The Natalia Mustangs (8-3) will battle the Riesel Indians(6-4) in the Class 3A, Div.II Area Playoffs Friday Night at P-Field in Pflugerville. The Mustangs are coming off a solid 35-7 win over the Taft Greyhounds, as the Indians are coming off a 21-12 up-set win vs. the District 14-3A Champion Van Vleck Leopards. Natalia is looking to advance to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since the 1983 Natalia Mustangs.
“We are really excited about the opportunity at hand and we are hoping Mustang Nation will make the trip to P-Field to cheer us on Friday night,” Natalia Head Coach Ilyan Martinez said.
Riesel Indian Outlook
The Riesel Indians are back in the 3A playoffs for the first time in two seasons as they finished in 4th place in a very tough District 13-3A. The Indians enter the battle Friday 6-4 on the season and have the following results: beat Marlin 17-6, beat Hamilton 28-12, lost to Bosqueville 40-12, beat Clifton 25-21, lost to #1 Franklin 75-13, lost to state ranked Lexington 69-24, lost to Rogers 47-13, beat Florence 49-10, beat Buffalo 49-19 and beat Van Vleck in Bi-District as mentioned 21-12.
“Riesel is a big physical football team,” Martinez said. “They play power football and grind their opponents down. They are a ground and pound team who like to control the clock. They are going to use their size and strength to control the game on both sides of the ball.”
What do the Indians run offensively?
“Offensively they are a power-run team,” Martinez said. “They run multiple tight-end sets to run off tackle. They have a big offensive line and they’ll run right at you. They grind their opponents and the clock. They do a great job of keeping drives alive. It will be important to get them behind the chains early and put them in some long down and distance situations. Their offensive line is the biggest we’ve seen all year and they come off the ball and create a lot of movement upfront. #75 Kolt Dieterich is the tone setter up front. #12 Dakota Davis is their primary QB but will play TE/WR/RB and does a great job wherever they put him. #2 Kyson Dieterich is their running back and standing at 6’4” 230lb he is going to be tough to bring down.
“Defensivley, they will play 4-2 Cover 3 defense with the ability to jump into a 46 Bear defense with man to man behind it. Again everything starts with their front. #55 Wyatt Drews DT is the anchor of that line and does a great job of making things tough on offenses. #75 Kolt Dieterich also plays DT and we will have to send a lot of guys at him to occupy him.”
Natalia Mustang Outlook
The biggest key to Natalia’s success last week was a three phase successful approach. First and foremost, they jumped on the Greyhounds and got the offense rolling early and often. Secondly, Natalia tackled and head hunted every Hound that had the football putting a number of helmets on each of the players each and every time. Thirdly, Natalia didn’t make a ton of mental mistakes and also didn’t play behind the chains all that often.
Friday night, Riesel will be the biggest football team on the field and they are coming off a very emotional win vs. a team most in the state didn’t think they would beat. This will be a game of who wins the battle up front and who gets off to a better start.
“We are going to have to find ways to get stops defensively and create extra possessions,” Martinez said. “They have the ability to grind the clock down and put you in a position where you are having to chase all night. Offensively we will have to be very efficient with our possessions because we don’t know when we’ll get the ball back.”
Tackling will be very key, as Riesel will have the size advantage. As you can see from some of the scores though, their defense definitely is not a lights-out defense and Natalia will need to find a way to keep the field spread out vs. the Tribe.
Kickoff is set
Your Natalia Mustangs are hoping you will come out in full-force Friday night to Pflugerville and support them in their quest to advance to the third round for the first time since 1983. In 1983, Natalia was able to defeat Blanco 35-7 in the Bi-District Playoffs before knocking off Yorktown 19-13 in the Area Playoffs. That season, Natalia fell to East Bernard in Regional 17-14 at Victoria Memorial Stadium.
The winner of Natalia and Riesel will get the winner of #1 state ranked Franklin-Stockdale winner in the Regional round of the playoffs.
There is a fan bus available for the game Friday night with a $3.00 charge. Natalia ISD will also have an early release to allow for folks to attend the game. There is also a Mustang Tailgate Party planned this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Natalia JH Gym Parking Lot sponsored by the NYFL. Be sure to come out and enjoy this awesome event for a second week in a row.
Come Early, Be Loud, Wear Blue and Cheer on Natalia Friday night at P-Field in Pflugerville at 7:30 p.m. Ticket info can be found on Natalia ISD Social Media sites.
By Eric Smith
Sports Writer