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Photos by Harvey Raab
August 15, 2022
Bulldog Scrimmage Notes
By Brady Keane
BHS coaching staff
The Bandera football team took the field against an opponent for the first time this season Friday evening as the Bulldogs set the tone on both sides of the ball while hosting Natalia and Ingram in a three-team scrimmage.
Bandera scored the first touchdown of the night at the varsity level as senior quarterback Riley Haley connected with junior Solomon Alexander on a 70-yard touchdown pass against the Natalia defense. Haley finished the day 7-of-9 for 159 yards and a touchdown through two possessions, showing poise in the pocket against a physical defensive front. Alexander was equally impressive offensively, finishing with five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulldogs added a score on their second offensive possession with the first group when senior running back Jackson Vogel punched in a one-yard touchdown run to cap off a 70-yard scoring drive. Other offensive standouts in limited action included junior Jesse Cardenas, who broke off a 15-yard run and completed a 10-yard pass, senior Zachary Quesnot (2 catches for 18 yards) and junior Isaac Segura (1 catch for 22 yards). Senior offensive linemen Isaac Martinez and Elijah Casteel, and junior offensive lineman Roger McCrobie led the way in the trenches.
Defensively, the Bulldogs’ starting unit shut out Natalia and made things difficult on the Mustangs from start to finish. Alexander
was a standout defensively at Safety, flying all over the field and disrupting things both in the secondary and at the line of scrimmage. Senior cornerback Kevin Rodriguez forced a fumble that was recovered by Alexander, junior linebacker Jorge Cabasos had a sack that caused a fumble recovered by Martinez, and senior linebacker Vogel had a sack that resulted in a loss of eight yards.
Other defensive standouts at the varsity level included junior linebackers Daniel Freeman and Cardenas and junior safety Dylan Gherman. Casteel made a handful of plays on the defensive line, as did sophomore Josh Goff in his first varsity appearance.
JV Grey
At the sub-varsity level, the Bulldogs split into two teams to compete against the top JV groups from Natalia and Ingram.
Bandera got things started against the Warriors and the Bulldogs showed a lot of promise, holding the Warriors out of the end zone with a goal line stand on the first defensive possession of the day.
Ingram broke off a long touchdown run on its second possession but was otherwise held in check by the Bulldogs’ defense.
Defensive standouts included freshman Benton Cloudt and freshman linebacker Micah Vance.
Offensively, Bandera moved the ball well thanks to the arms of freshmen quarterbacks Benton Cloudt and James Bower, who routinely connected with freshmen wide receiver West Cloudt, freshman wide receiver Beto Rodrigues, junior fullback Aydin De La Cruz and freshman fullback Cash Raab.
JV Blue
After the JV Grey scrimmage, the JV Blue team competed against Natalia. The Bulldogs allowed just two first downs on Natalia’s opening possession before freshman cornerback Jeffry Thomas jumped in front of a pass and hauled in a well-timed interception. The Mustangs picked up three first downs on their second possession but were unable to get into the end zone. On Natalia’s final possession, Thomas intercepted another pass and was on his way to a touchdown return when the play was blown dead. Other defensive standouts included freshman Matthew
Wilkinson, junior Cade Carriger and sophomore Micah McCreary.
Offensively, sophomore quarterback Dylan Peace completed a long p
ass to sophomore wide receiver Ibraham MacNeil to highlight the team’s first offensive possession just before the play was blown dead to protect the quarterback. Peace moved the offense down the field efficiently on the team’s second possession, connecting with sophomore wide receiver Kyle Lowe and Thomas several times to get into scoring possession. The Bulldogs ended the scrimmage on their third offensive drive, when Peace connected with Thomas on a 22-yard touchdown pass.
Both the JV and Varsity Bulldogs will return to action Thursday night in the second and final scrimmage of the pre-season. Bandera will travel to Comfort, where the JV Grey team will play Llano while the JV Blue and the Varsity take on Comfort with times still to be determined.
Bandera scored the first touchdown of the night at the varsity level as senior quarterback Riley Haley connected with junior Solomon Alexander on a 70-yard touchdown pass against the Natalia defense. Haley finished the day 7-of-9 for 159 yards and a touchdown through two possessions, showing poise in the pocket against a physical defensive front. Alexander was equally impressive offensively, finishing with five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulldogs added a score on their second offensive possession with the first group when senior running back Jackson Vogel punched in a one-yard touchdown run to cap off a 70-yard scoring drive. Other offensive standouts in limited action included junior Jesse Cardenas, who broke off a 15-yard run and completed a 10-yard pass, senior Zachary Quesnot (2 catches for 18 yards) and junior Isaac Segura (1 catch for 22 yards). Senior offensive linemen Isaac Martinez and Elijah Casteel, and junior offensive lineman Roger McCrobie led the way in the trenches.
Defensively, the Bulldogs’ starting unit shut out Natalia and made things difficult on the Mustangs from start to finish. Alexander
was a standout defensively at Safety, flying all over the field and disrupting things both in the secondary and at the line of scrimmage. Senior cornerback Kevin Rodriguez forced a fumble that was recovered by Alexander, junior linebacker Jorge Cabasos had a sack that caused a fumble recovered by Martinez, and senior linebacker Vogel had a sack that resulted in a loss of eight yards.
Other defensive standouts at the varsity level included junior linebackers Daniel Freeman and Cardenas and junior safety Dylan Gherman. Casteel made a handful of plays on the defensive line, as did sophomore Josh Goff in his first varsity appearance.
JV Grey
At the sub-varsity level, the Bulldogs split into two teams to compete against the top JV groups from Natalia and Ingram.
Bandera got things started against the Warriors and the Bulldogs showed a lot of promise, holding the Warriors out of the end zone with a goal line stand on the first defensive possession of the day.
Ingram broke off a long touchdown run on its second possession but was otherwise held in check by the Bulldogs’ defense.
Defensive standouts included freshman Benton Cloudt and freshman linebacker Micah Vance.
Offensively, Bandera moved the ball well thanks to the arms of freshmen quarterbacks Benton Cloudt and James Bower, who routinely connected with freshmen wide receiver West Cloudt, freshman wide receiver Beto Rodrigues, junior fullback Aydin De La Cruz and freshman fullback Cash Raab.
JV Blue
After the JV Grey scrimmage, the JV Blue team competed against Natalia. The Bulldogs allowed just two first downs on Natalia’s opening possession before freshman cornerback Jeffry Thomas jumped in front of a pass and hauled in a well-timed interception. The Mustangs picked up three first downs on their second possession but were unable to get into the end zone. On Natalia’s final possession, Thomas intercepted another pass and was on his way to a touchdown return when the play was blown dead. Other defensive standouts included freshman Matthew
Wilkinson, junior Cade Carriger and sophomore Micah McCreary.
Offensively, sophomore quarterback Dylan Peace completed a long p
ass to sophomore wide receiver Ibraham MacNeil to highlight the team’s first offensive possession just before the play was blown dead to protect the quarterback. Peace moved the offense down the field efficiently on the team’s second possession, connecting with sophomore wide receiver Kyle Lowe and Thomas several times to get into scoring possession. The Bulldogs ended the scrimmage on their third offensive drive, when Peace connected with Thomas on a 22-yard touchdown pass.
Both the JV and Varsity Bulldogs will return to action Thursday night in the second and final scrimmage of the pre-season. Bandera will travel to Comfort, where the JV Grey team will play Llano while the JV Blue and the Varsity take on Comfort with times still to be determined.