
Bushland quarterback Jared Thomas is ganged up on by a host of Childress defenders on Friday night at Fair Park Stadium. [Mackenzie Teal/ Press Pass Sports]
The Bushland Falcons jumped out to a 20-0 first quarter lead that stood up despite a rally from Childress to earn a 29-22 victory at Fair Park Stadium on Friday night.
The Falcons open the season at 1-0 while the Bobcats fall to 0-1. It’s also Childress coach Jason Sims only second loss at Fair Park Stadium, as he is now 20-2 in five seasons.
Bushland came out of the gate fast scoring on its first three possessions. Two of the scores were on touchdown passes from quarterback Jared Thomas to Skyler Jaco on connections of 24 and 27 yards.
The Falcons took a 27-7 lead into half, but in the second half Childress started to Chip away. With the score 27-15 late in the fourth quarter, running back Miguel Salinas broke loose on a 98 yard scamper, cutting the Bushland lead at 27-22 with 2:05 to play.
That was as close as the Bobcats came in the end. Despite a stop on Bushland’s ensuing possession, the Childress offense was unable to move the ball on its final drive.
Bushland 29, Childress 22
Bushland 20 7 0 2 — 29
Childress 0 7 8 7 — 22
Top Performers
Bushland
Passing: Jared Thomas 19-of-25-0-205.
Rushing: Thomas 25-25.
Receiving: Skyler Jaco 5-85.
Childress
Passing: Collin Bishop 6-22-0-95.
Rushing: Miguel Salinas 18-142.
Receiving: Devron Sims 1-34.
Panhandle downs Tulia in superb offensive performance
The Panhandle Panthers looked in midseason form, scoring early and often against Tulia in a 64-12 win on Friday night at Panthers Stadium.
Panhandle had a prolific offensive performance by rattling off 42 points in the first half over the struggling Hornet defense. By the time the dust settled, the Panthers offense accumulated 645 total offensive yards.
Panhandle’s offensive attack was led by senior running back Houston Heck and junior running back Jayse Edwards in a dominating rushing performance. Heck cruised into the endzone three times on 16 attempts with 220 yards on the ground while Edwards carried 11 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns.
The highlight of the Hornets offense was senior do-it-all player Cade Swinburn, who managed to score the only two touchdowns of the night for the Hornets.
Panhandle 64, Tulia 12
Tulia 0 12 0 0 — 12
Panhandle 20 22 16 6 — 64
Top Performers
Tulia
Passing: Cade Swinburn, 5-12-3-106.
Rushing: Cade Swinburn, 20-97.
Receiving: Juan Molina, 2-65.
Panhandle
Passing: Wesley Jones, 9-13-0-111.
Rushing: Houston Heck, 16-220.
Receiving: Zach Wood, 3-44.

Canadian’s Hayze Hufstedler races for the endzone during the Wildcats win over West Texas High on Friday. [Michael Kerrigan/ For Press Pass Sports]
No. 3 Canadian survives scare at West Texas High
West Texas High held their own against one of the most dominant Class 3A programs in the state in a 36-22 loss to the Canadian Wildcats.
West Texas High’s defense held Canadian to 14 points in the first half of Friday’s contest at Comanche Field. Surprisingly enough, the two dynamic spread offenses who averaged well over 40 points per game last season, simply didn’t provide the same output as their 2018 seasons.
In fact, West Texas was scoreless until a mid-third quarter Jacob Hernandez 35 yard catch from quarterback Avian Cruz. Cruz had a great performance for the Comanches, totalling three touchdowns.
Canadian’s rushing attack aided the Wildcats to victory as they racked up 354 yards on the ground. Running back Hayze Hufstedler had a stellar night for the Wildcats; his three rushing touchdowns contributed to a Wildcat win.
Canadian is 1-0. WT High is 0-1.
Canadian 36, West Texas High 25
Canadian 14 0 14 8 –36
West Texas 0 0 6 16 — 22
Top Performers
Canadian
Hayze Hufstedler 23-236
West Texas
Avian Cruz 22-88
River Road rocked by No. 8 Abernathy
Abernathy was too much for River Road during a 33-12 win on Friday night.
The Antelopes were able to rattle off all 33 points before River Road was able to get on the board
An upside coming out of this game for the Wildcats is their running game. They finish the game putting up just over 300 yards on the ground. A very impressive feat again a formidable opponent.
Abernathy standout quarterback Bryson Daily threw for 141 yards with three touchdowns.
Abernathy 33, River Road 12
Abernathy 7 13 13 0
River Road 0 0 0 12
Top Performers
Abernathy
Passing: Bryson Daily 9-of-14-3-141
Rushing: Avery Clarkson 19-89
Receiving: Jake Ayers 5-63
River Road
Passing: Lance Welps 3-of-9-1-32
Rushing: Lance Welps 15-191
Receiving: Collin Coppock 2-30
Stratford runs past Sunray in season opener
Stratford made sure there was little doubt about who was the better team in this matchup at Bobcats Stadium on Friday. .
The Elks cruised to a 63-7 victory behind their powerful run game that chewed up 253 yards.
Quarterback Walker McBride got the scoring started, calling his own number punching it in from 3 yards out. It took the Elks less than two minutes to get back into the endzone with some help from the Stratford defense forcing the turnover. Up 14-0 after the first, it was more of the same for the Elks scoring in the second as they racked up three more touchdowns, including another McBride TD run, just before the half to make the score 36-0.
The defense showed up in waves for the Elks in the second half with two touchdowns on a 50-yard interception return by Alberto Guerrero and a fumble recovery by Brit McQuitty. Stratford moves to 1-0 while Sunray falls to 0-1.
Stratford 63, Sunray 7
Stratford 14 22 14 13 — 63
Sunray 0 0 7 0 — 7
Top Performers
Stratford
Passing: Walker McBride 16-of-22-1-233
Rushing: Iuden Romero 13-99
Receiving: Cody Rinne 5-89
Sunray
Passing: Michael Peeples 13-22-1-162
Receiving: Wyatt McGaughy 4-59
Gruver QB shines in victory
Jalin Conyers’ first game back under center was no ordinary performance. The senior led a Gruver offensive charge that blew the doors off the Texhoma, Okla. in a lopsided 60-18 win.
It was a balanced offense for the Greyhounds dominating both on the ground and through the air. Gruver jumped out to a 22-0 lead and never looked back. Conyers threw for totaled 338 yards of offense with six total touchdowns.
Gruver improves to 1-0 on the season.
Gruver 60, Texhoma 18
Gruver 16 14 23 7 — 60
Texhoma 0 12 6 0 — 18
Top Performers
Gruver
Passing: Jaylin Conyers 15-of-22-4-238
Rushing: Jaylin Conyers 16-100
Receiving: Matthew Felderhoff 4-118
Texhoma
Passing: Trenton Mitchell 6-of-15-2-176Rushing: Tryan Grice 9-93Receiving: Tryan Grice 4-118