Amarillo High kicker A.J. Villar kicks a game-winning 36-yard field goal as time expires to send the Sandies past Lubbock Coronado 31-28 on Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Amarillo High Sandies took its only lead as time expired on a 36-yard field goal from A.J. Villaro to stun Lubbock Coronado, 31-28, Friday night at a chilly Dick Bivins Stadium in their biggest game to date.
In a back-and-forth game between two teams hoping to make a major impact in the District 2-5A Division I playoff picture it was the Sandies controlling their own destiny at the end of the night.
AHS is 2-0 in District 2-5A Division I, and 4-2 overall.
The Mustangs, led by former Caprock coach Seth Parr, suddenly find themselves climbing a hill at 3-4 overall and 1-2 in district play.
The game was tied, 28-28, with 2:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Amarillo High took advantage of a fumble forced by linebacker Cole Boxwell who stripped Mustangs quarterback Sawyer Robertson inside the Coronado 45-yard line allowing Sandies safety Trey Thomas to recover.
AHS took advantage of the miscue by milking the clock and moving into position for the game-winning field goal by Villar who split a 36-yarder through the uprights for the thrilling victory.
AHS is in good position with four more district games remaining. Second-year coach Chad Dunnam said this is the type of win that could end up being a signature victory for his team.
“It’s unbelievable,” Dunnam said. “It was a tremendous effort by our players and our coaches. I knew that we were facing a good team and it was hard to stop them. The offense had to cover for us a lot tonight.”
Yet, it was the defense which came up big when it counted.”
Amarillo High quarterback Will Maynard delivers a pass in the fourth quarter against Coronado. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
Despite two early turnovers, Amarillo High out gained the Mustangs 437 to 356. The Sandies run game was effective, grounding out 277 of their 437 yards. Quarterback Will Maynard and running back Blake Bedwell each went over the century mark.
Bedwell was heavily relied on taking 28 carries for 155 yards and two scores. Maynard kept it 16 times for 111 yards and a touchdown, and threw for 160 yards and another TD.
UP NEXT
Amarillo High faces Palo Duro at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Lubbock Coronado plays rival Lubbock Monterey at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at PlainsCapital Park-Lowrey Field.
Amarillo High 31, Lubbock Coronado 28
Coronado 7 14 7 0 — 28
Amarillo High 14 14 3 — 31
First Quarter
LC—Will Boyles 7 pass from Sawyer Robertson (Cooper Hamilton kick), 11:33
Second Quarter
AHS—Peyton Conner 26 pass from Will Maynard (A.J. Villar kick), 11:20
LC—Eli Martinez 3 pass from Robertson (Hamilton kick), 8:39
AHS—Blake Bedwell 1 run (Villar kick), 5:11
LC—Martinez 8 pass from Robertson (Hamilton kick), 0:38
Third Quarter
AHS—Maynard 3 run (Villar kick), 9:47
LC—Robertson 1 run (Hamilton kick), 3:33
AHS—Bedwell 10 run (Villar kick), 0:00
Fourth Quarter
AHS—Villar FG 36, 0:00
Coronado Amarillo High
First downs 19 23
Rushing 119 277
Passing 237 160
Total yds 356 437
C-A-I 19-27-0 12-19-1
Punts-Avg. 3-36.0 2-41.5
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards. 4-36 4-34
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Coronado: Kaleb Manuel 18-65, Robertson 10-39, Neal High 3-13, Charlie Robinson 1-2. Amarillo High: Bedwell 28-155, Maynard 16-111, Taevon Hood 5-11.
PASSING—Coronado: Robertson 19-27-0-237.Amarillo High: Maynard 12-19-1-160.
RECEIVING—Coronado: Boyles 2-7, Martinez 7-108, Jon Hernandez 10-122. Amarillo High: Davin Lemmons 3-24, Spencer Thurman 5-64, Conner 1-26, Bryson Slaughter 2-25, Braylon Milligan 1-21.
DISTRICT 3-5A
Abilene Cooper downs Palo Duro to stay unbeaten
Abilene Cooper put up 21 first quarter points that stood up the rest of the way in a 42-6 victory over Palo Duro on Friday night at Shotwell Stadium.
The Dons fall a game under .500 on the season at 3-4 overall and 1-2 in District 2-5A Division I. The No. 10-ranked Cougars stay red hot like they have all year improving to 7-0 overall and a perfect 3-0 in district.
Palo Duro’s offense struggled with 110 yards of offense.
The Cougars put up 554 yards of offense led by Noah Garcia’s 207 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Abilene Cooper 42, Palo Duro 6
Palo Duro 6 — 6
Cooper 21 7 14 — 42
First quarter
COO —Noah Garcia 4 run (Trey Castillo kick), 11:20
COO —Daelin Campos 27 pass from Aidan Thompson (Castillo kick), 7:51
COO —Thompson 1 run (Castillo kick), 3:07
Second quarter
COO —Bryan Spotwood 20 pass from Thompson (Castillo kick), 8:04
PD —Dondray Degrate 1 run (kick failed), 5:35
Third quarter
COO —Campos 30 run (Castillo kick), 11:33
COO —Corbin Russell 9 pass from Thompson (Castillo kick), 5:44
Palo Duro Cooper
First Downs 8 30
Rushing 18 366
Passing 92 188
Total Yards 110 554
C-A-I 7-14-0 17-24-0
Punts-Avg. 8-38 2-41
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yds 8-75 16-159
Individual stats
Rushing —Palo Duro: Caleb Bernal 4-15, Dondray Degrate 9-8, Kain Lozano 1-0, Anthony Randle 10-(minus-5). Cooper: Noah Garcia 18-207, Dalziel Sifuentes 20-114, Daelin Campos 1-30, Noah Bjorlie 3-14, Aidan Thompson 1-1.
Passing —Palo Duro: Degrate 7-14-0—92. Cooper: Thompson 17-24-1-188.
Receiving — Palo Duro: Kameron Brown 1-59, Israel Guevara 3-27, De/Zhaun Gilbreath 1-4, Noel Marquez 2-2. Cooper: Campos 9-111, Bryan Spotwood 3-33, Braiden Hill 2-24, Izaiah Clark 1-11, Corbin Russell 1-9, Patrick Esparza 1-0.
DISTRICT 2-4A DIVISION II
Estacado routs Borger
It was a quick night of work for Lubbock Estacado in its district opener, downing Borger 56-3 on Friday night at PlainsCapital Park-Lowrey Field.
The Matadors scored early and often putting up 35 first half points.
Running back Jeremiah Dobbins ran for 163 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns.
Borger falls to 1-6 on the year and 0-1 in District 2-4A Division II.
Estacado remains unbeaten at 7-0, moving to 1-0 in district.
Estacado 56, Borger 3
Borger 3 0 0 0 — 3
Estacado 14 21 7 14 — 56
First quarter
BOR — Garrett Hannon 21 field goal; 7:43
EST — Jermiah Dobbins 60 pass from Jay’Lon Dobbins (Johnny Gomez kick); 6:54
EST — Alijah Willard 8 pass from Jay’Lon Dobbins (Gomez kick); 3:00
2nd quarter
EST — Jermiah Dobbins 39 run (Gomez kick); 11:35
EST — Kezardrick Murray 9 pass from Jay’Lon Dobbins (Gomez kick); 7:14
EST — Isaiah Diaz 22 run (Gomez kick); 3:05
3rd quarter
EST — Jermiah Dobbins 14 run (Gomez kick); 5:05
4th quarter
EST — Antwoine Jones 2 run (Gomez kick); 7:13
EST — Alijah Willard 40 interception return (Gomez kick); 4:51
Team statistics
BOR EST
First downs 12 20
Rushes-yards 28-88 30-243
Passing yards 25 193
Total yards 113 436
Passes 22-6-2 14-9-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Punts-avg. 6-34.2 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-70 7-72
Individual statistics
RUSHING: BORGER — Camden Hernandez 16-45, Levi Condren 10-40, Collier McGill 1-3, Andy Gutierrez 1-0; Estacado — Jermiah Dobbins 18-163, Colby Sims 1-32, Isaiah Diaz 1-22, Antwoine Jones 4-18.
PASSING: Borger — Camden Hernandez 21-6-2-25; Estacado — Jay’Lon Dobbins 14-9-0-193.
RECEIVING: Borger — Allan Cardenas 3-12, Zion Haynes 1-7, Collier McGill 1-3, Hunter Wilkinson 1-3; Estacado — Isaiah Diaz 4-63, Kezadrick Murray 3-62, Jermiah Dobbins 1-60, Alijah Willard 1-8.
QUICK HITS
Dumas ends nondistrict pitching fourth shutout of season
The Dumas Demons finished off its nondistrict schedule in style thanks to a blanking of Big Spring, 46-0 on Friday night at Steers Stadium.
The Dumas defense has been the backbone of the Demons 7-0 start to the year, earning its fourth shutout on the year.
As good as the Demons defense was against the Steers, the Dumas offense was fueled by quarterback Spencer Williams.
Williams threw for 252 yards, rushed for 46 yards, finishing the night with four total touchdowns and a 75 percent completion percentage.
Wide receiver Kyle Stroebel was the main target for Williams as he tallied 126 yards and two touchdowns on six catches.
Dumas will get a bye week before opening a very competitive District 3-4A Division I at Canyon on Oct. 25.
The Eagles (6-1) suffered their first loss of the year at Andrews on Friday, falling 43-22.
Dumas 46, Big Spring 0
Dumas 0 25 7 14 — 46
Big Spring 0 0 0 0 — 0
Top Performers
Dumas
Passing: Spencer Williams 15-20–0-252.
Rushing: Bryan Mendoza 14-115.
Receiving: Kyle Stroebel 6-126.