BASTROP — Gary Gutierrez wasn’t thinking much about himself after earning his first victory as Seguin’s head football coach.
His thoughts were with his players.
Seguin broke through with its first win under Gutierrez on Thursday night, riding an explosive first half and then answering a second-half surge from Bastrop Cedar Creek to secure a 49-28 road win that evens their district record at 1-1.
“I’m excited for the kids. That’s who I’m excited for,” Gutierrez said. “They’ve been working their butts off. They’re a great, great group of young men, and so just really happy that they came out victorious tonight because they’re a bunch of good kids.”
After a coaching transition that came late in the summer and a difficult beginning to the season, Seguin showed signs Thursday of the foundation Gutierrez has been working to establish.
The Matadors came out firing offensively, stringing together drives and producing several explosive plays while building their advantage in the first half 27-7.
“I thought we came out really on fire and were able to put some drives together,” Gutierrez said. “Had several explosive plays in the first half.”
The night wasn’t without a test.
Cedar Creek seized momentum coming out of halftime and made its push to cut Seguin’s 34-14 lead down to 34-28 in the 4th quarter. For Gutierrez, Seguin’s response was perhaps more significant than building the lead in the first place.
“Momentum swung their way in the second half, and we were able to fight back and bounce back,” Gutierrez said. “That is a really big deal to me. That’s bigger than a lot of people think, especially when you get down the road in the season.”
Seguin regained control in the fourth quarter, answering on both sides of the ball.
“Anytime your team is able to recover momentum when it flips is a big deal,” Gutierrez said. “People don’t understand how powerful Big Mo is. Big Mo is a big deal, and we were able to flip it back on our side in the fourth quarter.”
Offensively, quarterback Avery Franklin continued his progression with more than 300 yards. Gutierrez credited some of that growing comfort to having senior Daniel Pinon alongside him in the backfield.
“I think he’s getting better every week,” Gutierrez said. “I really think with the consistency of Daniel Pinon being right next to him has really helped him because Daniel Pinon has a lot of game experience as a senior.”
Pinon delivered one of the biggest performances of the night, accounting for five touchdowns despite still learning a position that was new to him when Seguin moved him into the backfield.
“That’s a position he’s never played,” Gutierrez said. “I think he was a little uncomfortable when he first got put there, and just continuing giving him reps and giving him opportunities to grow there and see it all come together.”
Seguin’s defense had its moments as well, including a four-down stand that Gutierrez said was the unit’s second such stop of the season.
“Bend but don’t break — that is a true philosophical view of any really good defense,” Gutierrez said.
The Matadors also benefited from kickoffs reaching the end zone and forcing Cedar Creek to repeatedly face a long field, allowing Seguin’s defense to make the Eagles sustain drives.
Even with the outcome largely decided late, Gutierrez remained focused on the details. He took off his headset in the fourth quarter to concentrate specifically on clock management, intentionally accepting delay-of-game penalties and squeezing additional seconds off the game clock before the officials stopped it.
It was another example of what Seguin is still learning under its new coach.
“Tonight really was the first time we put a lot of it together,” Gutierrez said. “We’re still early in our process. We’re just going to keep growing. We’ll figure it out.”
There will be time to get back to work.
Thursday night was about enjoying the breakthrough.
“I just want to enjoy this one with them,” Gutierrez said. “I want to have a fun bus ride home and enjoy it and then regroup tomorrow.”
For Gutierrez and the Matadors, that bus ride back to Seguin came with their first victory together.
After a win on short rest, Seguin’s next test comes with a brighter outlook as they prepare for Kyle Lehman’s visit to Matador Stadium next Friday at 7pm.