By Ed Muniz-Photos By Jenn-Anne Gledhill
The Alamo City Colts spring season record secured them a second seed in the 9U division of the TYFA 12th annual “Battle at the Border” Spring Football Championships held in McAllen Texas.
Among the 14 teams competing were the 7th seed’ San Antonio Tigers.
These two teams would show power and speed on both sides of the ball in their quarterfinal match-up with neither willing to give an advantage to the other.
The difference was a two-point conversion executed to perfection that gave the 8-7 win to the AC Colts.
“Very exciting game, very tough team we just played,” said Colts Head Coach Nick Ott.
“We just have to stay focused. Their big plays were focus errors as our corners got sucked in along with a couple times our outside linebackers got sucked in too. We have to stay discipline and we know we can fix that before next game.”
“25 (Felix Jimenez )is our workhorse, but we can’t do anything without that line, and we feel we have a very discipline line. We played a very tough team today, well coached with some very good skilled players with heart. We will keep our kids motivated for the next game.”
As the two-seed, the Colts received a bye into the quarterfinals, so this would be their first test.
After winning their first game, the Tigers would go on offense first and use the same dose of John Dunn, Zane Baiza, Matteo Uecker and others that got them their earlier win.
Dunn opened the game with a 12-yard sprint, giving the Colts a sample of what to expect. A fumble by Baiza was recovered by Jaxson Long so kept the ball in the Tigers possession but the momentum seemed to fizzle out, as Dunn and Uecker could pick up only four yards on the next three carries, forcing a turnover on downs.
The tackling of Colts’ Jaxson Kelly and a couple, including a solid stick-tackle, by Felix Jimenez was another reason for the stop.
A good dose of Jimenez and Marvin Johnson moved the ball. Runs that accumulated 70-yards ended up putting the Colts on the board first, which included a burst around right-end of 34 yards for the touchdown by Jimenez. Once he was clear of the line, he out-raced the Tigers defense the rest of the way down the far sideline.
“Sometimes I get in the game and think I might fumble but then I start playing and I get that confident,” said the Speedster Jimenez. I was getting the yards and helping my team out. I try to be a leader when I’m playing. That’s the way I run and hyping people up, I like that. I probably need to work on catching the ball and blocking too.”
The Tigers did have some big tackles including three by Brody Lessing, one by Maddox Castillo and a couple by Tylik Reid Jr. including one for a loss of 6-yards, but they couldn’t get off the field with a stop on the Colts 9-play scoring drive.
Catching the Tigers by surprise, the Colts went to the air on the extra-point try. Quarterback Aiden Escajeda took the snap, backed off a step, lofting a tight spiral to a wide-open Jeovanni Magny for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead at halftime.
With the talent on the Tigers sideline, a one score lead was not a guarantee, so the Colts tried to extend it to open the second half. They went to the run again. Caught up in a scrum of bodies, Matteo Uecker was savvy enough to strip the ball and immediately give the potent Tiger offense a chance to score.
Dunn was running off the direct snap and on three consecutive runs picked up 24-yards. Only the tackling of the Colt’s’ Johnson prevented a sure score. Power-back Baiza blasted for another 7-yards and the Tigers were now within reach of the endzone.
Sitting at the Colts 2-yard line with 26 seconds left in the third stanza, Dunn again took the snap and powered in for the touchdown. Uecker added the extra-point run that made the score 8-7 headed to the final quarter.
Tackles by Colts’ Max Cuevas (3), Hector Osorio, Jimenez and Johnson couldn’t stop the momentum the Tigers came out from halftime with.
After two runs by Jimenez, the Colts lost possession when Johnson unexpectedly coughed up the football which was recovered by the Tigers’ Zach Coleman that sent the Tigers sideline into a frenzy.
With a chance to take the lead late in the game, the Tigers looked to press the Colts defense again.
A huge sack for a 7-yard loss bythe Colts’ Kayden Mitchell took all the elation of the fumble recovery away from the Tigers and now was sitting squarely on the Colts sideline. Three plays later, the Colts forced a turnover on downs with stops from Jabari Arnold, Houston Lott and Kelly.
A final 13-yard dash by Jimenez sealed the 8-7 win for the Colts and a huge sigh of relief was heard from the Colts fans.
Colts Quarterback Aiden Escajeda was happy the game was over.
“I feel a big responsibility as the quarterback because I have to be a leader for the team on the field,” said Escajeda. “I have to call the plays and remember them and make sure to get them off and get the handoffs right. I think I do good passing too but today I tackled pretty good on defense..”
Unheralded linemen are so vital to a team’s success. For the Colts, Center’ Avery Ellis is one of those that goes unnoticed, but if not for him and those along his right and left sides, this Colt team most likely wouldn’t succeed.
“The hardest part about being a center for me is turning the ball for the quarterback, even getting the snap in shotgun, said Avery Wallace. “I practice doing that too a lot. We have a good team but we can be better at blocking and tackling every game.”
Other Colts who gave their all in this win and the season are John Anthoney-Reyes, Nehemiah Butler, Christian Cartwright, Sam Drzymalla, Deonte Elam-Bonner, Zeke Gary, Keanu Jackson, Austin Maldanado, Joel Nava, Marcelis Neehman, Cole Penn, Christian Richardson, Josiah Sherrod, Elijah Wallace, Nathan Witherspoon, Malaki Sullivan.
The Tigers are a Hard, Tough, Gritty team and they showed it in this game. Filled with talent, they are a difficult team to contend with. They certainly are successful more than not and will be a force that opponents need to be wary of!
Also adding to their success during the Spring season were Zackary Garza, Jaqsen Allen, Titus Green, Liam Brock, Jordan Ramos, Malachi Montalvo, Cole Fetig, Evan Cunningham, Alec Lessing, Zayden Hjorten, Markson Harbaugh, Nathaniel Andrade, Cason Ash, Carlos Perez, Peter Feauto, Javier Galarza, Devonte Cardinale-Neal , Cristopher Caldera and Matty DeBlois.
