Bushland stifles No. Canadian
The Bushland Falcons made an early season statement with a dominating performance during a 47-21 beating of No. 3-ranked Canadian of Class 3A Division II at home on Friday night.
The Bushland defense was the difference winning the battle in the trenches capitalizing on 20 points off three Canadian first quarter turnovers.
It all started on the opening drive when a snap went over Canadian’s Camren Cavalier’s head on a punt giving the Falcons the ball on the 1-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Dawson Jaco hit Cole Purcell over the middle putting Bushland up 6-0. On the ensuing possession Bushland’s defense forced a fumble on Cavalier with a sack as Charley Pitt made the recovery at the Wildcat 20-yard line. Jaco once again took advantage hitting Purcell for the second time extending the Falcons advantage 13-0. After the Wildcats responded cutting the lead, 13-7, the Bushland defense stepped up once again when Purcell scored his third touchdown of the quarter on an interception return for a score that gave Bushland a commanding 20-7 lead it’d never relinquish.
Purcell finished the game with seven catches for 57 yards with two offensive Tds, and added the defensive score, however he wasn’t the only one making plays for the Falcons. Jaco, a junior making only his second start, looked more like a savvy senior in a breakout performance. Jaco picked a part the Canadian defense going 21-of-27 for a career-high 267 yards with five touchdowns. Receiver Baylor King also made his presence known snagging four catches for 96 yards with two touchdowns and had a 48-yard jet sweep for another score.
The Falcon defense smothered the Wildcat offense with six sacks. Trace Mitchell did lead Canadian with three catches for 100 yards including a 60-yard touchdown catch.
Bushland improves to 2-0 overall beating the Wildcats for a second year in a row. Canadian falls to 1-1.
Panhandle edges Friona in thriller
Panhandle put together a late scoring drive to come-from-behind and stun the Friona Chieftains on the road for a thrilling 21-20 in a very competitive non-district battle on Friday night.
Trailing 20-14 with under two minutes to play and the ball at their own 47-yard line, Panhandle quarterback Landyn Hack found Wyatt Brookshire on a screen pass and Brookshire did the rest going 53-yards for the score tying the game, 20-20. Hack’s extra-point was good, and the deciding difference that gave the Panthers the dramatic victory.
This game was back and forth the entire way. The Chieftains led 7-6 at the break, it was tied, 14-14, after three quarters. Friona had then taken a 20-14 lead on an Alexis Rivas 12-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but the extra-point was no good.
Brookshire led Panhandle with 86 yards rushing on 20 carries with a score and had the 53-yard game-winning TD. Hack was 11-of-24 passing for 167 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 53 yards.
Friona’s Mario Bautista had a tremendous effort stacking up a game-high 152 yards rushing on 30 carries.
Panhandle moves to 2-0 overall. Friona falls to 0-1.
Spearman sinks Sanford-Fritch
Spearman had no issues overcoming a season-opening loss at Stratford by rolling past Sanford-Fritch in a big way thanks to a 48-6 victory in their home opener on Friday night.
The Lynx are now 1-1 overall as the Eagles fall to 0-2.
Spearman jumped out of the gate early advantage taking a 30-6 lead into halftime.
Cason Mackie was a mismatch for the Eagles defense. The speedy receiver snagged three catches for 62 yards with a score and added 77 yards on the ground on 14 carries with two more touchdowns. Quarterback Carson Seaman was efficient going 11-of-16 for 150 yards with three touchdowns to three different receivers.
Muleshoe beats up Lamesa
The Muleshoe Mules found the win column for the first time this season in lopsided fashion downing Lamesa 41-14 on the road Friday night.
Muleshoe (1-1) played lights out on both sides of the ball totaling 399 yards of offense while holding the Golden Tors to only 171 yards.
Leading only 14-8 at half, the Mules broke the game open in the second half outscoring Lamesa (0-2) 27-6 in the final two quarters.
Muleshoe running back Daniel Sianez carried the load in the backfield toting the rock 20 times for a game-high 162 yards. Quarterback Sebastian Kirvin had 76 yards rushing with two scores and was 10-of-18 through the air for 118 yards adding another TD.
Class 2A
Stratford stays hot with win at Sunray
Stratford continues its hot start to the season by going into Sunray and downing its old rival 41-21 on Friday night.
The Bobcats kept it interesting throughout, however, the Elks (2-0) were able to pull away in the second half taking a 41-7 lead before two late Bobcat touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Stratford offense racked up 415 yards behind a balanced attack passing for 210 yards and rushing for 205 yards. Senior Zane Burr carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Burr also made 11 tackles on defense. Quarterback Bryce Braden added 61 yards on 12 carries for a score, and connected with his brother, Luke Braden, through the air four times for 94 yards with a TD.
Sunray quarterback Armando Lujan finished the game 16-of-31 for 200 yards with two touchdown passes. Receiver Ty McDowell snagged four of those passes for 62 yards. The Bobcats fall to 1-1 on the season.
Farwell fights off Vega
In a game fitting for the 1990’s style of play, Farwell and Vega had a defensive showcase with the Steers wrangling the Longhorns for a hard fought 7-6 victory at home on Friday night.
Both teams did an amazing job of not letting the offenses gain any momentum. Farwell totaled 290 yards of offense to Vega’s 178, and 100 yards rushing.
The Longhorns (1-1) did strike in the first half on their lone score by Joaquin Segovia on a 2-yard run, but the extra-point try was no good. Farwell answered in the third quarter finally getting on the board for its lone TD on a halfback pass from Corey Stancell to Ryder McElroy of 42-yards. Jackson Wilbourn’s extra-point was good and that was the difference for the win.
The Steers (2-0) were fortunate in this battle surviving after Vega forced four turnovers. Stancell finished 78 yards rushing and made five tackles with two interceptions on defense.
Segovia finished with 19 carries for 57 yards.
Gruver rallies past Texhoma
Gruver erased an early 12-point deficit to stay undefeated and knock off an upset bid from Texhoma, Okla., thanks to a 26-20 home victory on Friday night.
The Red Devils stunned the Greyhounds early jumping out to a 12-0 first quarter advantage. Gruver was able to bounce back in the second quarter scoring 20 unanswered points behind two Pratt McLain touchdowns to take a 20-12 lead into halftime. Texhoma responded by tying the game, 20-20 in the third quarter. Gruver took over for good with the eventual game-winning score on a 2-yard touchdown run by McLain with six minutes left in the contest as the Greyhounds defense stood tall the rest of the way. McLain ended his night chewing up 60 yards on the ground on 15 carries with three scores. Quarterback Mason Gibson added a solid night passing with 160 yards and a touchdown.
Gruver moves to 2-0 overall. Texhoma drops to 0-1.
Boys Ranch shocks Highland Park
In one of the more intriguing games on Friday night, the Boys Ranch Roughriders came back from a two-touchdown second half deficit to leave Highland Park in shock for a 34-33 victory at home.
It’s the first home win for the Roughriders since the 2016 season, and the first 2-0 start for Boys Ranch in 11 years.
The Hornets seemingly had control leading 27-14 in the third quarter. Boys Ranch battled back to take a 28-27 advantage after three quarters in the books. Highland Park had retaken the lead in the fourth, 33-28, however, Boys Ranch answered back with just over two minutes to play when quarterback Isaiah Brown connected with Xavier Wheeler on a 25-yard pitch and catch. The extra-point was good, and the Roughriders were able to come away with the victory.
Brown was electric in the win totaling 307 total yards. The senior completed 8-of-16 passes for 145 yards with two passing touchdowns then rushed for 162 yards on 22 carries for another score. Defensively, Brown made eight tackles from his linebacker position. Wheeler did his part making five catches for 47 yards with a pair of scores and had five tackles on defense.
Highland Park (0-2) was led by quarterback Brady Thompson’s 294 yards passing on 26-of-40 attempts with four touchdowns. Receiver Braylon Norman caught an eye-opening 12 passes for 196 yards with four touchdowns.
Shamrock slams West Texas High
Shamrock earned its first win of the year handling West Texas High 44-6 at El Paso Field in Shamrock on Friday night.
The Comanches didn’t have an answer for the Shamrock offense that built a 30-0 lead by halftime. Caden Peevey made life tough for the WT High defense running wild for 191 yards on 15 carries 4 touchdowns. Quarterback Kit Macina threw for 143 yards with two TD tosses and ran for 32 yards.
Shamrock improves to 1-1 on the year. WT High falls to 1-1.
Memphis blasts Electra
Memphis is off a 2-0 start for the second time in three years after getting a convincing 34-6 home win over Electra on Friday.
The Cyclones dominated in all phases racking up 278 of their 314 total yards on the ground while holding the Tigers to 112 total yards.
Running back Charlie Sepeda was the story for Memphis. Sepeda chewed up the Electra defense behind his offensive line toting the ball 20 times for a game-high 130 yards with a score. Teammate Marcos Flores added 104 yards rushing including a 64-yard touchdown run.
Bovina edges Seagraves
It came down to the final minute of the game, but when the dust settled it was the Bovina Mustangs walking out with a 26-20 victory at Seagraves on Friday night.
With the game tied, 20-20, and a 1:09 remaining in the contest, Mustang running back Darian De La Rosa scored on a 5-yard pass from Daniel Herrera to put Bovina up 26-20 that was the eventual final score.
With the dramatic win Bovina improves to 1-1 overall while Seagraves falls to 1-1.
Herrera had quite the night for the Mustangs throwing the ball all over the Eagles defense. Herrera went 17-of-29 for a total of 310 yards two touchdown passes and added another TD on the ground. De La Rosa added 48 yards on only five carries with a rushing score and the game-winning receiving touchdown.
Wellington falls to Lubbock Christian
Wellington allowed a late score and never could recover falling in a heartbreaker to Lubbock Christian 28-24 at home on Friday night.
Wellington (1-1) was up 24-20 after three quarters taking the lead on a 15-yard touchdown scamper by Dakota Marshall. The Skyrockets maintained that advantage until Lubbock Christian’s Bax Townend broke free scoring on a 17-yard run on a 3rd and 10 late in the fourth quarter. Wellington had one final shot but were unable to move the ball on its final possession.
Barrett Phillips was the leading rusher for the Skyrockets going for 78 yards on 14 carries with two scores. Jordan Nation made for catches for 81 yards.