The Coyotes opened district play last Friday night with a convincing mercy rule victory at Coyote Field in Richland Springs. The feisty Mullin Bulldogs came into the game with a 5-2 record and an offense that had the ability to score some points. I’m certain this game was circled in red on the Mullin coaches’ schedule from the start of the season. Beat the Coyotes and it would be considered a successful season. Braggin’ rights for years and years to come. The Bulldogs played hard, and they did score some, just not nearly enough to avoid the dreaded halftime mercy rule loss. The math is easy enough to do, 76-28 at halftime, expanded to a whole game.... 152-56. Thank goodness for the mercy rule, our boys would be too tired to go trick or treatin’ on Halloween. The Bulldogs’ “Nightmare On Coyote Trail” last Friday night was Chance Bush, Freddy Krueger, Count Dracula and Frankenstein all rolled into one devilish package. Chance threw 9 passes, just 9, and completed all of them !!! Seven for touchdowns!!! Oh yeah, to add more misery, he ran for two more scores, added 9 tackles, 8 of ‘em solo, a couple of sacks and an interception to his 1/2 game of mischievious deeds. All of the Coyote regulars were major contributors on this dark night, none more so than Thomas Fowler. Thomas had 5 catches for 83 yards and three !! touchdowns. He was that “Jason” guy that never dies on defense with 8 tackles (7 solo) and scored the last touchdown on an onside kick return. Brian Salinas caught one of Bushs’ passes for a touchdown and added 5 tackles (3 solo) on defense including 2 tackles for losses. Gunner Mann, Chris Munoz and Patrick Phillips all caught touchdown passes and all had multiple tackles on defense. Trevor Tinney was successful on 8 of 10 PAT attempts for 16 points and added a tackle on defense. Jonathan Patino is the reliable long snapper on PAT tries. Stanley Buttler is the designated kamikaze kickoff guy and a valuable special teams player. Coach/Coordinator Shawn Rogers’ offense again was spectacular, scoring on an incredible 9 of 21 plays from scrimmage. Coach Rogers was presented a beautiful cut glass trophy commemorating his 100th victory with the Coyotes after the game. Congratulations Coach!!! I know Head Coach Jerry Burkhart was not very pleased with the points allowed this week, even if the end result, is a 48 point halftime victory. In my opinion, this pursuit of perfection, and non-acceptance of less than 100% effort is the very reason the Coyotes are 8-0 on the season and have a 38 game winning streak. Not to mention 5 time State Champs. The Mighty Coyotes are hosting the Blanket Tigers this Friday night at Coyote Field at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers are 4-4 on the season with victories over Eden, Brookesmith, Rising Star and Blackwell. A win this Friday night can clench the 11th straight District Title for the Coyotes!!! Go Coyotes Go !!!!