After the bitter disappointment of a lopsided loss to their archrival to end the regular season, the Tascosa Rebels decided to have some fun at Dick Bivins Stadium on Friday night.
As a result, El Paso Parkland had none.
Tascosa hosted Parkland in a Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff game and didn’t leave any doubt from the start. The Rebels set a school record for points in the first half and for a game in not letting their foot off the pedal to crush Parkland 84-13 and advance to next week’s area round.
Awaiting the Rebels (7-4) in next week’s area round will be Aledo, the same team who eliminated Tascosa in the regional round last season. The game is tentatively scheduled for next Friday in Big Spring.
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It was a far happier occasion than last week’s game to finish the regular season, as Tascosa, which already knew it was going to host a playoff game, lost to a desperate Amarillo High team 63-21 in a rare crosstown rivalry blowout. This time, the Rebels looked like a team who was certain their season was continuing.
“I won’t say it was easy, because we were really, really down,” said Tascosa coach Ken Plunk, who finished his landmark 200th game at the school in dominant style. “We played so bad last week. It was an emotional week and I’m just glad we came out tonight and played as well as we did.”
The Rebels were playing like they were still feeling the sting of the loss to Amarillo High, as they wasted little time in establishing themselves offensively. They didn’t punt once in the game and led 63-6 at halftime.
Tascosa took advantage of a short field less than two minutes into the game after forcing a punt, as Tendrick Sargent cashed in with a 9-yard scoring run to make it 7-0. That was Tascosa’s shortest touchdown of the quarter.
The final four touchdowns of the quarter were on plays of no shorter than 45 yards. On his only pass of the night, Coltyn Fulton hit Reese Cabe on a 51-yard score for a 14-0 lead. Fulton didn’t return at quarterback after the third series of the game due to illness, but he wasn’t especially needed after that.
Deandre Sanders also got involved, scoring on a 77-yard run and scoring on a 45-yard pass from Brayden Lineman. In between, Traeson Elliott scored on a 68-yard run.
On a night where their patented flexbone offense gashed Parkland (3-8) for an astounding 595 yards on the ground, Elliott was the leader, riushing for 151 yards on only six carries.
“I was really ready for it and I’m glad my team was ready for it the whole time,” Elliott said. “It all starts with the o-line up front and as long as they can do their job I get to do mine. It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt having that last game here at Dick Bivins Stadium and moving us on to the next round. We pushed that (Amarillo High) game away the night of.”
So dominant were the Rebels up front offensively that they had six ballcarriers go over 60 yards on the night. They averaged a staggering 18 yards a carry.
“You can’t let the results of the game fool you,” Plunk said. “I do think we played well but we can actually play better. We had some favorable matchups tonight and I think we took advantage of them but every week’s different.”
Even their passing game was effective, as they completed all three passes they threw for touchdowns. Lineman came in for Fulton at quarterback and threw for two scores and ran 41 yards for another in the third quarter.
Parkland’s lone bright spot was a 67-yard scoring pass from Jesse Molina to Jordan Reese late in the first quarter.
However, it was the defense which made the most memorable play to conclude the first half scoring, when the Jayden Sprague forced a fumble from Molina on a sack after Parkland moved deep into Tascosa territory. Senior defensive lineman Tye’cari Anthony picked up the loose ball and returned it 73 yards for a score to make it 63-6.
“Gavin (Noble) said I stole a TD from him,” Anthony said. “I thought I was going to get caught when I looked up on the big screen (at the south end of the stadium) and saw my teammates behind me and I said ‘Oh yeah, I’m taking this one home.’ The celebration was kind of a weak spike. I’m just proud that I made by first varsity TD on this field for my last game here.”
Anthony was flagged for a celebration penalty which cost the Rebels 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff, but considering how the game went, it was barely even a footnote.
The win also kept a streak alive for Tascosa. In every year the Rebels have made the playoffs since 2014, they’ve won a bidistrict game, which adds up to 11 straight bi-district wins.
Among the 200 games in Plunk’s 17 seasons at Tascosa, beating Parkland in such decisive and record setting fashion has to be one of the most memorable.
“It was a very special night and it was a lot of fun,” Plunk said.
Parkland showed some flashes of life offensively, but not nearly enough. Reese had eight catches for 108 yards and Molina ran for a touchdown in the third quarter.