Little details continue to hurt Bulldogs in loss to Boerne-Champion

The Alexander Bulldogs held themselves back, especially on offense, with penalties and turnovers on Friday against the Boerne-Champion Chargers

The little details continue to hurt the Alexander Bulldogs in non-district play.

The Bulldogs dropped to 1-2 on the season as they fell to Boerne-Champion 25-10 on Friday in their home opener. And while the Navy & Gold lost by double digits, the game was more competitive than what the final score read.

“We just have to get it together,” Alexander head coach Edwin Garcia said. “I have to do a better job as a coach.”

Alexander had opportunities to overtake the momentum of the game, but every time it seemed like it was about to, it would hurt itself with either a penalty or a turnover – especially offensively.

Friday’s game somewhat mirrored the Bulldogs’ season-opening loss to San Antonio Marshall. Alexander’s defense did all it could to keep the team in the game, only for the offense to squander potential scoring drives by committing multiple penalties or turning over the ball. Quarterback Karlo Tenorio had two second-half interceptions inside the red zone. If Tenorio and the rest of the offense could have capped those drives off with touchdowns, it could have been a whole different result.

Now, while the Bulldogs’ offense hurt itself on multiple occasions against Boerne-Champion, it still showed it has what it takes to be a dominant unit – especially in the run game. Starting running back Joe Fernandez ran for 201 yards and a touchdown while backup Brennan Cole rushed for 80 yards. Alexander moved the ball, but it just hindered itself in crucial situations.

“I need to go back to my roots offensively,” Garcia said. “We did that in the second half, we just couldn’t punch it in twice. A penalty derailed one drive and a couple of interceptions there at the end, without those three turnovers there, we do a better job.”

While the little details continue to plague the Bulldogs, especially offensively, that’s what non-district competition is for.

Everyone knows that non-district action is used as opportunities for teams to get better before district competition begins. Although Alexander would have loved to have won on Friday, it knows that just playing Boenre-Champion got itself better. The matchup showed what the Bulldogs need to improve on before they open District 30-6A play on Sept. 27 against United South.

“Every team that we have played has been tough and next week (against Brownsville Veterans Memorial) will be just as tough, will prepare us for Week 1 of district,” Garcia said. “Our district is tough. I think we need to do a better job at focusing on ourselves because the district is going to be tough this year.”

Boerne-Champion’s two other wins – it is 3-0 on the year – have come against other District 30-6A teams: United South and Medina Valley.

Friday’s result wasn’t what Alexander had hoped for. It wanted to beat Boerne-Champion. It wanted to be 2-1 after three games instead of 1-2. Yet, unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that wasn’t the case.

Alexander flashed the makings of a potentially great team. Its defense showed it can buckle down and stop opposing offenses with ease. And then its offense demonstrated it can move the ball efficiently, too. However, the little details continue to plague the Bulldogs – penalties, turnovers and allowing big plays. And for them to achieve what they want to this season, the Navy & Gold need to fix those little issues. And if they are able to do that, then the sky’s the limit potentially this year for Alexander.

“It’s on me. I have to do a better job of doing the little things better,” Garcia said. “If we do the simple things better, that will translate to when it matters here. I need to do a better job. Our boys are playing their hearts out, I just need to do a better job at focusing on doing the little things better.

“If we continue to do what we are doing and continue focusing on ourselves, I think we will be alright.”