Pirates of the Guadalupe? Buccaneers provide solid first test for revitalized Apaches

The last time any pirates ventured this far up the Guadalupe River, a fellow by the name of Lafitte noted in his journal that the local residents seemed less than welcoming, and he was forced to fire his cannon at them and withdraw south to his stronghold at Galveston.
The Gonzales Apaches are planning a similar welcome party for Corpus Christi Miller’s Buccaneers on Friday — and they’re hoping they, not the Bucs, have all the big guns.
“I think we match up well with them,” Gonzales coach Ricky Lock said. “They have a lot of speed. On film, they look pretty good.”
 Both teams are coming off disheartening 1-9 campaigns a year ago, and both are expecting a reversal in fortunes this season. The Bucs dropped a classification from Class 4A to 3A during the recent UIL realignment, while the Apaches have been buoyed by the return of Lock, who returned to the school two years after taking the Apaches to a 10-3 mark.
“They’ve got a lot of good athletes,” Lock said of Miller. “Their running back (Michael Perry) has a lot of speed, he was injured most of last year.
“It will be a good test for us to see those kinds of athletes early in the season.”
The Buccaneers rely a lot on Perry, who accounted for a pair of scores last season before going down with an injury. Quarterback Matthew Pena is tall and has a strong arm, while fullbacks Justin and Jason Trevino give Miller a strong 1-2 punch.
The defense is the big concern for Miller, which surrendered 446 points a year ago. The Apaches showed their ability to go deep in a hurry twice in their scrimmage against St. Michael last week, and Kedrick Cray accounted for three touchdowns in that outing.
The Apaches have looked explosive in their two pre-season scrimmages, but the offensive line has been slow to develop and protecting the ball became a concern in the closing minutes of last week’s scrimmage against St. Michael, when Gonzales turned the ball over three times.
“Our quarterbacks did a good job ‘til right there at the bitter end,” he said. “Three weeks (of practice) into this, we’re better than we were when we started. They (St. Michaels) have had a lot more practice.
“We’ve still got work to do on the offensive line,” Lock added. “We’ve been working the dog out of them. Right now, we have three freshmen in there, and we saw some freshman mistakes of course. Those kids are working hard.”
Apache first-stringers scored three times and the second offense scored once for Gonzales during Thursday’s controlled scrimmage, but during a running-clock game simulation period, the Crusaders capitalized on two turnovers to notch a pair of scores of their own.
 Quarterback Lukas Schiraldi scored on a dive after a short drive following a fumbled snap by Gonzales, and St. Michaels also picked up a score on the final play of the scrimmage when the Apaches fumbled on a quarterback sack.
The Apache ground game also showed the ability to move the ball, led by Mark Hastings, Landon Lock, Hunter Noack and Zach Moreno. Moreno got the second team’s score by gathering in a well-placed Jon Anthony Casares pass and taking it down the sideline to the end zone.
“We’ve got some weapons,” Lock observed. “We’re just trying to get them the ball.”
 The defensive line had its hands full with St. Michael running back Luke Seeker, an all-stater who rushed for more than 1,200 yards last year.
Lock said he has been pleased by the way the Apaches and the community have responded to his return to Gonzales.
“The kids have been so upbeat. It’s good coming back to something you’re familiar with,” he said. “Landon, all he wanted was to be an Apache. (Daughter) laci, she’s back with all her friends. Being able to come back here and bang that drum and start that warpath up, it’s exciting for us.”