The opening week of Texas High School football is in the books. Take a look at the recaps from Class 6A-4A across the Texas Panhandle and the South Plains including Amarillo High’s blowout win against Odessa High. Dumas picked up a shutout over Caprock and Hereford held off Lubbock High.
Amarillo High crushes Odessa High in Bivins opener
Expectations are high this season for the Amarillo High Sandies, particularly on offense, and they showed why in their season opener Friday night against Odessa High at Dick Bivins Stadium.
The Sandies were hitting on all cylinders in a balanced offensive performance, as they seemed to do whatever they wanted in rolling to a 55-12 victory.
Quarterback Jett Lopez, one of the top returning signal callers in the area, lived up to his reputation after a junior season in which he set Amarillo High’s single season passing yardage record. Lopez completed 15-of-23 passes for 305 yards and five touchdowns to lead the aerial attack which Odessa was helpless to stop.
The wealth was spread around receiving wise. Austin Sluder had four catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Oliver Parsons had six catches for 81 yards and two scores.
Amarillo High was hardly one-dimensional offensively. Jude Dunavin ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns on only 10 carries, as the Sandies ran for 252 yards.
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Hereford outlasts Lubbock High
Lopez wasn’t the only returning area quarterback to prove worthy of the hype, as Hereford’s Kalub Ramirez came up huge in a 42-35 shootout victory over Lubbock High on Thursday night.
Ramirez, starting his fourth season at Hereford, led the Whitefaces by completing 16-of-24 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Brix Machen, who had seven catches for 161 yards. For good measure, Ramirez also caught a touchdown pass.
Hereford’s Kobe Goodloe also had a big game running the ball, picking up 118 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Lubbock actually outgained Hereford by a 464-436 margin. Bo Davis carried the Westerners offensively, rushing for 241 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.
CLASS 4A
Dumas routs Caprock
In a matchup of former district rivals, Dumas was dominant in every form imaginable against Caprock, jumping on top early and cruising to a 51-0 victory at home.
Dumas quarterback Colton Mills was another returning QB delivering on early promise, as he accounted in one form of another for six the seven touchdowns scored by the Demons. Mills, a three-year junior starter, completed 12-of-16 passes for 168 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for 60 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries.
Two scoring passes went to Chris Jimenez. The Demons also ran for 225 yards.
Caprock, meanwhile, managed only 193 yards of total offense as Xavier Vargas ran for 55 yards on nine carries. Dumas intercepted three passes by the Longhorns.
Pampa falls to Iowa Park late
In one of the most entertaining games of the opening week, it came down to the final minute for Pampa at home before Iowa Park scored the go-ahead touchdown and extra points with 11 seconds left to hand the Harvesters a 28-27 loss.
It was a tight game throughout, as neither team led by more than eight points.
With the score tied at 21, Pampa’s Max Neff scored on a 54-yard run to give the Harvesters a 27-21 lead with 4:45 left in the game. However, Kairo Flores missed the extra point and the score stayed the same.
Iowa Park answered by marching down the field and with 11 seconds left Reed McClain threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Gideon Towner to tie the game. Reegan Blair kicked the extra point to ultimately give Iowa Park the win.
Neff had a huge game with 256 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 carries.
South Plains quick hits
Lubbock-Cooper Liberty has made major strides in just year two of the program and that showed in a 48-0 shutout against New Home on Friday night. The Patriots dominated racking up 389 total yards while holding the Leopards to 125 yards. Quarterback Colton Bichard went 11-of-19 for 114 yards with three touchdowns and ran for two more scores on 53 yards rushing. Rylan Thomas led the way with eight tackles.
It was a rough opener for Frenship against Byron Nelson in a neutral site game at Abilene on Thursday night, as Nelson took the early lead and routed the Tigers 30-7. Frenship never got untracked offensively and committed three turnovers, but Chase Campbell had a big game with seven catches for 107 yards and Frenship’s lone score.
Lubbock Monterey also had a rough opener at Lowrey Field against out of state opponent Choctow, Okla. Starting early in the second quarter, Choctow scored 22 straight points to put the Plainsmen in a hole and hand Monterey a 44-23 defeat. Monterey’s big highlight was an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Cam Taylor which gave the Plainsmen a 9-8 lead, the last time they would be in front.
Lubbock-Cooper also fell at home in the opener, falling to Lovejoy 35-31. Cooper went up 14-0 and led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Lovejoy rallied and took the lead just before halftime and never relinquished it. The Pirates had two 100-yard rushers in defeat, as Duece Johnson ran for 105 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and Ryan Rodriguez had 101 yards and a score on nine carries.
Overall, it was not a good week for Lubbock metro schools, as Lubbock Coronado lost at Wichita Falls Legacy 28-22 in the first win in Legacy’s football history. Darien Brooks ran for 113 yards on 22 carries for the Mustangs, while Campbell Stanek had nine catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.