Mustang comeback falls short

BOVINA - With a district championship in their grasp, the Bovina Mustangs waited just a bit too long to get going on Friday night.

Down by 19 points entering the fourth quarter, the Mustangs made things interesting late before falling to Smyer 38-33 in a battle for the Class 2A Division II District 2 lead.

Senior quarterback Ethan Ramirez rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns and also threw for two scores as the Bobcats (5-3, 2-0 district) held on late and put themselves in the driver's seat for the district crown.

Meantime, a win would have clinched the title for Bovina (3-5, 2-1), which closes its regular campaign on Friday at New Home.

"We could've made things easy for us with a win, but we did not do it," Mustangs coach Coby Emery said.

Smyer scored on five of six full possessions from late in the first period until midway through the third to take control, but saw Bovina pull close with two touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the final stanza and then take over after a failed fourth-down gamble by Smyer near midfield with under two minutes to go.

Bobcats coach Scott Funke said he was simply looking to ice the game when a fourth-down keeper by Ramirez was stopped well short of a first down at the Smyer 46.

"If we could just get one play, the game's over," Funke said in explaining the decision.

Three plays later, though, Bovina senior QB Cole Emery had the ball knocked loose at the end of a six-yard run as he tried to stretch it for a first down. Smyer's Ben Steele recovered the fumble with 1:07 to go.

"I knew it was going to be hard to handle No. 11," coach Emery said of Ramirez, who toted the rock 30 times. "He's a very good football player.

"They (Bobcats) played very well tonight. I thought their offensive line was good, and the quarterback just makes plays, man."

Sophomore Darian DeLaRosa carried 14 times for 151 yards and a touchdown for the Mustangs. Cole Emery completed just 2-of-11 passes, but both went for scores - 27 yards to tight end Jose Mata on the last play of the opening segment, and 10 yards to senior Marco Ortiz with 4:07 left in the game.

Emery added 50 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground.

"We made some mistakes, but they (Mustangs) forced a lot of them," Funke said. "If they get the ball rolling ... we were just lucky to hang on at the end."

The Bobcats, who snapped a string of 14 consecutive losing seasons by going 6-5 a year ago, are now in the same position Bovina was entering the game - they host Sudan on Friday with a chance to clinch the district before closing at Ropes the following week.

"Give Smyer all the props," coach Emery said. "They made plays when they had to. Coach Funke has done a great job there."

Farwell 40, West Texas 6 - The host Steers (7-1, 3-0 Class 2A Division I District 1) set up a showdown for the district title next week against Panhandle (6-1, 3-0) at Farwell with an easy victory over the Comanches.

Farwell couldn't score on eight plays over two possessions inside the 10 in the first quarter, but thoroughly dominated West Texas (3-5, 1-2) the rest of the way as freshman tailback Corey Stancell rushed for 269 yards and tallied on runs of 11, 7 and 9 yards.

Stancell has now gained 984 yards on the ground and scored 11 touchdowns this fall while senior Guerrero Olmos, who added a 5-yard scoring run, has 643 yards and six TDs.

Steers coach Darren Kelley was perhaps more impressed, though, with how his team dominated a Comanches squad which put up 50 points the previous week in a loss to Panhandle. West Texas scored its only points on a long pass play late in the contest.

"We physically whipped them up front," he said. "The defense played a great game, did a good job.

"They were a good football team, and athletic, but we were able to push them around."

Senior quarterback Leefe Actkinson went 3-for-7 passing, but two were for touchdowns to senior Jose Rodriguez.

Amarillo River Road 7, Muleshoe 0 - Junior Rolan Smith broke off a 43-yard scoring run early in the final segment and the Wildcats held on for a Class 3A Division I District 2 win at Muleshoe.

River Road (4-5, 1-2 district) limited the Mules (2-5, 0-2) to six first downs and 93 total yards.

"Our kids played tremendous on defense," Muleshoe coach Jason Richards said. "Our offense struggled all night, and got behind the chains a lot."

Muleshoe made one penetration inside the River Road 20 in the first half, but an errant shotgun snap on third-and-3 foiled the scoring opportunity.

The Mules visit Dalhart (5-3, 1-1) on Friday before hosting rival Littlefield the following week, needing to win at least one of those games to sneak into the postseason.