Eagle Pass Eagles Stomp Laredo United Longhorns 43-28 in Key District Win
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
The Eagle Pass Eagles dominated arch-rival Laredo United Longhorns enroute to a solid stomping of 43-28 on Friday, October 1, 2021, at the Laredo United Independent School District Student Activity Complex in Laredo, Texas before a large following of Eagle Nation aficionados, improving to 4-2 overall in the season and remaining undefeated in district at 2-0.
The Eagles won the pre-game coin flip and elected to defer to receiving the football in the second half, giving the Longhorns the game’s first possession.
The Longhorns started at their own 36 yard line and took only three plays to rattle the Eagles’ “Landshark” defense with a 62 yards aerial bomb for a touchdown from quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. to wide receiver Gage Lozano and the point after attempt was good, taking an early 7-0 lead with 10:47 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
On their first possession, the Eagles ran the ball well but a couple of pass incompletions forced them to punt.
The Longhorns marched to the Eagles 30 yard line on their second possession, threatening to score again, but the stalwart Eagles’ “Landshark” defense buckled down and sacked Longhorns quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. on a third and 10 for an eight yard loss, forcing a punt. The Eagles’ “Landshark” defensive backs led by two-way standout Dakota Kypuros, Aiden Morales, Jake Zapata, Diego Garcia, and Aidan Lopez blanketed the Longhorns wide receivers like a glove during most of the game.
The Eagles’ “War Eagle” offense engineered a patented 80 yard touchdown drive against the stingy Longhorns defense on their second possession through a combination of strong runs by running back T. J. Mares and key pass completions by quarterback Isaac Stanwick to wide receivers Dakota Kypuros, Kyle Gloria, and Wilfredo Frausto, culminating on a 13 yard scramble into the end zone by Isaac Stanwick and Alan Losoya’s point after attempt sailed through the uprights to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:28 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ “Landshark” defense led by linebackers Victor Chavez, Eddie Sepulveda, and Zack Zapata, defensive linemen Javier Santos, Izhar Mauricio, Erick Lara, and Nathan Aguilera stifled the potent Longhorns offense on their third possession, forcing a punt.
The Eagles offensive machine was forced to punt on their ensuing possession, but the Eagles’ “Landshark” defense pressured Longhorns quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. and caused him to fumble the pigskin as Eagles defensive end Erick Lara pounced on the ball at the Longhorns 16 yard line.
The Eagles capitalized on the turnover and kicked a 30 yard field goal by place kicker Alan Losoya to take a 10-7 lead with 7:17 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Eagles “Landshark” defensive back Diego Garcia intercepted a pass from quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. and returned it to the Longhorns 21 yard line with 5:53 minutes left in the second quarter.
The “War Eagle” offense took only three plays to punch the ball into the Longhorns end zone on a one yard dive by quarterback Isaac Stanwick and Alan Losoya’s extra point was good, extending the Eagles lead 17-7 with less than five minutes left before halftime.
The pass happy Longhorns offense struck back with a 54 yard touchdown drive, culminating with a 20 yard pass into the end zone from quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. to wide receiver Gage Lozano and the point after attempt was good, narrowing the Eagles lead 17-14 with 2:42 minutes remaining in the first half.
Both teams exchanged one possession before the Eagles knelt on the football to run out the first half of play, leading 17-14 at halftime.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff in the second half and orchestrated a 63 yard touchdown drive featuring a key pass completion from Isaac Stanwick to wide receiver Kyle Gloria for 17 yards in which both Stanwick and Gloria were shaken up after taking hard hits on the play. Eagles reserve quarterback Andres Garcia Villarreal came in for Stanwick, but the gutsy Stanwick returned back into action after sitting out only one play and electrified the Eagle Nation aficionados with a sensational 42 yards touchdown run on the next play, stunning the Longhorns with 11:03 minutes remaining in the third quarter as the extra point missed its mark, extending the Eagles lead 23-14.
The Eagles’ “Landshark” defense manhandled the Longhorns offense on their next possession, forcing a punt.
The Eagles took over at their 28 yard line on their next possession and only took one play to light up the scoreboard as standout running back T. J. Mares busted open through the Longhorns defensive line and secondary for a dazzling 72 yard touchdown run as the Eagles two-point conversion failed, extending the Eagles lead 29-14 over the Longhorns.
On the ensuing Longhorns possession, Eagles’ defensive back Aidan Lopez swiped an aerial pass attempt by Longhorn quarterback Atzel Chavez, Jr. and returned it to the Longhorns 35 yard line midway in the third quarter.
The Eagles’ offense quickly capitalized on the Longhorns turnover and engineered a 35 yard touchdown drive, culminating on a fourth down and goal from the seven yard line with standout quarterback Isaac Stanwick dashing into the Longhorns end zone and Alan Losoya kicked the extra point to extend the Eagles lead 36 to 14 with 6:21 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After the Eagles’ “Landshark” defense once again stopped the Longhorns offense, the Eagles orchestrated a textbook 82 yard touchdown drive on their next possession, featuring the running of quarterback Isaac Stanwick with runs of 32, 10, and 6 yards on the drive as well as a 10 yard pass completion to wide receiver Kyle Gloria and a seven yard strike in the end zone to wide receiver Wilfredo Frausto and the point after attempt was good, taking a commanding 43-14 lead over the Longhorns with 2:11 minutes in the third quarter.
Eagles Head Coach Tom Gonzalez and his assistants decided to give valuable game-time playing experience to the Eagles reserve players late in the third quarter as the season is long and grueling while resting their starters for the next district game.
The never say die Longhorns added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the Eagles reserve defensive players to finalize the scoring at 43-28 with the game well secured.
The Eagles earned a hard fought district win against the perennial arch-rival Longhorns to remain undefeated in District 30-6A with a 2-0 record and four games remaining on the schedule.
The Eagles next play against the Laredo Nixon Mustangs on Friday, October 8, 2021 at 7 p.m. at the Eagle Pass Independent School District Cozel Foster-Veterans Memorial Stadium in another key district game.
Go Eagles Baby!
