Previously undefeated Cranfills Gap losing to Rising Star spotlights rough week for Bosque County six-man squads as Walnut Springs claims lone victory with forfeit
With Bosque County six-man football suffering through a rough week, the previously undefeated and 22nd-ranked Cranfills Gap Lions were handed a convincing loss by Rising Star, while the Iredell Dragons and Morgan Eagles came out on the short end of hard-fought battles last Friday night. Only the Walnut Springs Hornets escaped with a win without even taking the field as Waco Parkview Christian were forced to forfeit.
RISING STAR 52, CRANFILLS GAP 6
Leaving no doubt on the field, Class 1A, Division II’s Rising Star Wildcats dominated the previously undefeated Cranfills Gap Lions, 52-6, in the home opener for the Lions last Friday night.
With Cranfills Gap’s lone score coming on a five-yard scoring strike from junior Blake Allen to senior Aiden Doty, the Lions (3-1) could not overcome five turnovers as Rising Star (3-1) built an insurmountable lead.
“We turned the ball over way too many times against a good football team,” Cranfills Gap head coach Rodie Johnston said. “Rising Star was really well coached and came in ready to go, and we struggled to get into rhythm. The turnovers proved to be the difference maker in a game that we came into expecting to be a high scoring shootout.”
Doty led the Lions by completing five of 11 passes for 74 yards, connecting with senior Case Koehler twice for 47 yards, while junior Adan Flores rushed for 38 yards. Defensively, sophomore Logan Viss led with seven tackles, followed by Allen with six.
PENELOPE 40, IREDELL 32
Iredell freshman Jordan Guiterrez ran for 195 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Class 1A, Division I Penelope Wolverines held off the resurgent Class 1A, DII Iredell Dragons, 40-32, last Friday night.
After Iredell (2-2) jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the first quarter, Penelope (3-1) responded with 26 unanswered points to take control of the game in the third quarter. The Dragons rallied with 20 fourth quarter points to pull within two, but it proved to be too little, too late as the Wolverines scored to secure the win.
“Tough loss,” Iredell head coach Luis Guereca said. “Our guys played their way back and never gave up. We definitely turned it around in the second half and just couldn’t get the late breaks for it to fall our way. I’m really proud of our team so far, and we’re getting better each week.”
Freshman Cole Heutzenroeder tossed a scoring strike to sophomore Walter Johnson and sophomore Westen Chandler ran for a touchdown. Defensively, senior Preston Robinson, Chandler and Heutzenroeder led the Dragons with 11 tackles each, followed by Guiterrez with eight and sophomore Deuce Paul with seven.
GHOLSON 50, MORGAN 39
Despite enjoying a halftime lead, the Class 1A, DII Morgan Eagles could not hold off Class 1A, DI Gholson as the undefeated Wildcats rallied for a 50-39 victory to spoil Morgan’s homecoming last Friday night. Sophomore EJ Aviles tossed two touchdown passes in the losing effort.
“We had an up-and-down performance,” Morgan head coach Eduardo Aviles said. “We were doing the cha cha cha – two steps forward then one step back. In other words, we did good things, then we would have some non-typical decisions that would be costly.
“We didn’t give up. But when we slowed down, Gholson would capitalize or the ball would bounce their way. I was proud of the guys, but it was hard to watch some of the poor decisions we made during the game.”
Aviles completed nine of 23 passes for 138 yards, connecting with sophomore Zach Mitchell five times for 83 yards and a score, while hitting senior Adrian Vera-Rico for another scoring strike. Aviles and Vera-Rico also cashed in on running touchdowns.
Defensively, Aviles led the Eagles (1-3) with 16 tackles, followed by Vera-Rico with 14 and freshman Adrian Alonzo with nine.
“Overall, we did face some adversity and shot ourselves in the foot, but all those errors are repairable,” Aviles said. “As much as we could have pulled the win out, we needed the situations to get better. Next week we face a Mullin team that runs the ball type offense, and we will have our work cut out for us.”
OGLESBY 46, KOPPERL 0
After posting back-to-back wins, the Kopperl Eagles proved no match for Class 1A, DII’s 23rd-ranked Oglesby as the Tigers pounced on a 46-0 victory last Friday night, wrapping it up with seven minutes remaining in the game by virtue of the 45-point mercy rule.
“We fought hard, we were just a little outmatched at key positions,” Kopperl first-year head coach Darrell Wallace said. “The boys played their hearts out against a very good Oglesby team. At the end of the day, we have things to build on and corrections to make. The future appears to be bright, so we will continue to keep moving forward.”
Sophomore Anthony Johnson led Kopperl with 79 yards rushing, but the Eagles only managed 99 yards of total offense. Defensively, freshman Noah Hobbs led the Eagles with 4.5 tackles, Johnson with 3.5 and a fumble recovery while freshman Baeron Brinkley pulled down an interception.
WALNUT SPRINGS 1, WACO PARKVIEW CHRISTIAN (F) 0
Battling their own injury issues, the Walnut Springs Hornets received a win by virtue of a forfeit last Thursday when Waco Parkview Christian could not field enough healthy players to participate.
“We were disappointed that the Waco Parkview team was forced to forfeit in the middle of the week due to injuries,” Walnut Springs head coach Lonnie Flippen said. “But it may have been a blessing as the Hornets might not have had but eight or nine players that would have been available due to our own injury issues.”
The Hornets (2-2) travel to Covington (2-2) this week to take on the tough Class 1A, DI Owls coming off a 48-0 win over Perrin-Whitt.
“The Owls will be the biggest team the Hornets will have played this year, and they have an outstanding running back that gave us fits last year,” Flippen said. “We can only hope that most of our injuries have had a chance to heal.”
Photos by WENDY OROZCO & EUGENE MAZZURANA
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