Jaybirds streak by Owls
Jayton walked into Silverton on Thursday night as the No. 2-ranked team in Division II and left leaving about that ranking by shutting out the Owls 46-0 via the mercy rule early in the third quarter.
It took Jayton (5-0) only two plays to strike first as Ayden Salazar rolled in from three yards out for an 8-0 lead. On the ensuing possession, the Owls faced a fourth and three from the Jayton 28 when Carlos Alanis executed a perfect bootleg pass to Zaden Ortiz down to the 10-yard line but Ortiz was unable to haul it in and the Jaybirds made them pay. A long Bode Ham run into Owls’ territory set up a leaping grab by Griff Reel from Sean Stanaland and a 14-0 lead for Jayton.
Silverton (3-2) then set off for a long drive, on the legs of Sawyer Francis and a fourth down pass interference penalty to end up first and goal from the four. After an Alanis rush that lost two yards, Francis took the pitch and rolled to his right looking in the endzone for Jace Alvarado. Reel made the Owls pay again, this time on defense, as he leaped high at the goal line to bring in the Francis pass for an interception and the second straight scoring threat for the home team was denied. Five plays later Stanaland connected on his second scoring toss of the night, this time from 34-yards out to Colt Gentry, and Jayton never looked back after that.
Stanaland tossed three touchdowns to three different receivers to lead the Jaybirds balanced offense. Francis, who had four straight 150-yard plus games to begin the season, was held under 100 yards as Jayton’s defense swarmed to the spot of the impressive spread back to limit his effectiveness.
Swifts suffer second straight heartbreaker
For the second straight week, Nazareth found itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard late in a game as O’Donnell (5-0) held on to its unbeaten season and the win, 44-39, Friday night at Johnson Field in O’Donnell.
In a game that saw no scoring in the first quarter, the teams combined for 57 points and an O’Donnell 30-27 lead late in the third quarter. That’s when Mason Bolton found Martin Baeza on a 53-yard scoring pass to extend the lead to 36-27.
Nazareth (2-3) got the ball back in the fourth trying to answer the Screamin’ Eagle score but Zane Schulte, who racked up 137 yards rushing on the night, fell a yard short on a fourth down attempt. Bolton then hit the last of his four scoring strikes, this time from 57-yards out to Kash Boyd, and a 17-point lead. The Swifts never quit battling as Kayle Rogers plunged in from one yard out, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a dominant performance from Bolton.
Bolton finished 15-of-19 for 333 yards while Baeza had 75-yards receiving and 72 yards rushing and three combined touchdowns. Schulte was a workhorse for the Swifts carrying the ball 26 times on the night and three scores while Will Young was 11-of-16 for 162 yards through the air. Things don’t get easier for the blue and gold as No. 4 Whitharral comes rolling into Nazareth on Friday.
Follett takes renewed rivalry over Booker
In a renewed rivalry game that hasn’t been played since 1988, it was the hometown Panthers who walked away a winner with a decisive 60-14 win over Booker on Friday night.
The two teams, located 23 miles apart in Lipscomb County, had a heated rivalry for many years until Follett (3-2) dropped down to Six-Man football after the 1988 season.
Thirty-five years later, David Meeks stamped his name in the lore of this battle by rushing for 216 yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries. He also hurt the Kiowas defense with two timely passes that went for 35 yards and two scores as well as the Panthers invoked the mercy rule win over a Booker (3-2) squad that is playing Six-Man ball for the first time since 1959.
The Dirty Dozen
We’ve talked all season about the unusually low numbers in White Deer as only twelve players came out for ball this year. Those players were dubbed the “dirty dozen” by head coach Justin Rucker with most of those players underclassmen with little varsity experience.
Many expected a struggling season but that hasn’t slowed down the Bucks from being competitive. Entering the night with a 3-1 record, they traveled to Springlake-Earth to take on a Wolverines squad lurking just outside the top ten.
Head man Justin Rucker had to start this game without his best player suiting up (Brodie Weathers) and starting six sophomores. On the road and against the odds the Bucks still found themselves in a game midway through the second quarter, down 12-0, despite losing another top player in Davin Hext.
The Wolverines eventually raced off with a 50-0 win, but the young Bucks squad is earning a ton of respect for their competitive play this season.
News and Notes
Officially, Hedley (2-3) forfeited their road game with Paducah, which goes down as a 1-0 victory for the Dragons. However, both teams played until 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter with Paducah (3-2) up 38-0. At that point, a Hedley player was injured, which forced the forfeiture.
Miami (5-0) remains the only undefeated area Six-Man squad as they took out Lubbock Christ the King 59-14. Haiden Thompson went 3-of-4 for 115 yards and two scores while getting two more on the ground. Micah Hinshaw had a scoop and score but the play of the night in this game was bowling ball fullback Luke Wheeler hurdling a Golden Lions (1-4) player at the goalline for the score.
Happy head coach Stacy Perryman called it creativeness out of necessity as he deployed his all-state end, Quay Hodges, at quarterback and running back, as the No. 10 Cowboys (4-1) beat the Lubbock Titans (1-4) 52-6.
Down three skill players in this game due to injuries, Perryman moved Hodges for the week and moved Kole Gibson to his end spot. Hodges served as a quality fullback while Gibson showed off his hands grabbing three passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.
The stat line of the night belongs to Caleb Steward who led McLean (4-1) to a 54-40 win over Groom (2-3). The Tiger running back had 324 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 24 carries.
Wildorado became the latest Amarillo-area team to end up on the short end of a game with Whiteface, falling 68-14. Claude bounced back with a 78-32 win over Meadow and Valley fell to Petersburg, 28-18. Finally, Lefors (1-4) picked up their first victory of the season with a 69-21 blowout win over Amarillo PCHEA (1-4).
State Notes
The biggest surprise of the week wasn’t a loss by a top ten squad but a win over a 1-3 team. No. 4 Abbott (5-0) found itself in a game with Avalon with both teams tied at 32 midway through the game. However, the Panthers righted the ship, and rolled off thirty straight points to win 62-32.For many squads a 6-4 record would be considered a success but not in Borden County.
Considered one of the premier teams in Six-Man, the Coyotes less than stellar record left many wondering what was happening in Gail. It appears that was simply a blip on the radar as Borden County rolled over an impressive Highland (4-1) team, 54-24, to go 5-0 on the season as the Coyotes (5-0) will likely make a big jump in the rankings this week.
The Harrold Hornets are making waves this year as they have begun the season with a 5-0 record after taking down Lueders-Avoca (1-4) 47-0 on Friday night. The last time the Hornets started the season 5-0 was 1992 when they qualified for the playoffs but lost in the bi-district round to Chillicothe.
The only top ten team to fall in either division was Crowell. The loss was far from an upset as the No. 8 Wildcats (4-1) fell to No. 1 Knox City out of Division I, 51-6, at Greyhound Field Friday night. Knox City is rolling at 5-0.
The note of the week comes from Jonesboro where the Eagles (4-1) did whatever they wanted in a 90-0 half time win over Stephenville Faith (4-1). Since 1960 that is the fourth largest margin of victory in UIL Six-Man play. The biggest blowout belongs to Richland Springs who ousted Eden, 96-0, in 2006.