Cowboys hold off Cougars

A stout defense and strong running attack led Happy past Klondike, 38-33, on Friday night at Cougar Stadium in Klondike.

arguably the top matchup in Six-Man across the state, Happy’s defense held Klondike to 197 total yards in a see-saw affair that saw six lead changes and a rare field goal.

After leading by one point at half, Klondike (0-3) opened the second half scoring with a eight-yard toss from Jake Jones to Trenton Thixton as the Cougars used a hurry up offense to try and take advantage of Happy’s defense.

That score gave Klondike a nine-point lead at 23-14 which was the largest lead either team held in the game. Braylan King then ran for a score and tossed one to Jaxon Stoker to put Happy (2-1) back in front, 30-23.

Just as the game went all night long, the Cougars Nate Cypert then returned the kickoff 69-yards for a score, but the two-point kick was blocked, and the Cowboys went to the fourth leading 30-29.

Thwarting a Happy drive deep in its territory to start the fourth, Klondike forced a rare punt and then marched from the midfield to the Cowboy three before settling for a short field goal from Isael Rodriguez, that is worth four points in Six-Man action, and a 33-30 lead.

After getting the ball own their own 38, Happy’s offense converted a key fourth down on a wheel route from Bressler to King then finished things off as Stoker plunged in from two yards out and a 38-33 lead.

After an unsportsmanlike penalty on the kickoff, the Cougars final drive began in Cowboys territory, and they quickly moved to Happy’s 24 before a five-yard penalty backed them up.  Facing a fourth and ten, Klondike’s Jones found Slay Bowley open at the seven, but Ryelan King separated Bowley from the ball with a hard hit to solidify the Cowboys win.

Braylan King rushed for a tough 156 yards on 25 carries finding the end zone twice while Stoker punched it in twice on the ground and once receiving.  Cannon McGee had 170 of the Cougars total yards on the ground while finding paydirt twice.

Bucks survive Patriot upset bid 

It wasn’t easy but White Deer held off San Jacinto Christian Academy, 35-34, at Buck Stadium Friday night.  Playing without two starters, the Bucks (2-1) found themselves in a major battle with a Patriots (0-3) squad that refused to go away all night long.  Holding a 22-20 lead at the half, White Deer put up a score in the third to head to the final stanza on top 28-20.

The Bucks would need that lead as they were only able to muster another score while San Jacinto found the end zone twice.  However, both teams made their point after attempts via the one-point route which left White Deer with a thin one-point win at home.

Defense was a catalyst for the Patriots as they scored twice on fumble recoveries from Marshall Mincher and Jacoby Leach while Mincher added a score on the ground.  Matthew Richard led their rushing attack with 72 yards on ten carries and the defense was led by Jonathan Cruz and Benton Meyers who combined for 15 solo tackles in the game.

Mustangs pull off second straight upset

Behind the pitch and catch due of Holden Tice and Korbin Jackson, Claude pulled the upset of McLean, 36-32, at Mustang Stadium on Friday night.

The Mustangs (2-1) have now pulled off two straight upsets and have teams in District 1-1A realizing they will be strong contenders for a playoff spot in a wide-open race.

Last week, Claude used a balanced attack to take a 30-26 road win. This week it was the passing game the Mustangs rode to victory.

Claude jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first as Tice hit Jackson for a 15-yard score as the nimble sophomore kept the play alive running sideline to sideline before finding his favorite receiver open just over the plane of the goal.

Jackson then made his mark in the 2nd quarter with a fumble recovery with the two teams tied at 14. Claude then scored before half to take a 22-14 lead to the dressing room.

In the third quarter, the Mustangs and Tigers (1-2) each scored twice but McLean was unable to convert their point after scores while Claude to hit one as they went to the fourth up 36-26.  Despite 379 total yards, the Tigers struggled to get the ball in the end zone as they did score once in the final stanza but that’s all the home team defense gave up.

Tice was 17-of-26 for 217 yards and two scores. Jackson brought in almost half of those passes nabbing eight receptions for 134 yards and a score. Thomas Slack led the Mustangs defense with twelve tackles on the evening.

Kiowas rally for win

Using a strong second half rally, Booker stayed undefeated on the season by taking out Groom, 53-42, at Kiowas Stadium on Thursday night.

The Kiowas scored 20 unanswered points after the Tigers took the lead in the third quarter.

Two high-flying offenses, led by two of the area’s top gunslingers in Chase Nelson from Booker and Greyson Peet of Groom (2-1), kept things entertaining as the Kiowas led at half, 33-30.

The Tigers notched back-to-back scores in the second half to charge out to a 42-33 lead and a possible upset brewing. However, the Kiowas (3-0) offense reeled off three straight scores while the defense was able to shut down the Tigers.

Nelson finished the night with 162 yards in the air on 10-of-17 passing with four touchdowns and picked up 65 yards with his feet.

Adrian Rosales was Nelson’s go to guy grabbing five balls for 71 yards and three scores while rushing for 40 yards and two more scores.

Peet had similar numbers to Nelson going 10-of-19 for 145 yards and four scores plus a rushing touchdown. Trayson Corley was effective on the ground for Groom picking up 137 yards and a score on ten carries.

Around the Area

Behind a strong night from Jack Kotara, Miami took out the visitors from Wildorado, 58-12 on Thursday night.

The junior finished the night with 76 yards through the air and two scores while gaining 47 yards on the ground and two more touchdowns.

Lefors (1-2) found the win column for the first time this year as they knocked off Holy Cross 66-24 while their district mates, Hedley (0-3), lost by the near same score to Northside, 66-20.

Nazareth (2-1) scored early and often to knock off an injury riddled Silverton (1-2) team, 54-0.

Follett also pitched a shutout by knocking off the Lubbock Titans 48-0. Bryan Torres punched it in four times on the ground while amassing 115 yards and Wyatt Terrell had 125 yards rushing on ten carries with a score.

Last week Valley took one on the chin from the top team in Division I and this week they stood across the field from the top ranked squad in Division II. Jayton (3-0) exacted the same type of game on the Patriots (0-3) registering a 61-0 win.

Boys Ranch traveled to Whiteface (3-0) to take on an Antelopes team that was missing their star spread back, Ethan Kauffmann. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter for the Roughriders (0-3) as Jeremiah Rendon notched 235 yards rushing on only seven carries taking five of those to the house for a score.

After a six-year hiatus from football, Plainview Classical (0-1) hosted their first home game of the season and Amarillo’s home school, PCHEA (2-1), treated the Eagles rudely by registering a 53-0 shutout on the road.

Around the State

No. 3 Benjamin held the state’s longest winning streak at 30 games, but Borden County took down the Mustangs in a high scoring affair, 86-68.

In one of the state’s fiercest rivalries, No. 1 Gordon took care of No. 9 Strawn, 60-14, for a third straight mercy rule game to start the season. Stryker Reed led the way for Gordon with 163 yards rushing and three scores while Ry Reed had two scores on the night.

After the two teams put up 63 points in the first, Petersburg and Springlake-Earth only tallied 12 more points as the Buffaloes (1-2) pulled off a major upset over the Wolverines (2-1) with a 40-35 win.

Knox City’s Cameron Hernandez and Zander Abila carried the ball 36 times for 395 yards and eight touchdowns as the No. 7 Greyhounds (3-0) took out the No. 7 team in TAPPS Division II, Abilene Christian, 62-20.