Shallowater hit Bushland with the big play early and often throughout the first two quarters, putting the Falcons in a hole they coulnd’t recover from as the Mustangs galloped away down the stretch for a 49-28 win over Bushland during a key District 1-3A Division I win Friday night at Todd Field in Shallowater.
The victory puts Shallowater at 6-1 on the season and 1-0 in the league. The loss snaps Bushland’s four-game win streak dropping the Falcons to 5-3 on the year and 1-1 in district.
“This win is big for us,” Shallowater head coach Rodney Vincent said. “We were a little worried coming out of the bye week and Bushland has been so hot of late. But we weren’t sluggish and we got out fast and had a lot of momentum out of the gate.”
This game saw a bit of everything including 10 total turnovers between the two teams.
Shallowater raced out to a fast start with pass plays of 66, 50 and 57 yards in the first two quarters to go up 21-7 in the second quarter. Quarterback Logan Winn connected on all three of those touchdown passes to Alex Moravcik, and a pair to Cruz Dickson.
“We played good defensively for the most part,” Bushland head coach Josh Reynolds said. “We just can’t give up those big pass plays like we did. We forced five turnovers on them and we were able to get back in the game, but we just coulnd’t get the job done.”
Bushland had cut the lead 35-28 after a quarter Parker Hall 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth but then until disaster struck on the incoming Falcon possessions. Hall threw back-to-back pick six’s to Shallowater’s Easton Foster for 24 yards and Connor Shires of 75 yards as the Falcons were marching down trying to score. That was part of a night that saw Hall struggle with five total interceptions.
“It wasn’t are best game offensively,” Reynolds said. “We had been playing really well and we did have 446 total yards, but we just had too many mistakes and couldn’t dig out of a hole. We had opportunities but when you turn it over you’re not going to beat anybody. The good thing is, we have a lot of season left and there is a lot of positive in front of us.”
Hall did finish the game going 19-of-38 for 244 yards with a touchdown pass despite the five picks while rushing for 54 yards with two scores. Asher Koeing snagged three catches for 75 yards and a TDs.
Shallowater quarterback Logan Winn had his own issues going 11-of-26 for 242 yards with three interceptions but did throw three touchdown passes, and ran for 71 yards with two scores. Dickson was clutch on both sides of the ball with 69 yards receiving with a TD, and came away with three tackles and three interceptions on defense. Teammate Micah Blackshear added four catches for 69 yards with a score.
“It’s hard to play a defense like Bushland’s,” Vincent said. “They put so much pressure on you, but the receivers did their jobs and got open and we picked up huge turnovers when we needed. This was a complete team victory.”
Photo gallery by Chase Seabolt:
