October 24, 2023

Swinging into district competition with little time to stumble, Bosque County six-man leagues take shape as Walnut Springs shocks Cranfills Gap, Iredell escapes Bluff Dale, Kopperl keeps winning

With all five Bosque County six-man football teams embarking on their quests to make the playoffs in district action last week, the fireworks began as expected. As the long-awaited district competition finally kicked off under the Friday night lights, every game carried postseason implications with it.

After all, with the surprising Kopperl Eagles and defending district champion Morgan Eagles competing in the four-team District 10-1A, Division II, while the 14th-ranked Iredell Dragons. the Cranfills Gap Lions and the Walnut Springs Hornets battle with the Bluff Dale Bobcats in District 12-1A, DII, every Friday night in district becomes a do-or-die situation.

WALNUT SPRINGS 94, CRANFILLS GAP 56

In what began as a wild shootout, the Walnut Springs Hornets shocked the Cranfills Gap Lions with a runaway 94-56 victory last Friday night.

Playing in his first game in almost three seasons, senior Bryan Chavez threw five touchdowns while senior Diego Muniz and junior Jesse Lamb scored three times apiece as Walnut Springs (1-0 in District 12-1A, DII, 3-5 overall) rolled up 691 yards of total offense.

“It was just great to see a young man that has gone through so much excel,” Walnut Springs veteran head coach Lonnie Flippen said. “I can’t say enough about the game Bryan Chavez had. He has missed the last 2 1/2 years following an injury. He is a great leader and his confidence played a major role in our success in the win over Cranfills Gap.”

For Walnut Springs, Chavez completed 16 of 20 passes for 328 yards and also hauled in a 30-yard scoring strike of his own. Lamb led the Hornets with 139 yards rushing and two touchdowns while catching three passes for 135 yards and a score. Muniz added 109 yards rushing, and senior Adrian Chavez caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.

In the losing effort for Cranfills Gap (0-1, 3-5), senior Blake Allen ran for 233 yds and six touchdowns, completed six of eight passes for 109 yards and two scores, while leading the Lion defense with nine tackles.

“Way too many mistakes on our part to keep us in the game,” Cranfills Gap athletic director Josh Raulston said. “Morale was lost after our first two possessions ended fumbles. Offensively, Blake Allen kept it going for us. Defense struggled, and we got out matched.

“We have to come together and find a way to win against a really good Bluff Dale team if we want our playoff hopes to stay alive.”

Defensively, Walnut Springs came up with six turnovers – five fumbles and an interception – as Lamb led the Hornets with nine tackles and three fumble recoveries, followed by sophomore Cameron Mitchell with eight and senior Luis Fraire with five, while sophomore Justus Tyler came up with an interception at the Lion two-yard line to kill a potential scoring drive.

On special teams, junior Deegan Murrah nailed eight of 12 two-point conversion kicks after touchdowns.

“I’m smart enough to know, believe that or not, that we might not be able to pull off the big upset when we face Iredell this week,” Flippen said. But to see a bunch of guys be as excited as they were last night is the reason I have done what I have done for 45 years.

“Now to try to get ready for a great young Iredell team, which will be a major challenge. But hopefully, we can take the confidence and momentum from the Gap game into this coming week.”

IREDELL 43, BLUFF DALE 30

Despite trailing early in the fourth quarter, the 14th-ranked Iredell Dragons rallied to knock off defending District 12-1A, DII champion Bluff Dale, 43-30, on the road last Friday night.

Sophomore Adan Aguilar-Diaz tossed three touchdown passes and sophomore Jordan Gutierrez ran for two scores as the Dragons (1-0 in district, 7-1 overall) scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for the dramatic come-from-behind win.

“It was a great way to start the district with a win,” Iredell head coach Luis Guereca said. “Bluff Dale came to play, and we were able to overcome some challenges. It was nice to see the way we responded in the second half.”

Trailing 16-14 at halftime, the Dragons regained the lead in the third quarter on an eight-yard run by Gutierrez. But the advantage proved to be short-lived as Bluff Dale (0-1, 4-4) responded to recapture the lead early in the fourth.

“A couple of turnovers in the first half put us behind,” Guereca said. Our defense was able to step up and limit them to only a couple of scores. Bluff Dale did a great job in their passing game and really showed what we needed to get better at this week. Offense picked up in the second half, and we were able to pull away to get the win.”

Sophomore Cole Heutzenroeder led Iredell with 102 yards rushing, while sophomore Cadem Sweat caught two scoring strikes and sophomore Caleb Garland hauled in another.

Defensively, Heutzenroeder and Garland led the Dragons with 15 tackles each, followed by freshman Gavin Vara and Gutierrez with eight apiece.

“Although our expectations of that game didn’t go as we planned, we were able to grind it out and overcome some big mistakes,” Guerreca said. “If we are put in that situation again, we can look back at this game and learn from it to get a tough win down the road.”

KOPPERL 80, MOUNT CALM 39

Following up a strong non-district showing with a statement win to open District 10-1A, DII competition, the young and surprising Kopperl Eagles soared to an impressive 80-39 victory over Mount Calm last Friday night as Kopperl posted its first district win since 2018.

Junior Christian Falk rushed for five touchdowns and threw for four more scores while accounting for 396 yards of total offense and nailing eight of eight two-point conversions kicks.

“We have had a very trying week, and I was not sure how the game would be affected,” Kopperl first-year head coach Ken Davis said. “But the boys really stuck together, and we played our best overall offensive game to date. It took us awhile to get going, but the second half was pretty much all ours.”

Falk completed 14 of 21 passes for 221 yards while running wild for another 175 yards. Defensively, sophomore Bearon Brinkley picked off two passes, junior Isaac Payen recovered a fumble and freshman Dalton Tidwell came up with a tackle in the end zone for a safety, while junior Anthony Johnson and Falk led with 11 tackles each, followed by Brinkley with 10.

“Winning the first district game was huge, because in a four team district, two wins usually secures a playoff spot,” Davis said. “This week is big for both us and Morgan. Whoever loses will have a hard time making the postseason. Kopperl is in territory we have not experienced since 2018 when these guys were mostly in elementary school.”

BYNUM 56, MORGAN 0

Proving to be no match for 24th-ranked Bynum, the defending District 10-1A, DII champion Morgan Eagles could not overcome the injury bug as the Bulldogs pounded the Eagles, 56-0, in a game that ended at halftime by virtue of the 45-point mercy rule last Friday.

“It was a rough game,” Morgan first-year head coach Chuck Wilson said. “Our leading rusher went down early. We are in reality a very young team, and some of our guys had to play positions they were not accustomed to.

“Offensively, we started off strong and lost Adrian Alonso, our leading rusher. The bottom line is we failed to execute on offense. Defensively, we picked up the pace in the second quarter and slowed the bleeding a little. Bynum is a stout team and very disciplined. They run right at you and dare you to stop them. Unfortunately, we could not rise to the occasion.

With two district games remaining, Morgan finds themselves in a must-win scenario as they looked ahead to next week’s showdown with the surprising Kopperl Eagles.

“We still have two more games to get into the playoffs and next week face a much-improved Kopperl Eagles team,” Wilson said. “It is going to be a battle. I have a sign on the wall in my office that says ‘Sometimes You Win and Sometimes You Learn.’ We learned a couple of things this week. But we have every expectation of coming back out next week and showing what we learned.”

Photos by SIMONE WICHERS-VOSS & WENDY OROZCO

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