Alice is 0-9 against Calallen since September of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Alice Coyotes will be playing in front of their home fans against the Calallen Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Alice comes in on three and Calallen on five.
Last Friday, everything went Alice's way against Tuloso-Midway as Alice made off with a 40-14 win. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 27-7.
Alice's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lucian Cruz, who rushed for 14 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns while completing 72% of his passes. Justin Arellano was another key contributor, picking up 62 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Calallen got themselves on the board against La Feria on Friday, but La Feria never followed suit. They breezed by the Lions at home to the tune of 63-0. Given Calallen's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 359th, while La Feria is ranked 1081st), the result wasn't exactly an upset.
Carlos Rosales had a dynamite game for Calallen, rushing for 217 yards and five touchdowns on only 14 carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Jude Hernandez, who rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
Alice's victory was their third straight on the road (dating back to last season), which bumped their overall record up to 4-1. They've been dominating across those games too: they took their wins by an average of 40.33 points. As for Calallen, their win was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 5-1.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Alice has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 170.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Calallen struggles in that department as they've been even better at 286.5 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Alice came up short against Calallen in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, falling 37-30. Thankfully for Alice, Bryce Burnett (who rushed for 208 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 13.0 yards per carry, and also threw for 100 yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
