Caprock dismantles Hereford
After a trip to the playoffs last season, Caprock picked up where it left off to open this season, showing former district rival Hereford no mercy in rolling to a 54-7 win at Dick Bivins Stadium.
The Longhorns racked up 596 total yards of offense and seemed to be able to do anything they wanted to do against Hereford. Junior quarterback Lleyton Brown showed the experience he got in the second half of last season paid off this season, as he completed 15-of-18 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Dallas Juarez and Bowen Davis also saw time at quarterback and they both also threw touchdown passes.
Regardless of who was throwing the ball, senior Jaydis Ortega was the go-to receiver, as he torched the Whitefaces with seven catches for 167 yards.
Amarillo High falls at Midland Legacy
Amarillo High opened the season on the road with a big night on special teams, but otherwise had little to return home happy about, as the Sandies fell to Class 6A Midland Legacy 47-21 at Astound Broadband Stadium.
The Sandies started the season with a bang, as Rylan Leathers returned the opening kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. But Legacy responded with 41 unanswered points before Amarillo High came back with an 85-yard kickoff return for a score by JQ Ervin.
AHS managed only 168 yards of total offense and threw three interceptions. Legacy, meanwhile, gashed the Sandies with a balanced offensive attack, piling up 512 yards of offense.
Bushland foils West Plains historic opener
In a contest filled with eager anticipation and high electricity, the Bushland Falcons dominated on both sides of the ball to spoil the home opener and the first ever game in program history for the West Plains Wolves with a 52-6 victory in front of an estimated 5,000 fans on Friday night at Happy State Bank Stadium.
While this game will be remembered for more about building a program for West Plains, the Falcons were looking to send an early season statement as one of the premiere Class 3A Division I teams across West Texas and did so in a major way.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Bushland head coach Josh Reynolds said. “It felt like a playoff game with it being their first game in school history. It’s awesome what they are starting at West Plains as a program. But I’m proud of our team. We executed and the defense kept getting stops. I’m proud of this team for how we played.”
Bushland opened up a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on the way to a 42-6 advantage by halftime. Quarterback Dawson Jaco scored the first TD on a 3-yard keeper to start a big night in his debut. Jaco showed a glimpse of what’s to come going 23-of-30 on the night for 182 yards and adding a touchdown pass. The offensive line and running back Ivan Soto wore down the Wolves as Soto chewed up 82 yards on the ground with a game-high three touchdowns.
West Plains did score its first score in school history in the second quarter when freshman quarterback Reid Macon delivered a beautiful throw to Jeremiah Gutierrez. Besides the lone score Bushland’s relentless defense pressured West Plains most of the night limiting the Wolves to 188 total yards.
Bushland moves to 1-0 on the season. West Plains falls to 0-1.
Canyon crushes Clovis
Going out of state to open the season had no ill effect on Canyon, as the Eagles were close to midseason form offensively in routing Clovis, N.M. 42-6.
Senior Derrek Clements showed his experience at quarterback for Canyon with a nearly flawless night, as he completed 15-of-18 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns to lead a precision passing game. He was complemented by a balanced running game, led by Sam Johnson, who ran for 86 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
Pampa overcomes early deficit to beat Big Spring
Pampa fell behind on the road at Big Spring but showed some early season character by rallying for a 27-20 victory to make for a happy bus ride home.
The Harvesters trailed 14-0, but quarterback Michael Campos sparked a comeback. Campos completed 12-of-15 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Max Neff had an auspicious varsity debut by rushing for 76 yards.
Defensively, Pampa linebacker Christian Kane had 13 tackles and forced a fumble to lead the way and Tae Sessions had 14 tackles. The Harvesters stopped Big Spring on downs four times.
Dumas falls to Lubbock-Cooper
In a highly anticipated matchup, Dumas shut down Class 5A contender Lubbock-Cooper in the first half, but Cooper rallied with a big third quarter to go back home with a 27-8 victory over the Demons.
Dumas got on the board first with a 4-yard scoring run by Emmanuel Ibanez for an 8-0 halftime lead. But the Demons couldn’t score again.
Tyler Spruill sparked Cooper in the third quarter, as he ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. The Pirates closed the game with 27 unanswered points.