By Ed Muniz-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
The San Antonio Tigers’ John Dunn is impressive to watch. He can be a one-man wrecking crew, especially offensively.
John and his teammates faced off against the S. A. Panthers in their opening game of the TYFA “Battle at the Border” Spring Championship tournament.
What proceeded to take place was a performance of skill and agility that is rare at 9U. John became as elusive to capture as catching a fly with Chop Sticks.
That was the dilemma that faced the Panthers in their quest to contain the Tigers’ quarterback.
The Panthers are a quick defensive team but at times that skill worked against them as several times Dunn was able to cut back on the quick pursuit of the Panthers and gain more yards than he should have.
The Panthers aren’t slouches either. They too have their elusive stud, running like a gazelle past defenders.
Bishop Williams also showed a talent level that is a pleasure to watch each time he carried the rock. The difference is Dunn takes a direct snap while Williams takes handoffs most of the time.
Each are so skilled, potentially, each could score from anywhere on the field on any given play.
With the teams evenly matched, it’s no surprise that the Tigers carried a second quarter score by Dunn to the final tick of the clock for the 6-0 victory.
“Started off pretty good today,” said Coach Sean Dunn. “We stayed consistent and stayed in our game. We run a lot, so we just stayed true to ourselves. We take from this game not to quick, no matter if you’re tired or not, you just stay true to your assignment, and you’ll be victorious. The best part of this team is they have a lot of heart and don’t quit.”
The Panthers started the game moving the ball behind the rushing of Williams and Dailaun Jamison. The duo was working well attacking the Tiger defense and choosing the right opening to take. A 21-yard sprint by Jamison and a 10-yard pass from Dominic Motley to Williams were the big plays of the opening drive.
But a stiffening Tiger defense found its rhythm and were using team-tackling to end the Panthers promising drive which concluded in the second quarter.
Tackles by Zane Baiza, Aiden Flores, Matteo Uecker, Titus Green, Brody Lessing, Zach Coleman, Tylik Reid Jr. and Jaqsen Allen bent but they didn’t break.
Now on offense, the Tigers used the running abilities of Dunn and Biaza to move down field. Biaza had runs of 11 and 12-yards while Dunn weaved his way for 46-yards on 5 carries, including a touchdown from 3-yards out to go up 6-0 late in the first half.
Each team, for the most part, had possession of the ball just once in the second half. The Tigers had their opportunity first with Dunn doing what he does best, eluding tackle attempts for extra yard and grabbing 14 to start the third quarter, but four plays later, a stellar Panther defense and tackles by Williams, Jamison and Aaron Condry gave their offense the chance to tie the game.
Using up nearly the rest of the second half, the Panthers were unable to reach the endzone. Williams and Jamison, did all the rushing on the 11-play drive, reaching the Tigers’ 4-yard-line.
On fourth down, just four-yard from the endzone and a possible opportunity to go ahead, the ball went to Williams, but Aiden Flores was ready for the Tigers and stopped the talented Panther rusher for no gain, sealing the 6-0 win for the Tigers.
“I was just trying to make tackles to I’m not sure what I did different in the second half, but I made more tackles,” said Flores. “I was a little more focused and being a little quicker and that helped me.”
Another standout defensively was Tigers’ Matteo Uecker. Appearing to be on a mission to make every tackle possible. His commitment to making the stop and helping his team was quite noticeable. He too seemed to be around the ball constantly from his defensive position.
The only complain Uecker stated about his play was the penalties he was accused of.
“They said I face masked him because I was trying to strip him, I didn’t,” said Uecker. “I was fast off the line and they said I was offsides.”
“When I threw the ball and it was caught, that got called back too and we had to turnover the ball.”
Clearly the efforts of Dunn were quite noticeable as he led the Tigers efforts.
“Running the ball worked well for me because of good snaps and good blocking,” said the elusive Dunn.
“I like running outside because there is usually just one guy I need to beat plus the safety.”
“I thought we did really good, but we need to have no penalties to win next game. We played a really good team, and they had a really good player running the ball.”
Baiza was also key in the Tiger running game when given the opportunity. He was difficult hard -running back that bulldozed his way for extra yards.
Several other Tigers added their skills to the opening win. Zachary Garza, Liam Brock, Jordan Ramos, Malachi Montalvo, Cole Fetig, Evan Cunningham, Zayden Hjorten, Alec Lessing, Maddoz Castillo, Markson Harbaugh, Nathaniel Andrade, Cason Ash, Carlos Perez, Peter FeautoJavier Galarza, Devonte Cardinale-Neal Cristopher Caldera and Matty Deblois.
The Panthers also showed a lot of skill in this game. The one score game was close in many ways and could easily have had a different outcome.
Panthers also giving their all were Matt Martinez, Mateo Ramirez, AaronMoreno, Elijah Simmons, Mason Rivera, Terrence Monroe, Caiden Williams, Romeo Perez, Sofia Franco, Adam Sosa, Amarean Oliver, Brycen Perez, Liam Garcia, Tyrick Logan, Damien Saenz, Ethan Santos and Jaycob Lopez.
