Fast Takes With Fast Break: Houston Legends vs San Antonio Soldados
Authors: Brandon Borges and Whitney Ho
Introduction
Week Four of the 2025 Major League Quadball season brings a clash of narratives as the Houston Legends host the San Antonio Soldados for their long-anticipated debut in Huntsville, Texas. For San Antonio, the stakes are sky-high, as many around the league have pegged them a Benepe Cup favorite and this opening series marks their first chance to prove they deserve the hype. For Houston, it’s a crucial opportunity to reset after a rough 0-3 start against the Kansas City Stampede and reassert themselves in a loaded South Division.
The history between these two programs tilts heavily toward the Soldados, who haven’t dropped a game to Houston since 2021. But last year, the gap closed. All three matchups in 2024 came down to the wire: one-possession finishes, missed opportunities and just enough execution from San Antonio to keep the sweep intact. This year’s series brings more than just seeding implications, it’s also personal. Hayden Boyes, once the face of the Legends as both player and coach now stands on the opposite sideline, leading the Soldados, joined by former Houston contributor Baldemar Nuñez.
With a hungry Houston squad still searching for its first win, and a San Antonio team expected to start perfect and stay that way, the margins will matter. Will Houston use this Series of the Week to reframe themselves as a threat to the Benepe Cup? Or will San Antonio begin its long-anticipated conquest of the league with a convincing series win?
A Salvo to Remember
Last year’s series between the Legends and the Soldados was a clinic in competitive balance. The Legends came in riding momentum from a surprise upset over the Austin Outlaws, sitting at 3-3, while San Antonio arrived undefeated at 3-0. Each of the three games was decided by a handful of possessions, with Houston repeatedly answering the Soldados' bursts with disciplined, quick-hitting offensive sets. But when the game tightened, it was San Antonio’s ability to win one-on-one matchups and finish under pressure that proved decisive. Luke Langlinais carved up the defense with a blend of driving through contact on isolation plays and shot precision, and while Houston’s system created chances, a few dropped passes and mistimed cuts turned a potential series win into a 0-3 heartbreak.
Fast forward to 2025, and the dynamics have shifted, starting with the decision-makers on the sideline: Boyes, once the figurehead of the Houston program, now leads the Soldados. His move west brings with it not just insider knowledge of Houston’s structure and personnel, but a familiar face in Nuñez, a bellcow beater who shined for the Legends last year. On the other side, former assistant coach Brandon Kubena takes the reins in Houston. A veteran coach with recent success leading the Texas Copperheads, Kubena has coached or played with much of the South Division, including Boyes and Nuñez themselves. This series will be not simply a pleasant reunion, but a chess match of deeply intertwined histories.
Houston enters the series 0-3, still licking wounds from a tough sweep from Kansas City. To once again have a 3-3 record requires a sweep, a daunting but not impossible challenge. Houston-based teams have a track record of pulling off upsets when least expected, and with a series already under their belt, the Legends could catch an untested San Antonio squad off-guard.
The Soldados’ hopes reach far higher than this series, however. With a roster stacked with returning semifinalists and boosted by elite talent like Jay Stewart, the expectation is clear: an undefeated regular season and a run at the Benepe Cup. It starts here, against a team that knows them intimately and won’t go down quietly.
San Antonio: Take What is Ours
The Soldados come into this series hungry to begin this MLQ season. With a month-long break in between the 30-man roster being announced and their first series, practice was crucial for this team as they continue to build chemistry with a new roster and work out some tactical differences brought on from new players. Big name players like Stewart and Boyes, both leaders for their respective teams last season, will look to make a statement in this opening series. It will be interesting to see how these two strong and skilled players combine their game-IQ and strategies to allow their team to see as much success as possible this season.
The chaser core of this team is backed by both club and college players alike, made up of some of the strongest teams in the Southwest. Last season, Boyes finished as the top regular season goalscorer after tallying 54 goals. Including Boyes, San Antonio’s roster this weekend features four of MLQ’s top 20 goal scorers from 2024: Stewart, David Avila and Matthew Blackwood. These dynamic players have proved time and time again that they know how to score, and it will be a daunting challenge for Houston to subdue them. Avila, the lone collegiate player who climbed into the top 20 for San Antonio, will continue to thrive, bringing a younger perspective to the chasing game. Female chasers Alyssa Villalba and Catherine Hay are also crucial to the team, with their game knowledge and skill allowing for multiple offensive options during plays and strong communication and strategy on defense.
The beating game for San Antonio is similarly stacked, with Javi Tijerina, Brandy Gomez, Milena Sousa and Nuñez. Nuñez, who recorded 27 stops last season, will be heavily involved on both offense and defense, maintaining control of the dodgeball game to cause chaos for the opposing team and provide their Chasers with many opportunities to extend a lead. Tijerina, from the University of Texas San Antonio, is known for his aggressive pace and defensive strength, and will certainly come into this series hot and bring comfortable chemistry to this team.
When looking at the seeking game, one name stands out: John Alvarez. Alvarez finished last MLQ season with five catches, putting him in second place for most catches though he was only rostered for nine games. His addition to the Soldados will definitely not be overlooked, as his successes in both last MLQ season as well as the 2025 USQ season with the Texas Hill Country Heat will add experience and confidence to the Soldados. His skill and technicality will not only allow the chasers and beaters to be more comfortable focusing on the Quadball game during SOP, but will also prove to be a significant threat to Houston as he forces them to divide their focus between the flag runner and the Quadball. Alvarez will most likely be sharing reps with Kristopher De La Fuente and Terra Robinson, which will allow all three seekers to take rest if they need it and rattle the flag runners with their different styles and techniques.
Houston: Shooting for the Moon
The Legends may still be searching for their first win of the season, but there were signs of propulsion against Kansas City, flashes of a team still coming together, but already showing the tools to compete. Leading that charge were a trio of downhill threats in Sean Allen, Aaron Price and Andrew Acosta, each capable of collapsing defenses with power and precision at the hoop. Acosta, in particular, looked comfortable commanding the offense from multiple positions, finishing as the team’s top scorer and providing steady control in tight possessions. Meanwhile, Mallory Hughes continued her upward trajectory, showing improved decision-making as both a driver and distributor. With her growing composure and passing touch, Houston’s offensive sets have begun to show more shape and variety than at times last season.
The biggest revelation for Houston may have come at beater. Mid-series, veteran chaser Sam Reagan shifted roles to beater and immediately delivered some of the team’s strongest minutes of the weekend. His poise, timing and scramble instincts gave Houston a much-needed spark, and his role is likely to grow for this series. But with rookie standout David Wright not rostered for the series, Kubena will need to get inventive. That means tapping into the full potential of veteran beaters Conner Mason and Gabi Lopez, both of whom bring experience but will need to step up against San Antonio’s relentless beater pressure. It also presents a major opportunity for young talent such as Sophia Araujo to earn key rotational roles. With Kubena’s track record of smart mid-game pivots, expect Houston’s beater strategy to remain fluid, especially if the Soldados begin to dominate the beater game.
But for Houston to shift from potential to production, several key issues need resolving. Their fast break offense often left ball-carriers isolated, forcing them to fight through multiple defenders on plays that should have been easy conversions. Their set offense, while cohesive, occasionally meandered too long, giving opposing defenses time to adjust. And most critically, their defense when operating with a single dodgeball struggled to adapt to space and motion, allowing Kansas City to exploit the backside of their zone repeatedly. With elite beaters like Williams, Sousa and their former teammate Nuñez waiting on the other side, Houston must shore up those gaps, because against a team like San Antonio, even brief breakdowns tend to end in points.
Tactical Breakdown
One of the things that San Antonio is known for is their fast pace and aggressive style, built upon the team’s shared passion for the game. The Soldados are stacked with not only athleticism but also with experience in tough situations. However, the team’s fiery nature could hinder them if it isn’t controlled. When the pace of the game is fast, San Antonio thrives, but the physical Houston team may become discouraged and frustrated if they can’t keep up, potentially leading to tough fouls or timeouts as they try to wrestle some control back. The Soldados are proud, not allowing for any disrespect and have been known to retaliate against unfair plays or calls, leading to their tactical prowess to falter in certain situations. To be successful during this series, the Soldados will have to keep their heads and stick to their style and alternatively, Houston needs to work on slowing down the pace so they can control the game, not allowing San Antonio to run away with it.
Much of Houston’s offensive identity revolves around calculated hammer plays, aggressive sequences designed to use a dodgeball to free up side hoops for clean looks via shots or dunks. But against a team like San Antonio, those hammer plays come with risk. The Soldados thrive on transition opportunities, especially when the ball changes possession near their own hoops and there’s no dodgeball coverage downfield. If Houston commits their dodgeballs too close to the Soldados' scoring zone, they risk handing over open-field opportunities to one of the most athletic transition units in the league. The challenge for Houston will be balancing their creative set pieces with awareness, knowing when to strike with a hammer and when to hold back to cover the counter.
Houston’s physicality gives them options. Players like Allen and Price have the tools to muscle through hoop defenders without needing a dodgeball to clear the lane, and the Legends have shown a growing ability to execute pick plays to spring side-hoop options. But the real test will be whether they can do all that while preventing opportunities for transition plays. The Soldados don’t just run after stops, they run after chaos, and few things create more chaos than a hammer gone wrong.
Layered over all of this is the presence of Boyes. As the former leader and master executor of Houston’s offense, he knows the system’s strengths, timing patterns and player habits better than anyone. The Legends’ offensive schemes haven’t changed much since Boyes' departure, which means this weekend may become a chess match between familiarity and innovation. Will Houston double down on their core sets and trust in clean execution? Or will they introduce new wrinkles to keep Boyes, and by extension, the Soldados, guessing? Either way, how Houston evolves within their identity could decide whether they stay competitive or get left chasing.
Prediction
There’s no sugarcoating it: San Antonio is a daunting opponent. From top to bottom, the Soldados boast elite-level talent with a depth chart stacked with Team USA pedigree, high-impact role players and veterans who have already proven their worth deep into championship weekends. Add to that an experienced new head coach in Boyes, who has a deep familiarity of the Houston offensive system, and it’s hard to imagine the Legends coming away with a win unless everything breaks right.
That said, Houston is not a team to be written off lightly. Their track record of frustrating higher-seeded opponents with efficient, well-timed offenses and gritty physical play is well established. If they can force San Antonio into a slower-paced, high-contact series, the Soldados’ lack of live reps this season could become a factor. The Legends also have the benefit of having played together already, which means more chemistry, more film to correct from and maybe even more resolve. If they can prevent an onslaught of transition play, stay composed in crunch-time possessions and lean into their bruising offensive threats, they could at least make this series uncomfortably close.
But potential alone won’t tilt the scale. San Antonio’s speed, system familiarity and defensive playmaking present matchup nightmares across the board. Unless Houston manages to completely dictate tempo and force mistakes, this looks like the start of a statement season for the Soldados.
Prediction: San Antonio 3-0
