(Buda) — After one of the more unusual season openers the Seguin Matadors could have experienced, head coach Gary Gutierrez hopes the lessons learned from it will travel with his young team Friday night.
Seguin hits the road for the first time this season to face 6A Buda Hays, one week after weather turned the Matadors’ opener into a test of patience and adaptability.
Seguin nearly completed the first quarter of its first game vs New Braunfels before weather halted play for more than two hours.
While other games around the area faced postponements or cancellations, Seguin eventually returned to the field at 10:20 p.m. to finish.
For Gutierrez, getting those four quarters played was particularly important for a roster with limited varsity experience.
“The game is like life,” Gutierrez said. “You have to adapt, pivot, overcome, and make decisions. We decided to wait and our kids did a good job of coming back out, getting back after it.”
More important than simply finishing the game was what Seguin learned from it.
Gutierrez said the Matadors need greater consistency sustaining drives offensively after turnovers and a kickoff return contributed directly to 21 points in Week 1. Those mistakes also obscured what he believed was a better defensive performance than the final score indicated.
“We were better at the end of the game than we were when we started,” Gutierrez said. “When you look at all aspects of things, I think that progress was definitely made.”
One of the most noticeable improvements came along the edges of Seguin’s defense.
The Matadors became more effective at preventing runs from reaching the perimeter as the game progressed, allowing them to become more aggressive bringing pressure inside.
Kyler Forehand provided one of the highlights with an interception while working the flat. The junior is one of the relatively few Matadors who entered the season with previous varsity experience after seeing time as a sophomore.
“I think that showed,” Gutierrez said. “He’s had some time with the varsity before as a sophomore going into his junior year, and so we’re looking forward to what he can do and what he can become.”
That improved perimeter defense could become even more important Friday.
Hays enters the matchup with a rushing attack designed to stress a defense horizontally. Gutierrez said the Hawks use motion to create favorable numbers and possess multiple capable running backs along with a dangerous slot player who can create problems when given space.
“They try to push the perimeter and try to see if you can match their speed and match their athleticism,” Gutierrez said. “That’s a big deal for us, maintaining leverage, outside leverage, perimeter leverage and trying to take those things away and forcing them to do some other things they don’t want to.”
Seguin’s ability to defend Hays’ speed may only represent part of the solution.
The Matadors also want their offense to help dictate how Friday’s game is played.
After Gutierrez identified moving the chains as one of Seguin’s biggest areas for improvement following Week 1, sustained possessions take on added importance against a Hays offense capable of creating explosive plays.
“The number one thing we want to do is when we get possession of the ball, hold on to it as long as we can,” Gutierrez said. “Our focal point of controlling the game, controlling tempo, is maintaining possession of the ball, moving the chains.”
Doing that will place significant responsibility on Seguin’s offensive line.
Gutierrez expects Hays to challenge the interior with experienced defensive tackles while also bringing pressure from its middle linebacker. Winning those matchups up front could determine whether the Matadors can establish the kind of drives necessary to control possession.
“Everything starts up front,” Gutierrez said. “That’s going to be really big on them.”
When Seguin does generate scoring opportunities, Gutierrez also wants his offense to attack.
The Matadors connected with one of their bigger receivers Ayden Avila on a 21-yard touchdown last week, and Gutierrez said Seguin will look for opportunities to take occasional shots when it moves into scoring territory.
Leading that offense for the second time will be sophomore quarterback Avery Franklin.
Franklin showed flashes in his first varsity start, but Gutierrez believes the most important ingredient in his development is something that cannot be manufactured during practice.
Experience.
“I think everybody wants to microwave experience, but you can’t do that,” Gutierrez said. “You have to actually get out there. One of the things about sports is experience happens in front of people whose patience may wear thin sometimes. But Avery [Franklin] has a bright future.”
Gutierrez believes Franklin possesses significant potential but cautioned that developing a sophomore quarterback requires patience and a strong supporting cast around him.
“He wants to be really good, and sometimes he has his moments, just like every other sophomore that’s doing this,” Gutierrez said. “He’s right where he’s supposed to be, and hopefully we can get him where he needs to be as fast as possible.”
Friday provides Franklin and the rest of Seguin’s young roster with their next opportunity to gain that experience.
This time, it comes away from home against a newly minted 6A opponent whose speed and run game will test whether the defensive progress Seguin displayed late last Friday can carry over.
For the Matadors, the formula is straightforward: protect the perimeter defensively, control the interior offensively, hold onto the football and make Hays earn its opportunities.
Seguin and Buda Hays kickoff tonight in Bob Shelton Stadium at 7:30pm.
The Hawks are 1-0 after a late defensive stand against a two-pointer earned them the 29-27 road win at San Marcos last Saturday. 2025 All-District running back Gabriel Peach earned the game MVP after he rushed for 131 yards and 3 touchdowns.
KWED will begin coverage at 6:45 with Reily Chestnut and Coach Dan Hernandez on the call.