SAN ANTONIO — The Alamo Heights Mules have their rings — the New Braunfels Unicorns want theirs. That’s basically what today’s Class 4A-Division I regional football playoff boils down to — who wants it more?
It’s a rematch of the same playoff stage in 2006, which saw the Mules take a 31-21 win on the way to the school’s first-ever state football championship. And the result of today’s match at Farris Stadium could very well send the winner marching on to the state final on Dec. 15.
Like last year, both teams feature ferocious offenses and tight defenses. Both carry win streaks into battle — Heights (10-1) has won 10 straight and 24 of its last 25; the Unicorns (11-0) have won 11 in a row and 15 of their last 16, with their only blemish coming against today’s foe.
The Mules retooled after losing 17 starters from last year’s 14-1 title team, while the Unicorns return most of the players who experienced last year’s season-ending loss in the Alamodome. However, today’s game isn’t about revenge, but merely a step both teams need to hurdle on the way to their ultimate goal.
“We’ve got a great game plan that we’ve been working on all week,” New Braunfels linebacker-tight end Spencer Jergins said. “We’ve just got to come out and keep the big plays to a minimum.
“We know they’re going to play like defending state champions and we’re expecting their best. But we’ve got a great game plan.”
The Mules are coming off a relatively easy 51-21 win over San Antonio Brackenridge in which they scored on their first five possessions of the game. Quarterback Drew Allen completed 13 of 16 passes for 156 yards and the Heights defense held Brack to 11 first downs, with most of the Eagles’ 287 yards coming in garbage time.
The Unicorns pulled off a 21-14 win over stubborn Pflugerville Connally, which scored on a pair of big plays and prevented New Braunfels from doing the same despite dominating in total yardage and time of possession. The Unicorns totaled 322 yards offense last week, missing two field goals but scoring three times.
“We moved the ball well all night — the disappointing thing was that we did not capitalize on two opportunities in the red zone,” New Braunfels coach Chuck Caniford said. “But you have to give Connally some credit, because they did the same thing against us last year. But all in all we were pretty pleased with the way we performed.
“Any opportunity we get this week we have to take advantage of it.”
Last week’s 126 yards allowed was New Braunfels’ lowest yield since a 45-7 win over Del Valle in 2005. The defensive performance over the last five wins has been quite impressive. In their first six games of the season, the Unicorns surrendered an average of 295 yards and 19.2 points per game. Those numbers have dropped to 188 yards and 8.6 points in the last five games, which saw two shutouts.
“There’s a few reasons for that. One, we had a lot of guys who are relatively new — three of the four linebackers hadn’t played at the varsity level before, and we graduated our entire defensive line except for Mitch Schuetz,” Caniford said. “We had a few guys back in the secondary, but they weren’t returning starters.
“It was all of them kind of figuring it out and getting into the groove, and certainly this is the time that you want them playing at their best.”
Linebackers Tom Wort (146 tackles), Ryan Grametbaur (118) and John Bordano (113) have the numbers that back up the fact that the Unicorns are a stronger team on defense. New Braunfels is far from the team that allowed QB Giovanni Vizza and WR Sam Dibrell (both now at North Texas) to shred the secondary for 345 yards in last year’s contest.
Allen, who has completed 156 of 291 passes for 2,427 yards, isn’t the runner Vizza is, but has shown remarkable calm in tight situations.
“The difference between them is that Vizza would hurt you with his feet,” Caniford said. “(Allen) will stand in the pocket and find the open receivers downfield.
“You had to worry about Vizza taking off with it and scoring, but (Allen) is a little more dangerous when he gets out of the pocket and they get into their scramble drill. Their receivers do a good job of working back to him and trying to get open, and he does a great job finding them.”
The Mules demonstrated their resilience during their rally from a 19-point, fourth-quarter deficit to claim a 34-26 victory over Kerrville Tivy in the 27-4A title game a few weeks ago. Heights scored four touchdowns in the final 9:22 of the contest, stunning the playoff-bound Antlers in their final home game. Allen threw for 30-2 yards and rushed for another 90 in that victory.
Many of the same characters return on both sides. Heights has senior receivers Bobby Broadnax (36-671, nine TDs) and Cody Courtney (44-674-9), who did considerable damage to New Braunfels in last year’s contest. Both combined to snare nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Allen) can sling it from all over the field and they still have a good crew of receivers,” Caniford said. “They don’t run quite as much as last year but aren’t that different except for their jersey numbers.”
The Mules also feature bullish runner Sergio Acosta, who has 951 yards and nine scores rushing and another 336 and two TDs receiving.
“I wasn’t here for last year’s game, but I know that we’ve prepared well and this team deserves what it’s going to get,” said New Braunfels defensive end Jacob Galindo, who has 47 tackles along with five stops for losses, six hurries and a sack. “(Heights) has worked its butt off to get there, but I know what it means for our team. This would be a big win for the goal that we set back in the offseason.”
The Unicorns, of course, have the area’s top threat in quarterback Ryan Perez. Perez is bidding for player of the year honors locally and statewide, having completed 125 of 211 passes for 1,762 yards and 12 scores and racked up 1,078 yards and 19 TDs on his feet.
Seven New Braunfels receivers have double-digit catches for over 100 yards, led by Travis Steel’s 23 receptions for 309 yards and four TDs. Patrick Castilleja has recovered nicely from a early-season injury, having totaled 509 yards and nine scores, and do-it-all utility back Justin Garcia has totaled 288 yards rushing and 285 receiving, with five scores to his credit.
Overall, the Unicorns bring more into today’s game than they had a year ago. Now, all they have to do is go out and show that they do.
“At this point we’re more prepared for this team and this type of game,” Caniford said. “Last year’s game against Alamo Heights helped us in preparation for this season and made all of our kids and coaches realize how close we were to being that caliber of football team. It’s something we talked a lot about in the offseason.
“Now we’ve got to get over that hump. But I think we’re sitting where we are because of last year’s game.”
