Coach's Corner with Coach Garcia: LBJ edition

Alexander head coach Edwin Garcia reflects on the Bulldogs' win over Eagle Pass last week and previews this week's game against LBJ

By Garrett Kroeger

Welcome to this week’s Coach’s Corner with Alexander head football coach Edwin Garcia.

This will be a weekly series as Garcia will provide valuable insight on last week’s result and this week’s upcoming matchup.

Here’s the latest edition of Coach’s Corner with head coach Edwin Garcia.

1. You all claimed a big victory, in my opinion, over Eagle Pass last week. Just how massive of a win was that for you all?

I loved our kids’ resolve and never quit mentality.  They understand that we must play for each other until the final buzzer.  We kept believing until we were able to get going.  Our boys understand that our job is to execute on both sides of the ball, when we do that we can stop our opponents and put up points.  I am proud of our defense as they gave up 140 yards (80 yards on two plays) of total offense allowing our offense to have as many opportunities as we needed to come back and give us a chance  at the end.  Hats off to Eagle Pass and their coaching staff, they did a great job preparing for this game. It took everything for us to pull this one off.   

2. Your offense came alive in the second half last week against Eagle Pass - after being held scoreless in the first half. How were you all able to finally get the offense started and how do you carry that over against LBJ?

We didn’t call anything different, we just executed better.  Our offensive line did a great job wearing down their defensive line until our running backs were able to get big gains.  But ultimately, the reason we were able to get going was because our defense was able to get us the ball back many times until we got going.  If they keep playing at this level we will have a chance to win some more ball games.  

3. What have you seen on film from LBJ?

Head coach Leo Mireles is doing a great job at LBJ.  LBJ has been in every game this year, especially in district play.  They could be 3-0 in district play as all their games have been decided by a touchdown or less.  Our boys know that we have to come out and execute on both sides of the ball.  We expect a highly competitive ball game on Friday night. 

4. How important is it for you all to start stringing together wins?

I feel we need to focus on our execution on both sides of the ball.  Our defense needs to continue playing at an elite level. 

The next few weeks are championship football time, we need to focus on our team and what we control.  Playoff season is getting closer, and in order for us to have a chance we need to continue to work hard and get better at what we do.  All teams in our district are tough & anyone can come out victorious.  We need to make sure we don’t rely on anyone else but ourselves to finish this season strong. 

5. What are the keys to victory this week?

Execute on offense is a priority.  We have to finish drives with points and eliminate offensive turnovers.  On defense we just need to continue playing fast & aggressive.  We have played at an elite level all-around on defense, and we need to continue stopping what their offense does best.