Javelinas lose first season game
The first game for the Javelina Football team since 2019 did not end as planned for Head Coach Michael Salinas and his staff.
“We fell short today but I’m proud of how we competed,” said head coach Mike Salinas, in an interview with Javelina Athletics.
“We lost the field position battle in the first half and didn’t sustain drives early. We have to do a better job of taking care of the football. Hats off to [Bill] Maskill and his staff, we will get back to work and get better. We will put this one behind us in 24 hours and fix what needs fixing.”
The team traveled to Wichita Falls March 6 to take on Midwestern State where the Javelinas put up a good fight but fell 45-34.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Zadock Dinkleman threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut connecting with redshirt junior Ryan Martinez, and senior Kevin Reynolds for his scores.
The defense had some improvement from the last meeting between the two allowing 18 less points from the prior matchup. Although a better showing from last year, defense still has room for improvement. After speaking with defensive backs coach Johnathan Petty, he gave insight on the prep for the next game and how the defense can improve.
“We are looking good this week. Guys have come in focused and ready to get better. We’ve cleaned up the situational mistakes from last weekend’s game as well as continued to improve on the things that we did well. The focus is on us and how we can get better through this process,” he said.
In the late fourth quarter comeback, the Hogs eventually lost the battle.
“It was a tough loss, but we will fight to get back on top and we’re gonna come back stronger for sure,” defensive lineman Ivan Reed said.
The Javelinas play against UTPB this weekend March 20 at Javelina Stadium in another rematch from last year.