Eagle Pass Eagles playoff hopes vanish in Overtime loss to Del Rio Rams, 17-14

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

The Eagle Pass High School Eagles football playoff hopes vanished in a heartbreaking loss in overtime to arch-rival Del Rio High School Rams 17-14 as Rams place kicker Tyler Hopkins booted a 27 yards field goal in overtime to rally past the Eagles in a key District 29-6A game on Friday, November 7, 2014, at Walter Levermann Rams Stadium in Del Rio, Texas, finishing the Eagles season with an overall season record of 4-6 and 1-4 in District 29-5A action.

The Eagles stingy defense led by linebackers RJ Valdez, Mando Lopez, and Mike Montalvo stifled the potent Rams offense throughout the game, particularly during the first-half of play.

In the first quarter, the Eagles engineered a 50 yards touchdown drive on their first possession of the game culminating in an eight yard run by tailback Memo Hernandez and Gonzalo Martinez’s point after attempt was no good, giving the Eagles an early 6-0 lead with 6:52 minutes remaining in the first period.

The Rams quickly struck back with a 65 yards touchdown drive on their second possession of the game resulting in a 25 yards pass into the Eagles end zone and the extra point was good, changing the lead 7-6 in favor of the Rams with 5:37 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles rose to the Rams challenge and orchestrated a 70 yards touchdown drive on their second possession of the game resulting in a 21 yards touchdown pass from quarterback Ty Chisum to wide receiver DeAndre Torres and tailback Mark Venegas rumbled into the end zone on a two point conversion attempt to regain the lead 14-7 with eight second left in the firs quarter.

In the second quarter, two Eagles potential scoring drives were stalled with interceptions of quarterback Ty Chisum passes by the stingy Rams defensive secondary. The Eagles led 14-7 at half-time.

The Eagles dominated the home standing Rams throughout three and a half quarters leading 14-7 with 3:01 minutes remaining in the game as Rams quarterback Weil Ashley scored on a six yard scamper and the point after attempt was good to tie the game at 14-14 each.

The Eagles could have potentially scored many more points in the game but committed too many turnovers, including four interceptions by quarterback Ty Chisum, but it was not meant to be this evening. Eagles tailback Mark Venegas had a strong performance and was nearly unstoppable.

The Eagles marched down the field for an apparent game winning touchdown or field goal attempt drive in the closing minutes of the game with Eagles place kicker Gonzalo Martinez missing a 27 yards field goal attempt with only 10 seconds remaining in regulation time in the fourth quarter for the victory but the kick was partially blocked by the Rams falling short of the goal post. The Rams took over the football and ran out the clock to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Eagles took possession first at the Rams 25 yard line and were immediately penalized five yards on the first play pushing them to the 30 yard line. On the next play, Eagles quarterback Ty Chisum threw a pass to wide receiver DeAndre Torres and a Rams tackler’s hard hit jarred the football loose with the Rams recovering the ball, forcing the Eagles defense to try to stop one more time the Rams offense from scoring to give the Eagles an opportunity to get a second possession in overtime. The Eagles defense played brilliantly throughout the entire game limiting the Rams offense to few yardage overall.

The Rams offense was once against stopped by the stingy Eagles defense from reaching the end zone, forcing them to attempt a 27 yards field goal in overtime by place kicker Tyler Hopkins which kicked the football through the uprights for the win, 17-14, and the right to advance to the state playoffs while negating the Eagles playoff hopes.

Congratulations to the Eagles senior football players, band members, cheerleader and dance teams, sports medicine, student council members, students, coaching staff, parents, and administration for an exciting and memorable 2014 season and elevating the pride and honor of Eagle Pass High and our community to new heights previously not attained.

Best wishes to all the seniors in your future endeavors and thanks for all the beautiful and warm memories you shared with the community.