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Photos by Harvey Raab
August 9, 2022
Bulldogs show promise at annual Popsicle Bowl
By Brady Keane
BHS coaching staff
The Bandera football team hosted its annual Blue/White Popsicle Bowl Scrimmage at the Bandera High School practice field Saturday morning and showed flashes of excellence on both sides of the ball in front of a crowd that lined the fence along Old San Antonio Highway.
At the varsity level, the Bulldogs scored five touchdowns throughout the
scripted scrimmage. First-year senior quarterback Riley Haley threw a pair of long touchdown passes to promising newcomer Solomon Alexander (junior) and rising junior Corben Gonzales. Senior running back Kevin Rodriguez took the majority of carries in the backfield with offensive linemen Isaac Martinez (senior), Noah Sizemore (junior) and Elijah Casteel (senior) leading the way.
Rodriguez punched in two touchdown runs while junior Jesse Cardenas broke off a long touchdown run as well for the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the first unit shined as Cardenas, who was named Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Pre-Season Defensive MVP in District 14-4A Division II, hauled in an interception and made a big hit on a tackle for loss.
Gonzales and senior Eric Straeter each had an interception while Martinez and Casteel and sophomore Gavin Spruell made an impact on the defensive line.
At the junior varsity level, sophomore running back Julian De La Paz broke off a series of long runs for the Bulldogs’ offense while freshman Juan Cabrera and sophomore Ibraham MacNeil excelled offensively as well.
In the trenches, linemen Matthew Wilkinson (freshman) and Rance Roden (junior) also had strong performances for the Bulldogs.
With six days of practice officially in the books, the Bulldogs will return to the field Monday afternoon for week two of the 2022 football season.
Bandera will host Ingram and Natalia in a three-way scrimmage on Friday at Bulldog Stadium. The JV teams will scrimmage from 5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. while the varsity will scrimmage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
At the varsity level, the Bulldogs scored five touchdowns throughout the
scripted scrimmage. First-year senior quarterback Riley Haley threw a pair of long touchdown passes to promising newcomer Solomon Alexander (junior) and rising junior Corben Gonzales. Senior running back Kevin Rodriguez took the majority of carries in the backfield with offensive linemen Isaac Martinez (senior), Noah Sizemore (junior) and Elijah Casteel (senior) leading the way.
Rodriguez punched in two touchdown runs while junior Jesse Cardenas broke off a long touchdown run as well for the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the first unit shined as Cardenas, who was named Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Pre-Season Defensive MVP in District 14-4A Division II, hauled in an interception and made a big hit on a tackle for loss.
Gonzales and senior Eric Straeter each had an interception while Martinez and Casteel and sophomore Gavin Spruell made an impact on the defensive line.
At the junior varsity level, sophomore running back Julian De La Paz broke off a series of long runs for the Bulldogs’ offense while freshman Juan Cabrera and sophomore Ibraham MacNeil excelled offensively as well.
In the trenches, linemen Matthew Wilkinson (freshman) and Rance Roden (junior) also had strong performances for the Bulldogs.
With six days of practice officially in the books, the Bulldogs will return to the field Monday afternoon for week two of the 2022 football season.
Bandera will host Ingram and Natalia in a three-way scrimmage on Friday at Bulldog Stadium. The JV teams will scrimmage from 5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. while the varsity will scrimmage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.