Eagle Pass Eagles Outlast Laredo United Longhorns 24-20 in See Saw Battle in District 29-6A Action
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
On a beautiful Texas October evening painted by a scenic full moon in the sky meant for the clash of the Titans, the Eagle Pass High School Eagles battled their District 29-6A nemesis Laredo United High School Longhorns in a key district football game coming out victorious by outlasting the perennially strong Longhorns in a see saw game with six lead changes as the Eagles defense stifled the potent Longhorns offense on their last possession of the game to preserve the hard fought victory on Friday, October 30, 2020, at the Eagle Pass Independent School District Cozel Foster-Veterans Memorial Stadium in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The Longhorns received the opening kickoff and started their first possession of the game at their own 30 yard line. The Longhorns went to a fast no-huddle offense and engineered a quick 70 yard touchdown drive on a 25 yards pass from quarterback Sammy Casso to wide receiver Tanner Sanchez and place kicker Roberto Ortiz point after attempt was good to take an early 7-0 lead with 10:43 minutes in the first quarter.
The Eagles first possession started on their own 36 yard line, but the Longhorns defense forced them to punt.
The Eagles defense made quick game time adjustments on the Longhorns hurry-up no huddle offense and stifled the Longhorns second possession on a fourth down and 20 yards to go at the Eagles 28 yard line under the leadership of linebacker Charlie Schuessler, defensive tackle Tommy Cantu, defensive end Nathan Aguilera, and defensive back CJ Hiller.
Both teams exchanged possessions with their defenses forcing punts in the first quarter.
On their third possession of the game, the Eagles offense started at the Longhorns 43 yard line and marched down to the two yard line and scored a two yard pass from quarterback Jacob Ruiz to wide receiver Dakota Kypuros but was called back due to an illegal touching penalty against the Eagles, forcing the Eagles to settle for a 20 yard field goal by place kicker Lazaro Villarreal with 17 seconds remaining in the first quarter to narrow the score 7-3 in favor of the Longhorns.
The self-proclaimed Eagles “Land Shark” defense sacked Longhorns quarterback Sammy Casso twice on their next possession to force a punt as defensive ends Nathan Aguilera and Eric Lara each recorded a sack.
The Eagles commenced their fourth possession at their own 35 yard line and combined tough runs by running back TJ Mares and short passes to wide receivers Dakota Kypuros, OJ Ruiz, and Carlos Santos to advance to the Longhorns 20 yard line. Quarterback Jacob Ruiz found wide receiver Carlos Santos open in the end zone for a 20 yards touchdown pass and place kicker Lazaro Villarreal’s point after attempt split the uprights to give the Eagles their first lead in the game 10-7 with 6:40 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Both teams battled in the trenches and exchanged possessions as the Eagles defense led by defensive linemen Javier Santos, Derek Ruiz, and Tommy Cantu, defensive ends Eric Lara and Nathan Aguilera, linebackers Uriel Martinez, Victor Chavez, Eduardo Sepulveda, and Charlie Schuessler, and defensive backs Beto Santos, CJ Hiller, Ray Rodriguez, and Mando De Los Santos pressured the potent Longhorns offense and kept them off the scoreboard in the second quarter.
The Eagles took a slim 10-7 lead at halftime over the Longhorns.
The Eagles received the second-half kick-off and started at their own 24 yard line, but the Longhorns defense forced the Eagles to punt.
The Longhorns regrouped over halftime and engineered a 60 yard touchdown drive on their first second-half possession, culminating with a touchdown pass from quarterback Sammy Casso to wide receiver Tanner Sanchez, but the point after attempt failed to give the Longhorns a 13-7 lead over the Eagles with 6:57 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Both teams’ defenses took over in the third quarter, keeping each other from scoring. The Eagles missed a 30 yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, but the Eagles offense gained confidence with each possession.
The Eagles offense led by quarterback Jacob Ruiz, running backs TJ Mares and Lazaro Villarreal , wide receivers Dakota Kypuros, Carlos Santos, CGC Ritchie, OJ Ruiz, and Isaac Stanwick, and offensive linemen Juan De Leon, Emmanuel Balderas, Mike Perez, Arnie Perez, and Alfredo Guevara got stronger with every play and possession in the second-half of the game.
Late in the third quarter, the Eagles started a drive at their own 41 yard line and marched down the Cozel Foster-Veterans Memorial turf to engineer a 59 yard touchdown drive, culminating with a seven yards touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob Ruiz to wide receiver Dakota Kypuros and place kicker Lazaro Villarreal’s extra point was good to regain the lead at 17-10 over the Longhorns with 6:59 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Longhorns took to the air waves on their next possession and orchestrated a 72 yards touchdown drive resulting on a two yard dive into the end zone by quarterback Sammy Casso and the point after attempt was good to regain the lead 20-17 with 2:46 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The never day die Eagles started at their own 36 yard line and methodically engineered a 64 yards touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter under the helm of quarterback Jacob Ruiz, culminating with a 14 yards touchdown strike from Ruiz to wide receiver Carlos Santos and Lazaro Villarreal’s point after attempt was good to give the Eagles the lead 24-20 with 1:09 minutes remaining in the game.
The Longhorns final drive of the game started at their own 35 yard line and marched down to the Eagles 35 yard line, but the Eagles “Land Shark” defense stifled the Longhorns explosive pass happy offense and took over on downs at their own 39 yard line to seal the hard-fought District 29-6A victory, sending the Eagles and their fans into pandemonium over the upset win over District 29-6A nemesis Laredo United Longhorns.
The Eagles improve to 2-0 in both the 2020 season and District 29-6A standings. The Eagles matured and gained confidence as the game wore on and with this key District 29-6A victory.
The Eagles next play the Laredo Nixon Mustangs on Friday, November 6, 2020 at 7 P.M. in a key District 29-6A matchup at Laredo Independent School District Shirley Field in Laredo, Texas.
Go Eagles Baby!
