Advosports

GOLIAD - The Goliad Tigers run to the practice field from the locker room. They run from the huddle to the line of scrimmage and back to the huddle after a play. They even run to the sideline to get a drink of water.

"Coach Cunningham wants us running," said senior Timmy Flores. "He wants us to have better ... we've got a more speedy tempo. This year coach has us running everywhere."

Goliad ran to the end zone six times in its 42-26 season-opening win over San Antonio Cole on Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers carried their up-tempo style into the game and not only equaled last season's win total, but also won their season opener for the first time since 2006.

"It was the same thing," said first-year Goliad coach Mark Cunningham. "You can ask all the fans. They saw it Friday night. It was running on and off the field."

Cunningham was the defensive coordinator at China Spring before taking over as Goliad's head coach last spring. He knew changes had to be made after the Tigers went 1-9 last season.

"We were trying to improve work habits and that's one of the things we tried to instill is that we have to practice harder than everybody else," Cunningham said. "You weren't doing something right. You were 1-9 the year before so you've got to change things."

Cunningham felt the faster tempo would help with conditioning while instilling a sense of discipline.

"I like tempo," Cunningham said. "It comes several ways. D.W. Rutledge down in San Antonio (Converse Judson), when we visited him he was always fast paced.

"It also has a basketball background. When I was with Rodney McGee at Burnet we used to sprint on and off the court. We carried that mentality over to football. That's what we want."

Cunningham had to find a quarterback to run the fast-paced offense and he discovered Flores, who played wide receiver last season.

"I was just kind of looking for somebody to throw the ball," Cunningham said. "Timmy just emerged in those scrimmages. He took leadership and he was our man. We've gone with him and he's done an outstanding job."

Flores passed 282 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Kaid Brand, and rushed for a touchdown in the win over Cole.

"I feel like we played well but we could have done better," said Flores, who played quarterback on the junior varsity as a sophomore. "We had a lot of mistakes. We had a lot of off the ball stuff like offsides and stuff."

The Tigers haven't started a season with two wins since 2006. Cunningham knows his team will have to do better to equal that mark on the road at George West, which opened the season with a 20-15 win over Three Rivers.

"I think we're a little ahead," Cunningham said. "The thing is Friday night is going to show us a lot because George West is a good football team, well coached and has been in the playoffs. We're going to kind of measure that right there."

Successful debuts

Cunningham wasn't the only Advocate-area coach to make a successful debut.

Ricky Lock's second stint at Gonzales began with a 53-14 win over Corpus Christi Miller.

Ganado's Jimmy Thompson led the Indians to a 35-2 win over Hallettsville.

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com, or comment on this column at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.

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