Steers roll to bi-district win

MULESHOE – Farwell football coach Darren Kelley said he tried to put together a challenging pre-district schedule to help the Steers get ready for the postseason.

It appeared to do that on Friday night.

Senior quarterback Jonathan Armstrong ran for two touchdowns and threw for one and Farwell built a 22-point, first-half lead en route to a 41-20 victory over Sudan in a Class 2A Division II bi-district matchup.

The Steers (5-6) advanced to a 7 p.m. (CST) area round clash on Friday at Sundown against Ropes (10-1), which rolled past Sterling City 65-12 on Friday night.

"Everyone we played was good," Kelley said. "Hopefully, it pays off for us now over the next few weeks."

Neither team scored until Steers sophomore Kyler McClaran capped a quick four-play, 61-yard drive with a 1-yard run in the final minute of the opening stanza. Trailing 28-6 late in the half, the Hornets (6-5) went 88 yards in 12 plays to cut the margin to 14 points.

Sudan had a chance to make it interesting after receiving the second-half kickoff, but failed on a fake punt to start the third quarter. Farwell added TD runs of 28 yards by freshman Coy Miller and 12 yards by Armstrong on its next two possessions to put the game out of reach.

"It was a really fun game; we played hard," said senior slotback/linebacker Ryder McElroy, who rushed for 55 yards, caught four passes for 30 yards and was in on six tackles on defense. "Once we got that first touchdown (after halftime), we kind of put the nail in the coffin."

Armstrong made it 14-0 with a 36-yard run early in the second period and tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to junior Andrae Pullen later in the frame. Junior Hudson Agee returned an interception 60 yards for a score with less than four minutes to go in the half.

Kelley said the Steers made some tweaks at halftime, notably on defense.

"We were getting widened out too much," he said. "Once we figured that out, things got better."

Sudan moved the ball at times, particularly in the first half, but struggled to come back after the early deficit. Senior Marcello King scored on a 5-yard pass from freshman quarterback Haden Provence late in the half and went 33 yards for a score in the final period, but it was nowhere near enough.

Senior Adrian Lozano also had 55 yards rushing for the Steers, who outgained the Hornets 322-261.

Kelley and McElroy hope the Steers, who moved down this season from 2A Division I, can keep it going for a while.

"We were trying to to get past this week," McElroy said. "Now we're moving on to next week, and then the next week. We're taking it one game at a time."

In another D-II playoff game on Friday night, Bovina (3-7) was eliminated with a 61-6 loss to Hale Center (10-1) at Canyon.

Logan 54, Grady 14 – At Logan, the top-seeded Longhorns (12-0) opened a 40-6 lead at halftime in beating district rival Grady (10-2) for the second time this season.

Touchdowns for the Bronchos came on a 32-yard pass from sophomore Zander Ciancio to sophomore Gavin West in the first period and a 40-yard run by senior Deakin Ragland in the third. Ciancio booted a 2-point conversion after the latter tally.