Canyon bounces back with shutout win over Caprock

Style points didn’t count for anything in Thursday night’s meeting between Canyon and Caprock at Dick Bivins Stadium.

In fact, actual points were also in short supply on the Bivins scoreboard, and in the end, Canyon had all of those.

Nobody could claim an artistic triumph at the end of the night, but Canyon got a real one in a 17-0 victory to spoil Caprock’s Homecoming. It was a nice way to come back on a short week after a 48-21 loss to West Plains last week.

There was a whole lot for Canyon coach Todd Winfrey and his staff to nitpick over, which they will certainly do during the next eight days. Since football is a bottom-line proposition, though, the Eagles (3-1) will take the win, no questions asked, especially after last week’s loss.

“You always like those wake-up calls,” Winfrey said. “It made us have a great Monday practice, a Tuesday practice and our kids were chomping at the bit to get back here on the field. Now we get an extra day of rest and a chance to get healed up.”

Neither offense burned it up statistically, although the Eagles were fairly efficient both running and throwing the ball. Canyon was able to move the ball to two scores to take an 11-0 halftime lead and set the tone for the game.

David Harper got the Eagles on the board on a 30-yard field goal on their first possession of the game for a 3-0 lead. They took advantage of good field position later in the second quarter, culminating with Colt Cruth’s 1-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion for an 11-0 lead.

Caprock (1-3) had trouble moving the ball at all. The Longhorns had only 36 yards of total offense and two first downs, one of which was by penalty on the final play of the half.

But they looked to get the first big break of the second half. After a first half where neither team had a turnover, Canyon botched a handoff and Caprock recovered the ball at Canyon’s 18-yard line.

However, the Longhorns didn’t get a first down, and Ricardo Mendez missed a 32-yard field goal attempt as Caprock didn’t have another serious scoring chance after that.

“That’s just kind of how the night went,” said first-year Caprock coach Rowdy Freeman. “For every step we took forward we took two steps back. We had the ball numerous times on their side of the field and weren’t able to put any points on the board. In the first half we couldn’t get out of the shadows of our own end zone.”

Canyon essentially put the game away after the missed field goal by marching down the field on the next possession, with Sam Johnson carrying it in from a yard out to make it 17-0. That concluded the scoring.

It was appropriate that Johnson took the ball in to clinch it considering the rough and tumble nature of the game. The senior had 68 yards on 13 carries, and also started as a linebacker on defense like he’s done all season.

“It was a great motivation week,” Johnson said. “We came in on Saturday and watched some film and got things going off on the right direction. The coaches challenged us and said if it’s us against the world so be it. We came in and did our jobs and everybody played great.”

Canyon outgained Caprock by a 392-138 margin and survived making three turnovers in the second half. Just as huge, the Eagles committed an alarming 20 penalties for 145 yards, something Winfrey and the staff are certain to address in film sessions over the next week.

Junior quarter Boston Bell had an efficient game for the Eagles, completing 18-of-24 passes for 201 yards.