SAN ANGELO— The Sonora Broncos fought the good fight but came up short in the Regional Semifinals against the Hawley Bearcats, 31-8.
Right here in San Angelo at San Angelo Stadium, the Broncos were ready for war against the Bearcats. Last season, Hawley made a statement over Sonora with a 57-26 beating. Sonora came into this season focused, taking first place in their district and earning a rematch with the Bearcats. Looking back, Sonora has had to fight every inch of the way.
The Bronco’s 11-2 record might not reflect the rollercoaster season they experienced. Sonora returned star players from last season in their quarterback, running back, and offensive line positions in Jaime Buitron, Edgar DeLuna, Josh Lozano, Elijah Samaniego, and Jacob Martinez. Back at the very beginning of the season, before the first scrimmage had even been played against Johnson City, disaster struck when Buitron, playing defense, went up to high point a pass for an interception and ended up tearing the ACL in his right knee.
Even in a brace, Buitron’s spirit never darkened as he, in his own words, would be the best coach for his backup Juan Castillo. Castillo did a great job filling in for the dynamic signal caller. One of the best things for Castillo though was running back Edgar DeLuna.
DeLuna went absolutely crazy this season rushing for 2,374 yards and 34 touchdowns. In 12 games, he averaged 198 yards a game and scored an average of 2.8 touchdown a game on the ground. The potent offense with players such as Kam Aguero, Dylan Ford, Eli Pruneda, and Josh Lozano also helped Castillo.
That wasn’t good enough for Buitron because early on, almost right after suffering what is usually a season ending injury, he decided he wasn’t going to stand on the sidelines. Against the Harper Longhorns in Week 5, Buitron returned to the field. In eight games, Buitron threw for 1,100 yards, 11 touchdowns, and one interception.
The offense under Castillo went 4-0 and went undefeated until the Forsan regular season finale where DeLuna was sidelined after taking a low hit.
The Broncos hit the playoffs and in their first game against the Anson Tigers, Buitron showed the same confidence he showed on the field.
“We got them right where we want them.” Buitron said after an Anson punt, Sonora penalty, and about a 90-yard drive with five minutes left down six points. Sure enough, the Broncos marched down the field and scored on a screen pass from Buitron to DeLuna. Then, Deluna took a shovel pass in for two points on the extra point attempt to make the score 29-27. Sonora’s defense, behind big time plays from Martinez and Samaniego, forced a turnover on downs and the Broncos advanced to the Area Round.
In Snyder, Sonora stomped the Steers from Farwell 42-14. That set up the rematch with Hawley.
Hawley’s Keegan Ables was 13 for 21 for 232 yards and one touchdown. He also banged in two short touchdowns. Diontay Ramon caught seven passes for 115 yards and one score.
The Bearcats won the toss and deferred until the second half. Sonora took the ball and started to grind the Bearcats on the ground. The drive ended on an interception on a screen pass that was overthrown. But the Broncos did prove they could move the ball fairly well.
Hawley took over and Ables found Ramon on a 26-yard touchdown and had a successful two-point conversion to go up 8-0 with just under two minutes left in the first quarter.
The next Sonora drive ended the same way the first drive ended but with Ables snagging the ball this time. The teams would exchange punts back and forth then DeLuna would bash his way through the Bearcat defense.
With Sonora threatening from just outside the endzone, Buitron took the ball off the right side of the line and pitched it back to DeLuna who was a little further away. The pitch bounced off the turf right to DeLuna who scooped it up and scored a touchdown. He took a shovel pass from Buitron on the two-point conversion to tie the game up.
In the closing minute of the game, Ables found Tate Scott for a huge gain to the five-yard line. This set up an Ables touchdown but the point after attempt was no good and Hawley went into halftime up 14-8.
In the second half, Hawley punted the ball to Sonora and downed it at the one-yard line. Buitron would get across the goal line but a holding penalty in the endzone gave Hawley a safety to make the score 16-8.
Sonora is not out of the game yet. Even after a safety, they were only down one score. But Hawley would get down to the one again and again, Ables could run in a score to put the Bearcats up 24-8.
Hawley would get one more score with about four minutes left to make the score 31-8 and take the win over the Broncos.
Even after all the Broncos had been through behind the scenes, it was senior lineman Elijah Samaniego who had wise words after the game, “The sun will rise tomorrow.”.
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