Only halfway through the football season, Denair is dealing with a familiar foe – and it’s not one of their
rivals in the Southern League.

It’s the injury bug and it has hit the Coyotes hard.

Already dinged up after splitting its four preseason games, Denair had more players go down in Friday’s
28-6 loss to Stone Ridge Christian.

The severity of those injuries and how long any player may be out is something Coach Anthony Armas
will have to contend with this week.

“I won’t know for sure until we see who can practice today,” Armas said Monday morning.

Depth is not a new issue for the Coyotes. They have struggled in recent years with small rosters, which
forced many of their players to go both ways on offense and defense, and left them short-handed when
injuries did strike. Often, there were more coaches on the sideline than reserve players.

This year figured to be different, with 26 players on the team. But now – with the normal bumps and
bruises in addition to strains and sprains that happen in such a physical sport – the Coyotes find
themselves in a familiar position, scrambling to plug the holes.

“We played decent, but gave up some big plays,” said Armas, who praised Jesse Ruelas for his efforts at
running back and linebacker.

The Coyotes fell behind 21-0 at halftime in Merced against Stone Ridge Christian (3-1, 1-0), which joined
the Southern League this season and already looks to be a challenger for the conference title.

The only score for Denair (2-3, 0-1) came on a pass from Derek Potter to Austin Silva in the third quarter.

It doesn’t get any easier this week when the Coyotes host Gustine (3-1, 1-0), which got past Mariposa
35-24 on Friday.

“We’re banged up,” admitted Armas. “We had some guys hurt that weren’t playing already and then we
had some get hurt during game. I’m not sure who we’ll have on Friday. We’ll see.”