Wolverines top Eunice, gain finals

EUNICE – The score was virtually identical to the teams’ first meeting this season, and once again Texico had to come from behind late to get past Eunice.

Junior wide receiver Maverick Hawkins scored on an 82-yard pass play from junior quarterback Bennett Wahlen with about seven minutes remaining, and senior running back Alex Fuentes added the go-ahead 2-point conversion run as the top-seeded and top-ranked Wolverines rallied for a 36-27 win over the fifth-seeded Cardinals in the Class 2A state semifinals.

In October, Texico overcame an early 21-0 deficit to defeat Eunice 36-28 at home.

Fuentes scored four touchdowns and added three 2PAT runs in a rematch of last year’s championship game, in which the Wolverines dominated the Cardinals 44-7.

This time, though, it was much more difficult.

“It was just back-and-forth,” Wolverines coach Bob Gilbreath said. “We made plays and they made plays, but we really made plays when we had to.”

Texico (11-0) advanced to Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship tilt at second-seeded Santa Rosa (9-3), a 47-13 winner on Friday night over No. 6 Loving. This fall, the teams met at Texico in the season opener on August 23, with the Wolverines routing the Lions 50-0.

Texico came into Saturday’s tilt with three consecutive shutouts, winning by a combined 154-0. But the Wolverines needed their offense to carry the day in this one.

Bennett went 6-for-6 for 185 yards through the air, with Fuentes grabbing three passes for 49 yards. Most of Fuentes’ contributions, though, came on the ground where he rushed 36 times for 220 yards.

He scored on a 12-yard run in the opening stanza, then went in from 2 and 3 yards in the second frame. Fuentes’ 2-yard run and subsequent 2PAT run put things out of reach for Eunice (9-4) with 1:10 left.

“We just tried to play the percentages,” Gilbreath said. “We knew it was going to be really close. It was nip-and-tuck for quite a while.”

Likewise, Gilbreath doesn’t foresee anything approaching a mercy-rule win for his squad in this week’s finale against the Lions. Texico will take a 17-game winning streak into the fray, dating to a 21-14 loss at Eunice in September 2023.

“A lot of things went our way (in the first matchup),” he said. “We really got the jump on them.”