Noe Cerezo Quotations

Permian deserved to win. They played better than us, there's just no question. They played better, and they wanted it more than we did.

It could have been much easier. It's not going to get any easier now. It's going to get harder.

Midland High, I swear they played good and I take my hat off to them. At times we were kind of flat, but we still had the courage.

We can't be cocky because we're going to a shootout. They've got to do their part.

We had every chance, and we just couldn't put them away. We were coming at them the whole game, but it's OK. I told the boys it was OK and to keep their heads up, but we've got to work on finishing. That's all there is.

We're not the same team we were from the first game. I really think it's going to be a different story than the first time. It seems like these kids realize what they did wrong, and they're going to come out and try to fix what they did last time.

We shouldn't have even been in that position to start with. The first goal they score, we're still in the game. But after the second one, we were spending the rest of the time trying to put the ball in there in a hurry when we should've been scoring a long time before.

To be honest, this one was pretty close even compared to our other games. Maybe that was because of our young guys, but we were all right.

It was tough and it's been hard all season long. I have a very young team with a bunch of freshmen and I'm hoping next year will be even better.

Our defense has been so much better and our kids are finally finishing it up (on offense). We've gotten our confidence back, and that's what has gotten them through the past few games.

The bottom line is those guys are good. We had our chances, too, and couldn't put it away. The bottom line is they were the better team and did what they had to do. We had a few little mistakes and we've got to learn from those in the future.

The bottom line is we won the game. We just have to work on that killer instinct. If you have somebody down, you've got to keep stepping on them, but the guys played well and they wanted it.

They played well, there's no doubt, and they started playing the ball better. I'm not going to deny they played well and I'm proud of them. But the bottom line is we lost. I've been telling the kids they've got to find that killer instinct and we could actually put people away 3-0, 4-0. We had our chances.

It's just a matter of time. The kids are getting it together and it's one of those things that half of them don't have the experience. They can play, it's just sometimes you need the experience, too, and it's gotten better every time.

It's OK we're just learning from our mistakes. We just made a couple of little mistakes and they scored on us. Other than that, we were with them toe to toe and just couldn't put it away.

It just depends on who shows up to play or not, that's the bottom line. You just don't know for sure. Central has been the only dominant team and with everybody else you don't know which team is going to show up and play.

It went in that's all that matters. I'll tell you what, both sides were playing good and it was anybody's game. The guys really wanted it.

I'm telling you, those kids have been pulling games out like that. They know they have to produce. I don't know why they wait until then, but it happens.

I really think a lot of people doubted us and thought we didn't have it this year. Little did they know that everybody in the district was pretty strong, so it was tough.

I really believe (playing through struggles) is a plus for us this year. Once we overcame that, starting out on the wrong foot, we went back to where we're supposed to be, and I think the kids are going to step it up and come through.

The leaders who have been there a while, they need to be strong and go back to the same thing we did last year. If we do that, we'll be all right. We have a lot of kids who are young and this will be their first experience in the playoffs, and also the kids from (Summit) are very young. It just depends mentally if they're prepared or not.