Football player in green and gold uniform runs with the ball on a track field ground surface in action. — New Deal junior returner Jacobi Creek (10) celebrates as he returns a Sunray punt for a 42-yard touchdown during the first quarter of a non-district contest between the Lions and Bobcats, which took place on Friday at Bobcat Stadium in Sunray. Creek returned two punts for TDs, along with booting eight PATs in New Deal’s 56-12 victory. [Tyler Anderson / Press Pass Sports]

SUNRAY— In most contests on the gridiron, it is the offense or defense who get most of the attention. Games can often range from wild shootouts to a battle of attrition between two talented defensive units.

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What We Learned from Week 6 in High School Football across the Texas Panhandle

Every now and then, the special teams capture the spotlight. That’s exactly what happened with the New Deal Lions.

In a non-district matchup between New Deal and Sunray, which took place on a muggy and buggy Friday evening at Bobcat Stadium, the Lions were sparked by a strong start and two punt returns for touchdowns en route to a 56-12 win over the Bobcats.

Junior returner Jacobi Creek brought back not one, but two punts for six points. Creek’s first house call sparked New Deal at the 10:17 mark of the first quarter, and his second occurred with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter. Creek also split the uprights on eight occasions, totaling 20 points over the course of the game.

Creek didn’t have time to reflect on his performance. Rather, he was more focused on the road ahead.

“It just makes me feel motivated and just happy to see what’s next,” Creek said, following the game. “I’m ready to see what’s in store for district and maybe playoffs. We want to make a big run.”

American football player in a white uniform with green and yellow accents reaches to catch a pass as the ball descends toward him. — New Deal senior wideout Ethan Mahan (11) reels in a catch downfield en route to a 65-yard touchdown pass during the first quarter of a non-district game between the Lions and Sunray, held on Friday at Bobcat Stadium in Sunray. Mahan caught two pases for 92 yards and two touchdowns. [Tyler Anderson / Press Pass Sports]

Junior wideout Ethan Mahan contributed heavily to New Deal’s splendid performance, reeling in a pass from junior quarterback Jackson Attebury before scoring a 65-yard touchdown at the 6:32 mark of the initial stanza. Mahan also pulled down an interception, caught a 27-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds left in the first half, and tossed a touchdown pass to start the second half.

“We practiced hard for (Sunray) all week,” said Mahan. “We came in determined.”

According to head coach Matt Hill, it felt nice for his team to set the tone early.

“We’ve been focusing on (starting strong),” Hill said. “We want to make sure we can come out and be sound on both sides of the ball, do what we do, and try not to get behind the chains too much. I believe our kids came out and responded well, after we had a little setback (against Ropes) last week.”

For Sunray head coach Matt Clemons, it was the case of his team being chewed up by the injury bug and growing pains.

“We have a lot of youth who are playing a lot more snaps than we anticipated,” Clemons said. “We’ve had a lot of starters that we were counting on to do a lot for us to get banged up. It’s been kind of that season for us. Kids get healthy, then they get banged up again. We’re playing a bunch of guys who were JV kids to start the season. Right now, they’re starters for us.”

New Deal improved to 5-1 overall, and will gear up for District 3-2A Division II play against archrival Abernathy at 7 p.m. next Friday at Antelope Field in Abernathy. The Antelopes (0-6) fell to Lubbock Roosevelt, 38-32, on Friday at home.

Hill and the Lions will not overlook their opponents located just eight miles to the north.

“It’s a district game, so everything counts now,” Hill said. “We need to get our kids focused, and make sure we’re sound on both sides of the ball. (Abernathy) is well coached, and they’ll be ready to go. We’ll have the New Deal Lions ready to go.”

The Bobcats are still searching for a breakthrough, after dropping to 0-6 overall. They start District 1-2A Division I play against Panhandle at 7 p.m. next Friday at Bobcat Stadium. The Panthers (2-4) fell to a talented Gruver team by a final score of 45-21 on Friday at Panther Stadium in Panhandle.

“It’s going to take a good week of practice,” said Clemons. “We have to have a good day every single day. Panhandle is going to be physical up front and try to get the running game going. They came out and pressed us last year, so I’m expecting kind of the same deal on the secondary. We’re going to get our receivers ready to be physical, get off the line of scrimmage, and be able to get down the field. That way, we can win some one-on-one matchups.”

New Deal jumpstarted the game with a 21-point run, which began with Creek’s first punt return for a touchdown. Mahan followed up by catching Attebury’s pass in the middle of the field before turning on the jets for a 65-yard touchdown.

“I was supposed to run something like a slant, but I was supposed to sit down in the opening,” Mahan said, recalling the score. “I saw the safety come down, so I just took off upfield. My quarterback got me the ball, and I just took it in for the touchdown.”

Football player in white and green (number 15) runs with the ball, sprinting down the field as a blue-clad defender falls behind on a grass field. — New Deal quarterback Jackson Attebury (15) evades a Sunray tackler before striking paydirt from 45 yards out during the first quarter of a non-district matchup between the Lions and Bobcats, held on Friday at Bobcat Stadium in Sunray. [Tyler Anderson / Press Pass Sports]

Attebury then capped off the run with a 45-yard touchdown run with 2:02 on the clock in the first quarter.

Heading into the second stanza, the Lions established a three-touchdown advantage.

Sunray was able to move the ball offensively, but couldn’t quite finish drives with points. However, the Bobcats were able to get on the board with a four yard touchdown connection between sophomore quarterback Angel Vargas and senior Zeke Grajeda with 7:11 to go until halftime.

The ensuing PAT hit the crossbar and bounced back. However, the Bobcats trimmed the Lions’ lead down to 15 points at 21-6.

New Deal countered with a 27-yard pass from Attebury to Mahan with 27 seconds left until intermission. As the teams switched out for the bands and Sunray’s homecoming queen selection, the Lions held a 28-6 lead.

The Lions continued to expand on that advantage once both teams returned to the field, as Mahan grabbed a toss from Attebury, before chucking it downfield to junior wideout Eason Caizada for a 38-yard score at the 11:01 mark.

“It was something that our coaching staff came up with at halftime,” Hill said, breaking down the play. “If we had success on first down, we ran the ball on first. We thought, ‘well, if we got that, then we were just going to jump in and try to hit them real quick.’ (Sunray) is well coached, and you have to keep like that on their heels. So, we thought it was a good play at the time.”

With 8:32 on the clock in the third, Attebury scored from a proverbial tush push from one yard out. Creek then reeled in a Sunray punt before breaking through for a 45-yard touchdown.

“Both of them rolled up on me,” Creek said of the punt returns. “I saw the lane on the right. With how we practiced and how we’re taught, I took that lane and took advantage of what the personnel had on the field. From there, I scored.”

With 5:41 left to go in the period, New Deal stretched their lead to 49-6.

Bobcats football player in blue and gold (No. 12) runs with the ball during a night game. — Sunray senior quarterback Zeke Grajeda (12) scrambles during the second half of a non-district game between the Bobcats and New Deal on Friday at Bobcat Stadium in Sunray. Grajeda caught one touchdown and passed for another against the Lions. [Tyler Anderson / Press Pass Sports]

The Lions finished off their scoring with a 14-yard touchdown connection between sophomore quarterback Kiptyn Escalon and senior receiver Colt Ramsey with 8:51 remaining in the game. After moving around from quarterback to tight end to receiver, Ramsey made the circus catch for his first touchdown of the season.

During the second half, Vargas left the game after getting banged up. The Bobcats saw a familiar face return under center in Grajeda.

Grajeda fired a deep pass to sophomore Owen Purl for a 64-yard touchdown with 8:27 left. The PAT sailed wide left, but the score lifted Sunray into double digits.

“(Grajeda) was able to get in there and show that he can still throw the ball down the field when we need him to,” said Clemons of his senior leader.

Along with his touchdown reception earlier in the game and his touchdown pass, Grajeda finished the game by going 2-of-5 for 70 yards.

New Deal amassed 356 total yards, with 204 coming from the ground. Attebury was 2-of-3 for 92 yards and two TDs, while rushing for 41 yards and two more scores. Escalon rushed for 71 yards on eight carries.

The Lions’ defensive unit also recovered a fumble during the game.