There was an obvious air of urgency and desperation in Friday night’s District 2-5A Division I opener between Amarillo High and Tascosa at West Texas A&M’s Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
Amarillo High showed how that sense of urgency can pay off. Tascosa now has to avoid desperation.
In an unexpected turn in the annual matchup between the longtime crosstown rivals, it was all black and gold. Amarillo High jumped all over Tascosa in the first half and the Sandies left with a 42-6 victory which meant a lot more than just local bragging rights through 2024.
Both teams needed a win to start district after tough starts in non-district. Amarillo High (2-3, 1-0 in district) now can legitimately claim contender status with a win that counts more than any so far this season against an opponent who had won the previous three meetings between the two schools.
“It turned out great and we’re blessed,” AHS coach Chad Dunnam said. “I’m thankful for our kids and our coaches. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight but we’re going to get our head down and go back to work.”
Perhaps the Sandies have been a bit of a sleeper up to now. All three of their losses were to Class 6A schools, and the last two, to Odessa and Midland, were by a combined six points.
Amarillo High came out like it had something to prove against the Rebels (1-3, 0-1). All the natural dynamics of a crosstown matchup and the urgency of a district opener were quickly blown out of the water by the Sandies.
In the first half, everything went Amarillo High’s way and nothing went Tascosa’s, as the Sandies rolled to a shocking 35-0 halftime lead. The second half seemed like a mere formality after that.
“The price of poker goes up because you start district play,” Dunnam said. “We challenged our kids and said the practice runs our over. Now they count. Preparation and the work and the effort that goes into it goes up.
“I think we learned lessons through nond-istrict that helped us tonight. The games you play and the mistakes you make and the good things you do can’t go in vain.”
The two teams exchanged punts to start the game, but Amarillo High took advantage of the first of three Tascosa turnovers, a fumble, midway through the first quarter. It culminated with a 1-yard scoring run by Pius Vokes for a 7-0 lead. After that, though, the Sandies went over the Rebels for the bulk of their offense with stellar results.
Quarterback Will Flaming had a career night in the first half, completing 12-of-18 passes for 263 yards over a beleaguered Tascosa secondary. The Sandies completed two straight long passes following a Tascosa punt, with Flaming hitting sophomore Oliver Parsons for a 38-yard gain, then finding Cooper Manning for a 33-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
The Rebels lost another fumble late in the first quarter which was recovered by Leo Butler. On the second play of the second quarter, Parsons threw a scoring pass to Flaming on a trick play for a 21-0 lead.
“The game plan this week was when (Tascosa’s secondary) was switching routes it would be wide open over the top,” Flaming said. “We did a great job executing that all week. We didn’t just win the game, we won each day Monday through Thursday and we just came out and showed it on Friday.”
Amarillo High also scored on the final two possessions of the half, both runs. Jett Lopez scored on an 8-yard run, and Flaming completed the offensive scoring trifecta by scoring on a 7-yard run.
Tascosa, meanwhile, struggled offensively. In addition to three turnovers, the Rebels never found their usual continuity running the ball, rushing for only 60 yards in the game.
In some ways, the game resembled the incomplete game the Rebels played against Hereford a week earlier when the Herd torched the Rebels with 202 yards passing in 2 ½ quarters.
“We blew a lot of coverages in the first half and offensively we just weren’t very productive at all,” Tascosa coach Ken Plunk said. “We’ve got to get better on both sides of the football, that’s the plain and simple fact. It starts over next week. We won’t be lacking for things to work on.”
The Sandies played it safe offensively in the second half, sticking to the ground. Rylan Leathers scored on an 11-yard run on Amarillo High’s first possession of the second half which made it 42-0.
AHS had a balanced offensive attack, shredding Tascosa’s defense for 466 yards. Vokes ran for 125 yards on 27 carries.
Tascosa’s offense never found the end zone against the Sandies. The Rebels got their only points of the night midway through the third quarter when Zaq Edwards recovered a fumble and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.