Lubbock Coronado quarterback Sawyer Robertson runs upfield for a first down against Tascosa during a District 2-5A Division I game at Dick Bivins Stadium on Thursday night. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
It lived up to the hype competitively, but it was a sad home finale for the Tascosa Rebels on Thursday night at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Tascosa couldn’t hold on to an 18-point third quarter lead against Lubbock Coronado and the Mustangs rallied with their explosive offense for a 35-33 victory. The loss meant that Tascosa (7-2, 5-1) had to settle for the No. 2 playoff seed in District 2-5A Division I while Coronado finished an undefeated regular season at 10-0 and 6-0.
The Rebels took a 14-3 halftime lead as they kept Coronado off the scoreboard until the final two seconds of the half. When Major Everhart scored on a 47-yard run early on the third quarter, they looked primed to win.
But the Mustangs blocked David Aguayo’s ensuing extra point kick and Izaiah Kelley returned it the other way for two points to make the score 20-5.
That lit a fire under Coronado, as the Mustangs cut the lead to 20-18. Everhart, who ran for 138 yards on 13 carries, answered with an improbable 58-yard touchdown run to make it 27-18.
But Coronado’s Sawyer Robertson threw two scoring passes to give the Mustangs their first lead at 32-27. Tascosa then answered with a 1-yard run by Josh Splawn which made it 33-32 with 3:43 left as Coronado stopped Splawn in a two-point conversion attempt.
After a big kickoff return, the Mustangs had the ball at the Tascosa 25-yard line. They moved close enough for Devin Samples to kick a 22-yard field goal and a 35-33 lead with 1:12 left in the game.
Tascosa could pick up a first down before the end of the game, as a fourth-and-11 pass fell incomplete.
Lubbock Coronado 35, Tascosa 33
Coronado 0 3 22 10 — 35Tascosa 7 7 13 6 — 33First QuarterT – Tayden Barnes 15 run (David Aguayo kick), 9:55Second QuarterT – Ke’Mauri Pinkard 4 pass from B.T. Daniel (Aguayo kick), 10:07C – Devin Samples FG 26, 0:02Third Quarter
T – Major Everhart 47 run (kick blocked), 9:40C – Izaiah Kelley blocked extra point kick returnC – Antonio Malone 35 run (Samples kick), 8:58C – Malone 27 run (pass failed), 5:17T – Everhart 58 run (Aguayo kick), 3:27C – Cory Ferreira 5 pass from Sawyer Robertson (Samples kick), 0:32Fourth Quarter
C – Eli Martinez 60 pass from Robertson (Samples kick), 8:28T – Josh Splawn 1 run (run failed), 3:43C – Samples FG 22, 1:12
Coronado TascosaFirst Downs 23 14Rushes-Yards 31-183 54-362Passing 255 44Total yards 438 406C-A-I 17-35-1 1-6-0Punts-Avg. 2-38.5. 2-33.5Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0Penalties-yards 2-30 11-113
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – Coronado: Malone 20-166, Robertson 11-17. Tascosa: Splawn 17-72, Daniel 15-73, Christian Sargent 1-31, Barnes 3-34, Everhart 13-138, Darius Sanders 1-5, Jayden Whiteside 2-13, Javen Patrick 1-(-9), L’Travion Brown 1-5.PASSING – Coronado: Robertson 17-35-1-255. Tascosa: Daniel 1-6-0-44.
RECEIVING – Coronado: Ferriera 5-55, J’Veion McCutcheon 1-25, Malone 1-7, Eli Martinez 9-147, Trevor Stephens 1-21. Tascosa: Pinkard 1-44.
