The Alamo Heights defense rattled McCollum, forcing seven turnovers, and William Bishop rushed for five scores as the Mules ran away with a 66-0 win in the Class 5A Division II bi-district playoff game Thursday at Orem Stadium.
Alamo Heights (10-1) scored its first 24 points off McCollum miscues as the Mules forced McCollum (7-4) to turn the ball over on four straight possessions. The turnovers created by the Alamo Heights defense allowed Bishop to have a big game, as he finished with 281 yards on 13 carries.
Advertisement
Alamo Heights advances to the second round to play Mission Sharyland, which defeated Brownsville Pace 31-21 in their bi-district matchup Thursday.
“We have a culture of getting turnovers, and we practiced what we preach and that was the result today,” Alamo Heights coach Rudy Nerio said. “Super proud, I think we had about seven (turnovers) tonight. So, that’s unbelievable, unbelievable.”
McCollum, which was making its first playoff appearance in 11 years, couldn’t withstand the pressure from the Alamo Heights defense. Cowboys quarterback Luke Tejeda was sacked three times, two of them resulting in fumble recoveries by Alamo Heights defensive end Drake Carroll, and threw two interceptions.
Carroll said the Alamo Heights defensive unit was prepared to take on the up-tempo McCollum offense.
Advertisement
“We knew they were going to get the ball out quick, but our (defensive) line is nasty,” Carroll said. “So, we knew we were going to get some sacks tonight.”
Nerio credited the Mules’ defensive line for bringing the pressure on Tejeda and McCollum.
“They (McCollum) do a great job coaching, schematically,” Nerio said. “We knew they were going to get into some formations and try to make us line up and make us be consistent in our technique. I thought they did a great job in the first half, and we actually needed to make some adjustments at the half and I thought our defense did that. Super proud of them.”
Bishop said the play of the Alamo Heights defensive unit set up scoring opportunities for him and the rest of the offensive unit.
Advertisement
“The defense gave us short fields,” Bishop said. “The defense was outstanding. It felt like every other play they got a turnover. Credit to those guys and credit to us for taking advantage of those short fields.”
Bishop said the Mules offensive unit was patient in carrying out plays against the McCollum defense.
“The offensive line was really good,” Bishop said. “They just executed their assignment. I think there was a little more patience tonight, kind of just the way the scheme worked against their defense and just being able to find those holes, follow the lead blockers and all that stuff. It was really a good night in the run game, just overall in all three phases.”
Alamo Heights didn’t start hot out of the gate as the Mules had to punt on their first possession after going three and out. After Carroll recovered his first fumble off a strip sack of Tejeda, Mules quarterback Easton Stone was injured on the next play after being sacked for a six-yard loss, having to come out of the game.
Stone later returned to the game, but Alamo Heights was in good hands with backup quarterback Sam Sierra, who guided the Mules to their first score, a 28-yard field goal by Miles Stedman with less than five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Advertisement
The Mules quickly came up with another turnover on the first play of McCollum’s ensuing possession, a fumble recovery by Merritt Lasswell. Three plays later, Bishop sprinted for a 34-yard score to put Alamo Heights up 10-0 at the 4:24 mark of the first quarter.
Carroll struck again, recovering a fumble off a Tejeda strip sack deep in McCollum territory. The good field possession allowed Bishop to score on the next play, a 26-yard touchdown run which extended Alamo Heights’ lead to 17-0.
McCollum put together a long drive which appeared to lead to an 8-yard touchdown pass from Tejeda to fullback Mario Medellin. But the score was wiped off as Tejeda was penalized for an illegal forward pass. On the next play, Lasswell came up with an interception in the end zone.
Lasswell’s pick led to a seven play, 80-yard Alamo Heights drive capped by another Bishop touchdown. This time, the running back started left but reversed course, following blockers around the right side on his way to a 20-yard run to the end zone.
Advertisement
Later in the second quarter, Bishop scored on a 21-yard run and Stone threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Mitchell with 1:39 left in the first half, staking Alamo Heights to a 38-0 halftime lead.
The Mules added four touchdowns in the second half. Bishop scored his fifth touchdown on a 34-yard run, and Owen Smith recovered an offensive fumble in the end zone, both in the third quarter. Sophomore running back Dred Barr scored on a 75-yard scamper in the fourth, and Panashe Sykes followed with a 4-yard touchdown run, which was set up by an Alexander Montagas interception.
There’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at William Bishop, stingy defense lead the way as Alamo Heights blanks McCollum.
