It wasn’t the shootout many may have been expecting, but it was the battle many people thought when Littlefield took the field at Abernathy on Friday night at Antelopes Stadium.
The Wildcats were able to punch a late fourth quarter touchdown and then was able to hold the ball from Abernathy to hang on for a hard-fought 24-18 victory to stay unbeaten at a perfect 3-0.
“It’s a big deal to be 3-0,” Littlefield head coach Bo Bryant said. “We started off 6-0 last year and we want to keep on winning. Our goal is to win every time we touch the field, and that’s the tradition that’s been set here in Littlefield.”
Though Abernathy has been close and seem to be getting better by the week, the Antelopes are still looking for their first win of 2026, falling to 0-3.
Though Littlefield had been scoring over 45 points a game and did have 451 yards in this matchup, this was a defensive slugfest.
Thankfully for Littlefield, the Wildcats have quarterback Sammy Saenz. Saenz is off to a tremendous start to the year and that carried into Friday night. Saenz did his job early finding Gabriel Mata on a 53-yard pitch and catch that put Littlefield up 7-0 to start the game. Later in the contest with Littlefield leading 10-6, Saenz gave Littlefield breathing room with a six-yard toss to AJ Cantu that gave the Wildcats a 17-6 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, Saenz came up clutch one more time capping off a nine play, 64-yard drive by using his offensive line to rip off a six-yard touchdown run as the Wildcats took a key 24-12 lead with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter.
“Sammy is a great player,” Bryant said of his junior quarterback. “He is playing really well right now and he’s growing up by the year and by the week. He is always in the locker room doing a great job of motivating the guys, especially at halftime. Even when he makes mistakes, he does a great job of erasing that by making a great play.”
Saenz ended the night going 16-of-22 through the air for 185 yards with two touchdowns despite two interceptions. Saenz also ate up the Antelopes on the ground rushing for 128 yards on 21 carries with another score. Teammate Jonas Camacho tacked on 103 yards rushing on 16 totes, and Saenz main target was Jayden Barrio, who chipped in with 88 receiving yards.
Littlefield was also extremely efficient on third downs going 11-of-16.
Abernathy’s Kolt Micheletti had a solid night running for 171 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Cutter Johnson went 12-of-18 for 157 yards and Caden Bird went for 127 yards receiving.
Photo gallery by Chase Seabolt:
