Eagle Pass Winn Mavericks Fall to San Antonio Southwest Legacy Titans 35-24
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2019
The thundering Eagle Pass Winn High School Mavericks fell to the San Antonio Southwest Legacy High School Titans 35-24 in a key District 14-5A, Division I football game held on Friday, November 1, 2019 at San Antonio, Texas, dropping to 3-6 overall in the season and 1-4 in District action.
The Mavericks jumped to a 24-6 lead at halftime after completely dominating the Titans in the first half, but the Titans regrouped and rallied for 29 unanswered points in the second half to rally for the hard fought district win over the Mavericks by the final score of 35-24. The game was a tale of two halves with the Mavericks winning the first half and the Titans winning the second half and the game. The Titans blanked the Mavericks offense in the second half while the offense rallied back with 29 unanswered points for the win.
With the loss, the Mavericks are knocked out of the postseason playoff hunt with a 1-4 District record with only one district game remaining next week against San Antonio Southwest Dragons.
The Mavericks took the opening game kickoff and orchestrated a methodical 76 yards touchdown drive culminating on a two yard dive into the Titans end zone by quarterback Jose Padilla and place kicker Amilkar Ramos point after attempt sailed through the uprights for an early 7-0 lead with 5:15 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The stingy Mavericks defense held the Titans on their first possession of the game stopping them at the Mavs 16 yard line on a fourth and nine yards play.
The Mavericks offense took over on downs at their own 16 yard line and only took two plays to strike their second touchdown of the game on an electrifying 84 yards keeper by quarterback Jose Padilla into the Titans end zone and the point after attempt was good to extend the Mavs lead 14-0 with 1:30 minutes remaining in the first quarter, stunning the Titans.
On the Titans second possession, the stout Mavericks defense intercepted a Titan pass attempt by quarterback Cesar Tovar as Mavs defensive back Eric Sanchez swiped the aerial pass and returned it to the Titans 36 yard line to end the first quarter.
The Mavericks opened the second quarter with a one play 36 yards touchdown strike on a halfback pass by running back Ethan Johnston to a streaking wide receiver Michael Olivo into the Titans end zone and Amilkar Ramos split the goal posts for the extra point to give the Mavs a 21-0 lead with 11:51 minutes left in the second quarter.
Rattled by the Mavericks 21-0 explosion, the Titans finally engineered a 64 touchdown drive of their own resulting in a four yard run into the promised land by running back Marcus Cantu and the point after attempt failed, narrowing the score 21-6 with 6:42 minutes remaining before halftime.
The Titans tried an onside kick seeking to surprise the Mavericks, but the ball did not travel 10 yards and the Mavericks took possession at the Titans 47 yard line. The Mavericks marched down to the Titans six yard line, but a pair of penalties pushed them back to the 14 yard line and forced to attempt a 24 yards field goal, which Amilkar Ramos made good to extend the Mavs lead to 24-6 with 2:37 minutes before halftime. The Mavericks defense once again held the Titans on their next possession and took a 24-6 lead into halftime, stunning the home standing Titan Nation fans.
The second half was a totally different storyline as the Mavericks fortunes against the Titans completely dissipated.
The Titans rallied in the second half with 29 unanswered points while shutting out the Mavericks offense on the scoreboard to earn a stunning comeback win over the Mavericks by a final score of 35-24.
The Mavericks final game of the 2019 season is next week on Friday, November 8, 2019 against District nemesis San Antonio Southwest High School Dragons at 7:30 P.M. at home during Homecoming festivities.
