With their backs against the wall and the season on the line, New Home was able to erase a 13-point second half deficit to get a remarkable come-from-behind 21-20 win to shock Stamford during a UIL Class 2A Division I area round matchup Thursday night at Wolves Stadium in Colorado City.
“It was awesome to see from this group,” New Home head coach Jon Ward said. “We had talked about responding instead of reacting all season, and we talked about it again at halftime. This team did a great job of that. We knew if we limited our mistakes and started to believe, we could get it done. These kids believed and did what they were supposed to. We turned it on and we were resilient, and found a way.”
New Home got off to a slow start while the Bulldogs (7-5), a state finalist a year ago, couldn’t have asked for a better way to get going posting two first quarter touchdowns on a five-yard toss from Miles Follis to Mahsyn Alvarado, followed by a six-yard scoring strike from Follis to Slayden Young that gave Stamford a 14-0 lead.
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The Bulldogs tacked on to that advantage in the second quarter on an Alek Hernandez 22-yard snag from Follis, but missed a critical extra-point, putting Stamford up 20-0.
Right before the half, The Leopards were able to turn the tables, getting on the board when Parker Liles hauled in an eight-yard touchdown from Brayson Beck, cutting the deficit at 20-7 going into halftime.
It was the second half where the New Home defense stood up and swayed the momentum. With Stamford going in for a more than likely put away touchdown at the Leopards one-yard line and 1:25 remaining in the third quarter, Follis called his own number, trying to push his way in behind his offensive line. However, when Follis tried to stretch the ball across the goal line, Leopard defender Greyson Snell punched the ball out, forcing a fumble, that allowed Beck to return it 45-yards, putting New Home back in business.
The Leopards capitalized on the Bulldog miscue, driving 55 yards that led to a Beck one-yard score making it 20-14. On the ensuing kickoff, New Home once again came through with another big turnover as Keagan Adams forced a fumble allowing New Home to jump on the ball.
This led to New Home taking its first and only lead of the game on a Ryder Starkey one-yard score. Following a key extra-point, the Leopards comeback was complete at 21-20 with 9:04 to play in the final stanza, and the defense was able to hold on the rest of the way.
“Those turnovers were two huge momentum shifts,” Ward said. “Stamford was on the goal line and were about to go up three scores heading into the fourth quarter. They went for a push with the quarterback and (Grayson) Snell made a heck of a play to punch the ball out. We were able to capitalize, and then we got the fumble on the kickoff. We got the run game rolling and were able to come back and win.”
The Leopards (10-2) are now trucking on to the regional semifinals for the first time in three years and will get a showdown with West Texas High (12-0) t 2 p.m. next Friday, at Tyer Stadium in Floydada.
Beck carried the workload of the run game bruising his way for 94 yards on 10 carries with a score and was 6-of-11 for 56 yards with a touchdown. Starkey toted it 15 times for 103 yards with a touchdown.