PREVIEW: Eldorado Eagles To Take on 4th Ranked Wink Wildcats

WINK- The Eldorado Eagles travel to Wink to take on the 4th ranked Wildcats in their third district game

Eldorado (3-3) vs Wink (5-0)

The Eagles are 2-0 in district and have a tough test ahead in the Wildcats who are highly ranked in 2A ball this season. Last week against Water Valley, Eldorado ran all over those Wildcats to put up 342 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Paul Luna took eight carries for 136 yards and three of those scores. In the end, the Eagles ended up winning 34-12

Eldorado is pretty battle tested as well. They began the season with a win against the Christoval Cougars 7-0. The Eagles dropped three straight games against Winters in overtime, Sonora, and San Saba. Both Sonora and San Saba are playing very good football this season and have a combined record of 8-3. The Eagles then had Midland TLCA cancel their district opener due to injuries and grades. They may have only scored 77 points, or 12.8 points per game this season, but they’ve only allowed 83 points, or 13.8 points per game. This Eagles team keeps games close as only one point separates their average per game.

A big part of that is defensive lineman Sam Griffin and outside linebacker Tony Kmeic. Head coach Chad Tutle said on Wednesday that Kmeic is a player who isn’t just a good football player but is a smart player and does everything the right way.

Eldorado quarterback, junior Jason Covarrubiaz has taken over for his cousin who graduated last season and done a good job. Covarrubiaz had an explosive rushing play in the first quarter against Water Valley that went for 40 yards and a touchdown. Running backs Omar Barajas and Paul Luna split carries in the backfield when COvarrubiaz doesn’t take off with the rock.

Receiver Nino Tambunga is also a playmaker outside for Covarrubiaz. In the first two games, Tambunga saw the endzone three times, two on catches and one on a kick return.

Defensively, Griffin is a game wrecker for the Eagles. Garrett Porter, Braxton Elias, and Kmeic will make Wink work for every yard.

As for Wink, they’ve put up some good numbers this season. They are currently ranked 4th in the state in 2A-D2 football and have a 5-0 record. They beat the Water Valley Wildcats in their district opener 60-16. The Wildcats have put up 261 total points which works out to just over 52 points a game. They’ve given up 16 points per game against Reagan County, Ozona, Alpine, Sundown, and Water Valley.

Wink quarterback, senior Kanon Gibson is someone the Eagles will need to keep track of due to the fact he’s gone 61-110 for 1212, 12 touchdowns, and no interceptions. On the ground, Gibson has 403 yards and eight scores. Sophomore Hudson Morgan and junior Bryan Wilcox have 443 yards and 11 scores combined.

Senior receiver Jordan Tally is Gibson’s favorite weapon and has 616 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior Zachary Yactayo has 323 yards and two touchdowns so far.

Gibson is also quite the defensive back as well as he’s got three interceptions, while Tally and Morgan have one a piece. Morgan also has one sack. The Eagles will have to watch out for middle linebacker Dylan Soltero who as a sophomore has over 10 tackles per game and 51 total this season. Junior Ethan Turegano has 35 tackles and a sack and Iver Chavez has a sack as well.

This is already week three of district games for Eldorado’s district and a playoff picture will come into focus soon. Eldorado has won two games in district so far. Both Wink and McCamey have won a game in district each. Sterling City and Iraan are 1-1, and Water Valley and Midland TLCA are 0-2.

Other games in the district:

McCamey (4-1) vs Midland TLCA (0-5)

Midland TLCA had to forfeit the rest of the season due to injuries and grades. McCamey has been running the football pretty well this season and have 873 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. The Badgers have had two players are quarterback, junior Matthew Rosas and freshman Aiden Torres, who have together gone 7-15 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Defensively, seven different players each have a sack and Rosas has six tackles for loss, 59 total tackles, and four passes defended.

Iraan (3-3) vs Water Valley (2-4)

Iraan had junior quarterback Cole Bowman start the season but hasn’t taken snaps since week 2 and freshman Prather Schneemann has gone 20-46 for 192 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in four games. The ground game has been producing nearly 100 yards each week and the Braves have four touchdowns total due to the rushing attack. Through the air, sophomore Christopher Quintero has 198 yards and two scores. The Wildcats are a team that transitioned from six-man to 11-man this past offseason and have scored an average of 24 points per game and have given up 29 points per game. The Wildcats are coming off a loss to Eldorado 34-12.

The Eldorado Eagles will travel to Wink to take on the Wildcats this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tune into COVER1 for exclusive interviews, score updates, and highlights at around 4:00. 8:00, and 10:00 p.m. only on San Angelo LIVE!