Photos by Chris Darus
September 21, 2022
Bandera moves to 3-1 with the win on Veterans Night
By Chris Darus
The Bandera Prophet
The Bandera Bulldogs tallied over 400 yards of offense as they defeated the Cole Cougars by a 42-20 count at Bulldog Stadium Friday evening.
Offensively, Bandera was hitting on all cylinders for most of the evening, except for some ball management issues and a few untimely penalties that cost the Bulldogs some points.
Workhorse Jesse Cardenas had his fourth 100 plus yard game for the season as the Bulldogs ran for 193 yards and QB Riley Haley connected with five different receivers for 216 yards on the night.
Although both teams combined for a 41 point first half, the score would have been even more lopsided if not for a holding call on an apparent Bulldog touchdown.
Cole put points on the board first, scoring on an 18 yard rush with 7:09 left in the first quarter. The PAT was good to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead.
Bandera responded later in the first with a 16 yard toss from Riley Haley to Issac Segura with 3:28 left and Beto Muzquiz added the first of many PATs to bring the score to 7-7.
Bandera was headed into the lead early in the second, but a fumble after a long catch and run negated the drive and gives Cole the ball on their 21 yard line.
Cole returns the favor a few plays later as the quarterback mishandles the ball when he is hit and Daniel Freeman recovers the ball on the Cole 17.
Cardenas scores his first touchdown of the night on a 12 yard rush and a good kick makes it 14-7 with 5:16 left in the half.
Freeman recovers his second fumble less than a minute later as a bad snap ends up in the end zone to add another six points and Muzquiz splits the uprights for put the Bulldogs up 21-7 with 4:20 left.
Bandera keeps Cole out of the end zone after forcing a turnover on downs, but the Cougars score after an interception with 1:12 left to make it 21-13 after the PAT misses.
Solomon Alexander apparently scores on the ensuing kickoff return, but after the officials have a conference on the field and decide there are offsetting penalties, they decide that it will require another kickoff and the points are removed.
The next kickoff also has multiple flags as the games gets chippy, but these are against Cole for a blind side block at around the 45-yard line and Bandera ends up at the Cole 24 with 44 seconds left in the half.
Cardenas scores his second of the night from the 11 with :03 left and a good kick makes it 28-13 as the teams' head to the locker rooms at halftime.
The chippy play continued in the third quarter with three penalties called in the first 2:29 of play, but another Bandera fumble stops the drive.
After the Bulldog defense forces a punt, Bandera gets called for another penalty to negate a long return, this one ends up costing about 45 yards, forcing Bandera back to their own 44.
After a bad snap by the Bulldogs in a punting situation, Cole has the ball on the Bandera six-yard line and score on a QB run to make it 28-20 with 10:14 left in the game.
Bandera does score twice in the fourth, the first on an 8-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone from Haley to Alex Dirck. Muzquiz squeaks the kick inside the left post to make it 35-20.
Kevin Rodriguez scores later on a long run, but another penalty brings it back to the 50.
He does score later on short 4 yard run with 1:24 left, Muzquiz sends the PAT home for the 42-20 final.
Cardenas had a banner day on defense as well with nine tackles, four TFLs, three sacks and two pass break ups, Issac Martinez and Eric Straeter had six tackles each and Freeman recovered the two fumbles to lead a good team effort that allowed Cole just 216 yards, 73 yards rushing and 143 yards passing.
With the win over Cole, the Bulldogs move to 3-1 on the season as they get ready to host the Hondo Owls this Friday for Homecoming.
The Owls have given Bandera a rough go in previous years when they were in the Bulldog’s district.
They dropped down to 3AD1 play this year and are having a rough season themselves, sitting at 1-3 coming into Friday’s contest.
Game time is at 7 p.m., but with it being Homecoming, you might want to get to Bulldog Stadium early this Friday night.
Bandera stats:
Passing: R. Haley, 11-17-216-2-1
Rushing: J. Cardenas, 25-151, K. Rodriguez, 7-42
Receiving: S. Alexander, 5-106, A. Dirck, 2-30, I. Segura, 2-54, J. Cardenas, 1-19, Z. Quesnot, 1-7
Tackles: J. Cardenas, 9, I. Martinez, 6, E. Straeter, 6, K. Rodriguez, 5, D. Freeman, 4, G. Ortiz, 4
Offensively, Bandera was hitting on all cylinders for most of the evening, except for some ball management issues and a few untimely penalties that cost the Bulldogs some points.
Workhorse Jesse Cardenas had his fourth 100 plus yard game for the season as the Bulldogs ran for 193 yards and QB Riley Haley connected with five different receivers for 216 yards on the night.
Although both teams combined for a 41 point first half, the score would have been even more lopsided if not for a holding call on an apparent Bulldog touchdown.
Cole put points on the board first, scoring on an 18 yard rush with 7:09 left in the first quarter. The PAT was good to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead.
Bandera responded later in the first with a 16 yard toss from Riley Haley to Issac Segura with 3:28 left and Beto Muzquiz added the first of many PATs to bring the score to 7-7.
Bandera was headed into the lead early in the second, but a fumble after a long catch and run negated the drive and gives Cole the ball on their 21 yard line.
Cole returns the favor a few plays later as the quarterback mishandles the ball when he is hit and Daniel Freeman recovers the ball on the Cole 17.
Cardenas scores his first touchdown of the night on a 12 yard rush and a good kick makes it 14-7 with 5:16 left in the half.
Freeman recovers his second fumble less than a minute later as a bad snap ends up in the end zone to add another six points and Muzquiz splits the uprights for put the Bulldogs up 21-7 with 4:20 left.
Bandera keeps Cole out of the end zone after forcing a turnover on downs, but the Cougars score after an interception with 1:12 left to make it 21-13 after the PAT misses.
Solomon Alexander apparently scores on the ensuing kickoff return, but after the officials have a conference on the field and decide there are offsetting penalties, they decide that it will require another kickoff and the points are removed.
The next kickoff also has multiple flags as the games gets chippy, but these are against Cole for a blind side block at around the 45-yard line and Bandera ends up at the Cole 24 with 44 seconds left in the half.
Cardenas scores his second of the night from the 11 with :03 left and a good kick makes it 28-13 as the teams' head to the locker rooms at halftime.
The chippy play continued in the third quarter with three penalties called in the first 2:29 of play, but another Bandera fumble stops the drive.
After the Bulldog defense forces a punt, Bandera gets called for another penalty to negate a long return, this one ends up costing about 45 yards, forcing Bandera back to their own 44.
After a bad snap by the Bulldogs in a punting situation, Cole has the ball on the Bandera six-yard line and score on a QB run to make it 28-20 with 10:14 left in the game.
Bandera does score twice in the fourth, the first on an 8-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone from Haley to Alex Dirck. Muzquiz squeaks the kick inside the left post to make it 35-20.
Kevin Rodriguez scores later on a long run, but another penalty brings it back to the 50.
He does score later on short 4 yard run with 1:24 left, Muzquiz sends the PAT home for the 42-20 final.
Cardenas had a banner day on defense as well with nine tackles, four TFLs, three sacks and two pass break ups, Issac Martinez and Eric Straeter had six tackles each and Freeman recovered the two fumbles to lead a good team effort that allowed Cole just 216 yards, 73 yards rushing and 143 yards passing.
With the win over Cole, the Bulldogs move to 3-1 on the season as they get ready to host the Hondo Owls this Friday for Homecoming.
The Owls have given Bandera a rough go in previous years when they were in the Bulldog’s district.
They dropped down to 3AD1 play this year and are having a rough season themselves, sitting at 1-3 coming into Friday’s contest.
Game time is at 7 p.m., but with it being Homecoming, you might want to get to Bulldog Stadium early this Friday night.
Bandera stats:
Passing: R. Haley, 11-17-216-2-1
Rushing: J. Cardenas, 25-151, K. Rodriguez, 7-42
Receiving: S. Alexander, 5-106, A. Dirck, 2-30, I. Segura, 2-54, J. Cardenas, 1-19, Z. Quesnot, 1-7
Tackles: J. Cardenas, 9, I. Martinez, 6, E. Straeter, 6, K. Rodriguez, 5, D. Freeman, 4, G. Ortiz, 4