Eagle Pass Eagles Crush Edinburg North Cougars 49-14
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The mighty Eagle Pass High School Eagles crushed the Edinburg North High School Cougars 49-14 in a non-district football game on Thursday, September 15, 2022, at the Laredo United Independent School District Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex Football Stadium in Laredo, Texas, improving to 4-0 overall in the season and earning Head Football Coach Tom Gonzalez his 100th career victory with the Eagles.
The Edinburg North Cougars won the pre-game coin toss and elected to defer receiving the football until the second-half, giving the Eagles the first possession of the game.
The Eagles engineered a textbook 74 yard touchdown drive on their first possession, combining the hard running of tailback Thomas J. Mares, quarterback Isaac Stanwick, and the passing of Stanwick to punch the pigskin into the Cougars end zone on a nine yard run by Mares and place kicker Oliver Velez extra point was good to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Cougars responded with an 84 yard touchdown drive of their own using a balanced ground and air attack, culminating with a seven yard run into the Eagles end zone by tailback Ulysses Melendez and the extra point was good, tying the game at 7-7 early in the first quarter.
The Eagles answered the Cougars score with an 81 yard touchdown drive using a strong mix of ground and air plays, culminating on a 23 yard aerial strike from quarterback Isaac Stanwick to wide receiver Kyle Gloria and place kicker Oliver Velez point after attempt sailed through the uprights to momentarily give the Eagles a 14-7 lead with 2:06 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The stout Eagles “Land Shark” Defense forced the Cougars offense to have to punt on their second possession.
Seeking to increase their lead, the Eagles third possession started at their own 20 yard line, but disaster struck as quarterback Isaac Stanwick was hit behind the line of scrimmage and coughed up the pigskin at the Eagles two yard line, which the Cougars pounced on it.
The Cougars took only one play to capitalize on the Eagles turnover to punch the football into the Eagles end zone on a two yard dive by running back Mark Hernandez and the extra point was good, tying the game at 14-14 with 9:59 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The stingy Cougars defense forced the Eagles to turn the football on downs at the Cougars 21 yard line on their next possession, stalling a long Eagles drive.
The Cougars offense started at their own 21 yard line, but on the second play Eagles defensive back Diego Garcia leaped high into the air to deflect a Cougar pass attempt and teammate Jesse James Martinez dove for the tipped ball to come up with an amazing interception at the Cougars 24 yard line with 6:29 minutes remaining in the second quarter. This interception was a game changing momentum play in the tight game.
The Eagles quickly capitalized on the Cougars turnover and punched the pigskin into the end zone on a four yard quarterback keeper by Isaac Stanwick and place kicker Oliver Velez point after attempt was perfect to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead with 5:41 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Eagles “Land Shark” Defense settled down after the previous interception and forced the Cougars to go four and out, punting the ball.
The lightning quick scoring Eagles offense orchestrated a 60 yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession, culminating on a dazzling 20 yard scramble into the Cougars end zone by quarterback Isaac Stanwick and place kicker Oliver Velez extra point was good to extend the Eagles lead 28-14 with 1:50 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Momentum was now with the Eagles.
On their next possession, the Cougars explosive offense was held by the Eagles “Land Shark” Defense, forcing a punt but a bad snap from center allowed the Eagles to take over the ball at the Cougars own six yard line with 44 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Eagles quickly capitalized on the Cougars turnover and on the first play scored on a six yard touchdown run by tailback Thomas J. Mares, but an Eagle holding penalty nullified the touchdown and pushed the Eagles 10 yards back to the 16 yard line. After an nine yard run by Stanwick, the Eagles scored on a seven yard aerial strike from Stanwick to wide receiver Kyle Gloria and place kicker Oliver Velez made the extra point to increase the Eagles lead to 35-14 with 14 seconds remaining before halftime, stunning the Cougars.
The Eagles “Land Shark” Defense stopped the Cougars offense during the entire second half, pitching a shut out on the Cougars explosive offense.
The Eagles added two touchdown scores in the second half, including a 12 yard touchdown pass from Stanwick to wide receiver Kyle Gloria in the third quarter and another on a four yard pass from Stanwick to wide receiver Jose Hernandez in the fourth quarter while place kicker Oliver Velez made both point after attempts, enlarging the Eagles lead 49-14 over the Cougars. The stout Eagle “Land Shark” Defense shut down the Cougars in the second half to earn a hard fought 49-14 victory.
The Eagles non-district victory earned Head Football Coach Tom Gonzalez his 100th win as head coach of his alma mater, Eagle Pass Eagles.
The Eagles will travel to San Marcos, Texas next week to battle the San Marcos Rattlers in another non-district football game as a final tune up before starting District 30-6A action on October 7, 2022 against the Laredo Alexander Bulldogs at home. The Eagles will have an open week following their game against the San Marcos Rattler before opening district play against Laredo Alexander.
