local football: Comanches host TR; Cards play final non-district game

Shiner plays its third district game at home to Three Rivers while St. Paul plays at San Antonio Holy Cross in their final non-district game.

TR at Shiner
The Comanches (1-5, 1-1) host the Three Rivers Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow (Friday).
Both teams have split their first two district games: Shiner lost to Ganado 28-6 but rebounded with a 61-6 win over Bloomington while Three Rivers won against Skidmore-Tynan 55-13 before coming up short to Refugio 59-14.
The ‘Dogs are scoring 37.16 points a game and yielding 23.5 points a game.
Three Rivers is mostly balanced on offense, but lean slightly toward the pass with 58 percent of their plays being passes.
Quarterback Caden Soliz has completed 95-of-128 passes for 1,563 yards, 18 touchdowns and two interceptions.
His top target has been Derek Lancaster who has 37 catches for 802 yards and nine touchdowns.
Leading rusher is Kaiyden Inman who has 395 yards on 44 carries and three touchdowns while Soliz has 278 yards and six touchdowns.
“Three Rivers is very big on the offensive line and their skilled players also have a lot of size,” Shiner head coach Daniel Boedeker said. “We will need to tackle well and get to the football.”
The Comanches faced a pass-heavy offense last week in Bloomington.
“Our defense has an idea of how to shut down Three Rivers’s passing attack. They will mix up the run and the pass,” Boedeker said. “Quarterback Soliz is one of the better quarterbacks in the district; he throws well and extends play with his feet. We will have to account for him,” Boedeker said.
James Contreras and Solis head up the defensive effort.
Last week, the Comanches ran for a season-high 516 yards.
Boedeker credited the drive by the offensive-line players improving a little each week and the work paying off for the entire game against Bloomington.
Shiner will need a similar performance this week.
“We will need to stay low on the line, and eliminate penalties and turnovers to sustain some drives,” he said.

St. Paul at Holy Cross
The Cardinals wrap up non-district play at San Antonio  Holy Cross on Friday.
St. Paul has won four of six games, having scored 37.3 points a game and ceded 33.8 yards a game.
Holy Cross is 4-2, scoring 24 points a game and yielding 23.5 points a game.
“Holy Cross has a bigger enrollment than we do and will suit up 60 kids for the game,” Cardinals head coach Mike Jackson said. “They maybe the best team we will play so far. It is going to be a tough game and we are going to have to hunker down at their place to try to get a win.”
The Knights have run the ball over 65 percent of their offensive plays so far.
Louie Lopez is the leading rusher with 301 yards on 49 carries, six touchdowns, 6.1 yards a carry and 50.2 yards a game Daniel Perez has 264 yards on 44 totes with a 6.0 average. Gibby Alvarado had 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Alvarado had completed 48-of-82 passing for 641 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions.
Nicholas Hall has 22 catches for 279 yards, four touchdowns and 12.7 yards per catch.
“Their running backs are big so they like to run the ball well but they throw it well. I feel we improved our pass defense last week as Austin Brentwood only completed four passes but they were big plays. We have to make sure we do not blow assignments,” Jackson said.
Defensively, Markus had 12 solo tackles, 34 assists, 4.0 tackles for loss and  0.5 sacks.
Patrick Ortiz and Hall each have two interceptions.
St. Paul has had chances in the last two games, with single-digit leads and possession late in the game but failed to put the game out of reach.
“I think it is a mindset. We run the football well but in the crucial times where we could ice the game, we have not scored. We have to cut out the mistakes and have every player take care of their individual job only,” Jackson said.