Maverick QB Juan Elizondo showed a lot of character playing with the intensity of the polished leader he has become for Eric Villaseñor's squad scoring the first touchdown of the game on a QB bootleg left as he catapulted himself into the endzone early to break the deadlock.
Maverick kicker Dante Valdez drilled the extra point to put the Mavericks up 7-0, a lead they would not relinquish the entire first half.
Jose Luis Flores, George Andrade Justin Diaz, Arturo Longoria and big Steven Garcia did what they needed to do to establish a formidable unit which could compete with a skilled Eagles offensive unit as the Maverick faithful were highly motivated and extremely loud in Foster-Veteran's Memorial Stadium with anticipation that this might be the day that the fledgling program get that elusive first victory. A big interception by Kevin Chisum in the endzone halted what appeared to be a solid Maverick offensive drive.
After a long first half of great performances by both marching bands, the Eagles showed why they will be competing in the Bi-District round of the State Playoffs next week in Alice, TX in another matchup against the Edinburgh Bobcats.
QB Ty Chisum found Alex Martinez who broke several tackles before diving into the endzone for the first Eagle score on a short field after a key Maverick turnover. Jerry Gonzalez' extra point tied the game at 7.
But the real hero of the game for the Eagles was RJ Ruiz as he broke the game open with an amazing 75 yard punt return in which he evaded serious traffic around midfield and somehow managed to stay on his feet to race to paydirt scoring the second Eagle touchdown. The extra point was no good, but the Eagles would not relinquish the lead scoring 28 unanswered points including a QB bootleg by Chisum after another nice pass on a corner route to Martinez to set up the score. Mark Venegas made his presence felt throughout the game showing elusiveness and power. Venegas scored on the two-point conversion.
Ruiz would not go quietly as he too scored again on a post pattern into the endzone as he established position on his defender as Chisum threw a picture perfect ball.
The side story of this game, without saying was the big time will of both Juan Elizondo and Deion Alonso. Elizondo, who absolutely left it all on the field showed the elusiveness and speed which has symbolized the individual success he has had this season, but Alonso, despite being keyed on and shadowed the entire game showed the heart of a champion and his ability to play at absolutely another speed exemplifying his skills despite coming off the field early with an injury.
Alonso's final play came on a kickoff return where he tried to will himself through the Eagle lines turning on the jets and finding that crease just before he was hit by an unseen Eagle defender.
Congratulations are in order for Tom Gonzalez' coaching staff who made the necessary adjustments to come out and wrestle the lead and the game from a proud and highly motivated Maverick football team.