ceremonies for Homecoming 2018. The Homecoming Court will be during half-time and the Natalia band will perform following the game.
The Homecoming Parade will be held this Wednesday beginning at 5:30 p.m. Following the conclusion of the parade, there will be a community pep-rally in the NHS Gym following the parade. The entire community is invited to come out and cheer on the boys and girls in blue and white, then head over to the NJH Parking lot for a tail-gate party.
The kick-off is Friday night at 7:30 p.m. versus the Poteet Aggies. Come out, wear blue and make Mustang Stadium a TRUE home-field advantage. Remember when the Stangs are on DEFENSE, it is time to make some noise! Go Blue! #TTP #ChampionshipCulture
By Eric Smith