High School Football: Alice rolls past Tuloso-Midway to remain unbeaten in district play
Alice's offense went to work early and its defense hardly took its foot off the gas pedal for 48 minutes during Friday's key District 16-4A Division matchup against Tuloso-Midway.
The Coyotes scored 27 first-half points and held the Warriors to one score in the second half to capture a 40-14 win at Warrior Stadium.
Alice (4-1, 2-0) remained unbeaten in district play ahead of next week's key matchup against Calallen, which is also perfect in 16-4A Division I after Friday's win against La Feria.
It was the first loss for Tuloso-Midway (6-1, 2-1) this season as the Warriors turn to their bye week in Week 8.
Friday’s highlights
Tuloso-Midway began the night with the No. 2 scoring defense in Class 4A Division I, but it was the Coyotes that made their mark defensively against the Warriors. Matthew Carrillo shifted the momentum to Alice by recording an interception, which led to a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Lucian Cruz. The Coyotes went on to score on two more rushing touchdowns by Cruz and two touchdown catches by senior Justin Arrellano on catches of 39 and eight yards. Alice held the Warriors to one touchdown in the second half and put the finishing touches on a rushing touchdown by Roel Gonzalez III and a 70-yard punt return by Landon Rodriguez. Tuloso-Midway running back Damian Figueroa supplied both of T-M's touchdowns on runs of 45 and six yards. It was the most points the Warriors allowed this season after previously surrendering 12 to Kingsville in Week 5. Alice finished with 392 yards of offense in the victory and limited T-M to 165 yards.
Friday's stars
Cruz completed 18 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores. Carrillo caught nine passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and recorded an interception on defense in the first quarter. Arrellano caught four passes for 62 yards and scored two touchdowns in the victory and Rodriguez scored on a 60-yard kickoff return. Gonzalez III finished with 14 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. Figueroa led the Warriors with 157 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
They said it
Alice's Matthew Carrillo on his interception shifting the momentum: "That was the game ... I think that was a game-changing play for us. It was pretty good. This team is good, I can't lie. Our bond is close."
Alice quarterback Lucian Cruz on his performance against the Warriors: "It was the preparation to get here. All week we pushed at practice and used all four days to get here. It feels great to win on Friday night and we're rolling right now. We're 2-0."
Alice head coach JR Castellano on the Coyotes performance against T-M: "The big key to the victory was the preparation that we had throughout the week. We had the best week of practice and preparation that we've had all year. We're hitting our stride at the right time and hats off to T-M. They have a great coaching staff and they're headed in the right direction. Our kids played lights out and I'm super proud of them."
Tuloso-Midway running back Damian Figueroa on looking ahead to the Warriors' bye week: "We're going to soak it in as a team. We win as a team and lose as a team ... This loss was definitely good for the team because we need to compete with some teams. Most of the teams we played, we blew out so we needed some competition. We're going to take this bye week seriously, recover, lift, run and come back stronger than ever."
Up next
Calallen at Alice, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13; Tuloso-Midway (bye week).
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Alice football rolls past Tuloso-Midway to remain unbeaten in district
