Stratford overpowers Vega

The Stratford Elks kept their winning ways going with a strong second half to wear down a gritty Vega team 35-8 on Friday night at Longhorns Stadium.

Stratford, the defending Class 2A Division II state champions, run its win streak to 16 straight games dating back to last season and are off to a 4-0 start to 2022.

Vega (1-3) played with the Elks in the first half even leading for a brief stint 8-7 in the second quarter thanks to a 23-yard scoot by Jose Silerio. The Elks answered back on a Zane Burr 31-yard touchdown that gave Stratford a 13-8 lead it’d never relinquish.

In the third quarter Stratford flat wore down Vega with its dominating defense and strong run game. After holding the Longhorns on a 4th and 1 at their own 40-yard line to open the third quarter, Burr found his way to paydirt for a second time a few plays later on a 21-yard score. On the ensuing drive quarterback Bryce Braden rolled out and found his brother Luke Braden on a 16-yard pitch and catch for their second scoring connection of the night and Stratford all of a sudden was up comfortably, 27-8.

Burr finished the game with a game-high 102 yards rushing on 15 carries with two scores. Luke Braden hauled in three catches for 51 yards with two TDs. The Elks’ defense was absolutely stellar holding a very good Vega offense to 80 total yards.

Gruver holds off Highland Park

It was a successful Homecoming for the Gruver Greyhounds in a 37-29 victory over Highland Park on Friday night.

The Greyhounds bounce back from a tough loss to Stratford last week moving to 3-1 overall. Highland Park is still looking for its first win of the year falling to 0-4.

Gruver broke open a close first half contest with a focused third quarter outscoring the Hornets 22-0 to take a commanding 37-13 advantage. Highland Park didn’t go away scoring two late fourth quarter scores, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Gruver quarterback Mason Graham diced up the Highland Park defense going 12-of-15 for 129 yards with three touchdown tosses and used his feet for 111 yards rushing on 12 carries. Pratt McLain led the ground game with 79 yards and Walker Maupin punched in two scores.

Brady Thompson led Highland Park throwing for 297 yards with two touchdowns. Thompson’s go-to target Braylen Norman snagged 11 catches for 172 yards with both scores.

Sunray’s air attack too much for WT High

Sunray quarterback Armando Lujan kept his tremendous start to the 2022 season as he and the Bobcats took down West Texas High 43-12 at home on Friday night.

Lujan and his receivers were a mismatch for the Comanches. The sophomore gunslinger who keeps making a name for himself by the week finished with an amazing effort going 24-of-46 for 373 yards tossing five touchdowns and rushed for a TD. Defensively, Lujan also shined returning a pick six for another score.

Damian Barragan, Tanner Van Dyk and Kagan Davis all benefited from Lujan spreading the wealth. Van Dyke caught four passes for 103 yards, Davis had seven snags for 128 yards with a score, and Barragan hauled in five snags for 75 yards with two scores.

Through four games Lujan is putting up massive numbers going 93-for-150 with 1,235 passing yards and 15 touchdowns.

Sunray moves to 3-1 overall on the year. WT High falls to 2-2.

Farwell blasts Texico

Farwell stayed perfect on the season by blanking rival Texico, N.M., 48-0, on Friday night.

The Steers are playing excellent football at the moment not allowing a point in the last eight quarters. In fact, over the last two weeks Farwell (4-0 overall) has won its last two games over Sundown and now Texico by a combined 97-0.

The Farwell defense was absolutely lights out holding the Wolverines to 98 total yards and six first downs. The Steers offense fed off the defense racking up 457 yards with 410 coming from their dominant ground game. Junior Corey Stancell did most of the work toting the rock 11 times for 193 yards with four touchdowns. Quarterback Alec Actkinson threw for 47 yards with a touchdown but also went over the century mark rushing going for 118 yards.

Clarendon makes it back-to-back wins 

Clarendon made a long road trip to the South Plains well worth it by pounding Smyer 55-8 on Friday.

After an 0-2 start to the season the Broncos have put together back-to-back wins getting to 2-2. Jmaury Davis had his second straight big week. Davis carried the ball only five times but made the most of every touch rushing for 205 yards with three touchdowns. Teammate Quay Brown added 93 yards rushing on only four carries with a score of his own. Quarterback Harrison Howard didn’t have throw it much but when he did, he was effective going 5-of-9 for 85 yards with two TDs.

Booker bounces back

Booker rebounded from its first loss of the year by rolling over the Memphis Cyclones 39-6 for a Homecoming victory.

Booker actually trailed 6-0 in the first quarter but set the tone in the second with a pair of Hugo Avila touchdown passes to go up 12-6 at the break. In the second half the Kiowas kept the offensive momentum rolling exploding for a 20-point third quarter. Booker won the battle on both sides of the ball holding Memphis to 142 offensive yards and only seven first downs. Avila was sharp through the air for Booker going 16-of-23 for 232 yards and six touchdown passes.

Shamrock sinks Sanford-Fritch

Shamrock is on a three-game win streak after nabbing a 48-14 win at Sanford-Fritch on Friday.

The Irish are now 3-1 overall, while the Eagles are still looking for their first win dropping to 0-4.

Shamrock established the momentum in the second quarter breaking open a 12-7 first quarter game with 22 unanswered second quarter points to go up 34-7 by halftime.

Caden Peevey is having a great start to the season, and he was amazing once again rushing the ball13 times for 114 yards with three scores. Quarterback Kit Macina threw for 101 yards and ran it for 86 yards. Macina also returned an interception for a touchdown, and teammate Terry Menefield had nine carries for 64 yards with a pair of TDs.

Boys Ranch wins again 

Boys Ranch had no trouble bouncing back from its first loss of the season by bullying Morton in a 26-0 shutout at home on Thursday night.

The Roughriders hit Morton in the mouth with 295 of their 326 total yards coming on the ground. Quarterback Isaiah Brown showed off his skill as the standout torched Morton for 204 yards on the ground with four touchdowns. Tommy Rumble complimented Brown with 91 yards on 12 carries. Boys Ranch is now 3-1 on the year.

Class 3A

Wellington rallies for big win at Spearman 

In a very physical matchup where the defenses were the center stage, Wellington scored inside four minutes to play to nab a huge 14-13 win at Spearman on Friday night.

In a game where neither team went over 200 yards of offense, the Lynx led 13-6 with five minutes to play in the game. Wellington was able to mount a drive down the field and punch in a score off a Nixon Folk 16-yard touchdown run with four minutes left cutting Spearman’s lead, 13-12. Folk then delivered on the 2-point conversion to put the Skyrockets up 14-13. Spearman had one final chance with a 1:30 left. The Lynx lined up for a 34-yard field goal, but a Bryan Lopez attempt was no good.

Wellington did force two turnovers including a fumble at the Spearman 5-yard line in first quarter that resulted in a Barrett Phillips score. Phillips ended the game with nine carries with 37 yards. Quarterback Carson Tarver had 50 yards rushing for the Skyrockets.

Friona finds the win column 

After two frustrating weeks, the Friona Chieftains put a complete game together to take down Dalhart at home 49-26 to earn their first win of 2022.

Friona got this first victory with an offense that simply couldn’t be stopped. The Chieftains (1-2) scored in every quarter including a 21-point second quarter on the way to the lopsided win over an emotional Dalhart squad. Mario Bautista’s speed overwhelmed the Golden Wolves as the senior running back had himself a night piling up 252 yards rushing on 30 carries with five touchdowns. Friona chewed up 341 yards on the ground in total during the win. Dalhart’s Kyler Read played exceptionally well in defeat throwing for 244 yards with four touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards. The Golden Wolves fall to 1-2.

Panhandle remains perfect 

What a difference a year makes. After an 0-5 start to non-district last season, the Panhandle Panthers have completely flipped the script starting the 2022 campaign off with a hot 4-0 start.

The Panthers continued their winning ways with another one-sided performance by knocking off River Road 36-7 at Wildcats Stadium on Friday.

Running back Wyatt Brookshire found some running room to compliment standout Landyn Hack. Brookshire piled up 157 yards on 13 carries with a pair of scores. Hack did what he’s done since the season started. River Road just didn’t have a way to stop the 6-foot-3 dual-threat QB. Hack chewed up 217 yards rushing on 16 carries with three touchdowns and threw for another 102 yards with two more TDs. Cuyler Mize was Hack’s go-to weapon on the outside making five catches for 81 yards with a touchdown. Mize also made six tackles on the defensive side of the ball. River Road falls to 1-3 overall on the year.

Muleshoe take out Tulia 

A fast first half start was more than enough for Muleshoe to go on the road and take down Tulia, 37-20, at Younger Field on Friday night.

Muleshoe is playing good football at the moment moving to 3-1 overall. Tulia falls to 2-2.

The Mules jumped all over the Hornets opening up a 16-6 first quarter lead on the way to a commanding 30-6 halftime advantage and Tulia never recovered. Quarterback Sebastian Kirven played extremely well for Muleshoe going over 100 yards rushing toting the ball seven times for 121 yards with a touchdown. Kirven added 117 yards passing on 11-of-18 attempts with another score. Daniel Sianez complimented Kirven in the backfield with 148 yards rushing on 18 carries and a TD.

Childress falls in gritty effort to No. 2 Holliday

Childress definitely hasn’t shied away from playing one of the tougher non-district schedules in the state to start the year and that continued on Friday night at Fair Park Stadium.

The Bobcats showed a lot of fight against No. 2-ranked Holliday from Class 3A Division II but when the final whistle blew Childress just didn’t have the firepower falling in a good game 28-14.

The Bobcats (1-3) have now dropped three in a row but to all ranked opponents in Breckenridge, Bushland and Holliday.

Childress took an early 6-0 advantage on a Seth Taylor 10-yard pass from returning quarterback Scout Smith, who had been out all season with an injury. The Eagles (4-0) took over for a 14-6 advantage at half, but the Bobcats didn’t go away tying the game, 14-14, when Taylor found paydirt for the second time on a 4-yard third quarter score. However, that was the final touchdown for Childress as Holliday took over down the stretch for the 28-14 victory. Smith was solid in his debut at quarterback going 16-of-28 for 127 yards with a touchdown pass through he did have three interceptions. Receiver Lamont Nickleberry made seven catches for 50 yards.