Turnovers cost Tascosa Rebels in late loss to Abilene High in 2-5A Division I thriller

There were a lot of things the Tascosa Rebels did right, or at least very well Friday night in their key District 2-5A Division I showdown with Abilene High at Dick Bivins Stadium.

Problem was, they didn’t add up in the end, due to the things the Rebels didn’t do so well.

In a game to determine playoff positioning and a potential first round home game, the Rebels sabotaged themselves just as much as Abilene did. Tascosa committed five turnovers to none for the Eagles, including a desperation interception on the last play of the game, as Abilene escaped with a last-minute 28-21 victory which could only leave the Rebels wondering what might have been.

As such, Tascosa (5-4, 4-2 in district) won’t be hosting a first round playoff game, although the Rebels did clinch a postseason berth. Tascosa can’t get any better than a No. 3 playoff seed.

Despite outgaining Abilene (6-2, 5-1) by over 100 yards, giving the ball away ultimately did in the Rebels, as did a pair of fruitless trips to the red zone in the first half.

“We’re minus five in turnovers and you’re not going to beat many people like that,” Tascosa coach Ken Plunk said. “The percentages are less than one, but we still really had a chance. We were in four-down territory and wanted to run the clock down. I didn’t want to give (the Eagles) the ball back in that situation.”

Tascosa had taken a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter on a 21-yard scoring pass from Brayden Lineman to Cameron Vallejo, the second scoring connection of the game between the two.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Rebels got the ball back in good field position, but instead of trying to grind the Eagles down in traditional Tascosa offensive fashion, they chose to throw a deep ball on the first play. Jordan Brown intercepted Lineman and made a return to give Abilene the ball in respectable field position.

The Eagles turned the miscue into points, as quarterback Tristan Beal scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run to tie it 21-21 with 6:19 left in the game.

Tascosa responded by driving down to the Abilene 28-yard line when the two-minute warning came. On the next play, Lineman tried to make a pitch to Tyric Smith but it went awry, and the Eagles pounced on the ball at their own 33 with a chance to go win the game offensively.

“We just didn’t hold on to the football,” Plunk said. “We made one mistake and one mistake only. We turned the ball over too many times. We’re obviously disappointed.”

The Eagles marched down the field to the Tascosa 26. With 41 seconds left, Beal hit Jaxon Harris for his only catch of the night in the end zone for a touchdown which gave the Eagles a 28-21 lead.

Tascosa got the ball up to its own 36 when with eight seconds left Lineman heaved a desperation pass down the field and Abilene freshman Cash Henry swooped in for his second interception of the game to end it and preserve the victory for the Eagles.

“We talked about it all week about a path of getting into the playoffs and trying to get a home playoff game,” Abilene coach Mike Fullen said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight with what (the Rebels) do offensively. We’ve had some good battles with them the last several years and this was another good one.”

Abilene wasted little time in taking the opening kickoff 75 yards in seven plays for a score only 97 seconds into the game, as Symannu Strahan carried it in from 2 yards out to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

It took Tascosa only 43 seconds to respond, and in unconventional fashion at that. On the second play from scrimmage, Lineman hit Vallejo for a 59-yard touchdown pass, tying the game 7-7.

They took advantage of a short field on their next possession after an Abilene punt. Lineman capped the drive with a 2-yard run to put the Rebels up 14-7.

Early in the second quarter, the Rebels looked primed to take control of the game more firmly. Lineman ran up the middle on a keeper for a 38-yard gain down to the Abilene 1-yard line.

That last yard, though, proved to be unattainable. Lineman and Zaryan Malone both carried it twice and netted zero yards, as Malone was stopped inside the 1 for a major goal line stand by the Eagles.

“Never has that happened before,” said Plunk, reflecting on similar situations in his 18 seasons as Tascosa’s head coach. “That’s the first time I remember being stopped four straight times. It wasn’t a fluke.”

There was still a lot of football to be played, but it might have been a turning point in Abilene’s favor.

“Part of with what they do offensively is you’ve got to maintain discipline,” Fullen said. “They hit us on some things but we made them earn it. It was huge for our defense, but we were sending a message to our offense. They were trying to get the gap a little bigger and that was a huge stop. It’s hard to stop that one yard.”

Eventually, Abilene put together a solid drive to tie the game. Beal scored on a keeper from 18 yards to tie it 14-14.

Tascosa still had a chance to take the lead, but the Rebels had already burned two timeouts when they got the ball back. They drove inside Abilene’s 20 before burning their final timeout, and on a third down, Lineman tried a spike to stop the clock, but instead fumbled it, and there was too little time for Tascosa to run another play.

“We fumbled the snap and our coaches thought that we had spiked it but we didn’t,” Plunk said. “We would have probably tried to throw it into the end zone. We left a lot on the table tonight. It’s about the score.”

The Rebels outgained the Eagles by a 412-306 margin.

Tascosa ran for a fairly typical 290 yards. The Rebels had three ballcarriers go over 50 yards, as Lineman led the way with 89 and Vallejo had 88.

Beal ran for a game-high 94 yards on 15 carries.

Photo gallery by Marlee McDonald: