Tascosa’s Darius Sanders (18) Is shoved out of bounds by a Midland Lee defender during a nondistrict game Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium. [Tom Carver/ Press Pass Sports]
The Tascosa Rebels saw costly turnovers become their demise in a battle against former District 2-6A rival Midland Lee. The Midland Lee Rebels forced eight fumbles, recovering four, in a 31-21 win spoiling Tascosa’s home opener at Dick Bivins Stadium Friday night.
The game was tied 7-7, in what was a defense battle through the three quarters until both offenses came to life in an exciting fourth.
Lee flashed their explosive offense by manufacturing 24 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Shemar Davis opened the scoring with a 1-yard rush, 32 seconds into the quarter giving Lee its first lead at 14-7. Lee then recovered a third fumble from Tascosa putting the offense in excellent field position and All-State quarterback Mikey Serrano took advantage. Serrano delivered a 33-yard strike to his favorite target Christian Romero, extending the advantage, 21-7. Tascosa didn’t fold making a rally late. Trailing 28-13 the speedy Major Everhart, who was limited to eight carries, but finished with 126 rushing yards, broke away for a 45-yard touchdown run cut the deficit to 28-21 after a 2-point conversion.
However, the rally fell short as Lee iced the game on the ensuing possession with a 34-yard field goal from Gunner Meade.
Despite struggling through the air on Tascosa’s gritty defense Serrano 59 yards rushing. Tascosa finished with 310 yards on the ground.
Lee (2-0) has beaten both Amarillo High and Tascosa in back-to-back weeks.
Tascosa (1-1) will face Odessa Permian at Buffaloes Stadium on the campus of West Texas A&M on Friday.
Midland Lee 31, Tascosa 21
Midland Lee 7 24 — 31
Tascosa 7 14 — 21
— Kooper Holman
AHS gets first W of season
The Amarillo High Sandies broke even on its back-to-back trips to Midland. After a suffering a 54-40 loss to Midland Lee at Grande a week ago, the Sandies made this long trip to Midland well worth it hitting on all cylinders in a 49-17 victory against Midland High on Friday night at Grande Communications Stadium.
The Sandies well-balanced attack won them this game, accumulating 583 total yards. AHS put up 301 yards through the air, adding 282 on the ground.
The first half went back-and-forth with AHS taking a 21-17 lead into the break.
Quarterback Will Maynard stole the show early as the Sandies talented QB completed 10-of-13 passes tossing two touchdowns. But bad news struck for Maynard and his twin brother and defensive back Jake as both had to leave the game with undisclosed injuries in the closing minutes of the first half.
With Will Maynard out, junior backup quarterback Brock Wade picked up the slack. The offense didn’t skip a beat with Wade finding holes in the MHS defense completing 8-of-15 passes for 169 yards tacking on three touchdowns to Cayden Phillips, Jameson Garcia, and Davin Lemmons. The sophomore Garcia, who’s slowly becoming a nice compliment to Division I prospect Lemmons, finished with five catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
After the defense struggled last week against a high-powered Midland Lee offense, AHS pitched a second half shutout to put the exclamation point on the win. Amarillo High (1-1) looks to keep the momentum going against Bell Street rival Randall (1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Amarillo High 49, Midland High 17
Amarillo High 7 14 28 — 49
Midland High 3 14 — 17
— Kooper Holman
Caprock’s Draven Solis runs the ball up the middle against Randall during a nondisrict game Thursday night at Happy State Bank Stadium. [Tom Carver/ Press Pass Sports]
Caprock rallies late to stun Randall
The Caprock Longhorns had felt a whole lot of frustration for the first seven quarters of the season.
That feeling was wiped away 45 seconds before the end of action Thursday night as the Longhorns came away with a thrilling 18-17 win against the Randall Raiders at Happy State Bank Stadium.
After going nearly two games to start the season without a touchdown, Caprock
found the end zone when needed against Randall. On a fourth-and-goal play with 45 seconds remaining in the game, junior quarterback Joziah Balderrama hit sophomore Jaydis Ortega on a 5-yard scoring pass to give the Longhorns an 18-17 victory.
In a game which wasn’t the prettiest, with 254 combined yards of penalties, Caprock (1-1) stepped up in the final three minutes, going 75 yards on nine plays for the winning score.
The victory came after the Longhorns fell behind 14-3 early in the fourth quarter.
Balderrama finished the night 15-of-39 for 195 with his key two touchdowns passes and two interceptions.
Randall linebacker Mason Gilbert took back an interception 55-yards for a score that at the time gave Randall a 7-3 lead late in the first half.
Caprock moves on to face Dumas (3-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Randall (1-1) faces Amarillo High at 7 p.m. Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Caprock 18, Randall 17
Caprock 3 15 — 18
Randall 7 10 — 17
Plainview pushes past P.D.
It continued to be a struggle offensively for Palo Duro in Dick Bivins Stadium, as the Dons dropped their second straight game, 28-14, to Plainview on Thursday night at Dick Bivins Stadium,
The Dons (0-2) held a 14-7 second half lead only to see the Bulldogs (1-1) run-off 21 unanswered points to finish off the ballgame.
Plainview took the lead early in the fourth quarter after returning a blocked punt for a touchdown and recovering a strip sack fumble in the end zone. Karomo Collins then sealed the victory for the Bulldogs with an 87-yard touchdown run.
Palo Duro (0-2) scheduled contest against Wichita Falls High next week, but that game has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues on the Wichita Falls campus. Palo Duro is seeking another game.
Plainview 28, Palo Duro 14
Plainview 7 14 7 — 28
Palo Duro 6 8 — 14