SAN ANGELO, TX — Here’s a brief rundown of some high school football highlights from Week 2 in West Texas we haven’t covered elsewhere:
Garden City Takes Down Robert Lee
The Garden City Bearkats toppled a second straight preseason Top 25 team to start the year with a 68-60 win at home over Robert Lee on Friday.
Garden City beat preseason No. 22 Nazareth 62-44 last week. Robert Lee was preseason No. 23.
After Robert Lee erased an early 14-0 lead by Garden City, the teams weren’t separated by more than eight points the rest of the game.
Robert Lee didn’t take its first lead until 38-36 midway through the third quarter.
It was back and forth from there with Robert Lee tying the game for the final time at 60-60 with 8:40 remaining.
Garden City’s Brody Walts scored the game-winning touchdown on a 20-yard run with 3:06 left.
Carson Goodwin led Garden City with 19 carries for 162 yards and two TDs. Walts had eight carries for 50 yards and two TDs.
Presley Jost three TD passes, two of which were caught by Preston Dehlinger, who also returned a fumble for a TD.
Robert Lee was led by another superb game from Brenner Sherwood, who threw for 326 yards and six TDs on 23-of-36 passing, while rushing for 134 yards and a TD on 15 carries.
He also had 11 tackles on defense.
Denver O’dell had seven catches for 93 yards and two TDs, along with two fumble recoveries. Nate Samaniego had six catches for 89 yards and two TDs.
Noah Gonzales added three catches for 77 yards and a TD.
Edward Samaniego had a team-high 16 tackles for Robert Lee, while Lucas Martinez had 14.
Robert Lee will visit Ira next week, while Garden City will travel to Sands.
Ballinger Blanks Christoval for Back-to-Back Wins
After an 0-10 season last year, the Ballinger Bearcats are enjoying an exciting start this year.
Ballinger shut out Christoval 21-0 in its home opener Friday to give the Bearcats back-to-back wins to begin the season.
Their defense has been outstanding after allowing only 10 points in the season opener against Merkel.
Aiden Pena was a workhorse against Christoval with 30 carries for 183 rushing yards.
Ballinger jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter after a pair of touchdown passes from Cade Strube to Bryce Lopez and Hunter Kresta, and the Bearcats locked it down from there.
A TD run by Strube midway through the third quarter put the finishing touches on the score.
Strube was 8-of-10 passing for 100 yards, and he added eight carries for 65 rushing yards.
The defense was led by Manny Gonzalez and Pena, who each had seven tackles. Gonzalez also had an interception.
Landon Cornutt had five tackles and a sack, while Aven Ochoa had four tackles and a sack.
Ballinger will travel to San Angelo TLCA next week. Christoval will visit McCamey.
Ozona Holds Off Eldorado
Hudson Fowler threw three touchdown passes, all of them to Michael Daniels, to lead Ozona to a 28-19 win over Eldorado.
Fowler was 18-of-26 passing for 211 yards. Daniels had nine catches for 124 yards.
Eldorado pulled within 21-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
Ozona's Christian Villarreal broke away for a 38-yard TD run that iced the game for the Lions with about three minutes remaining.
Villanueva had 17 carries for 154 yards, giving him 515 yards through two games.
Eldorado scored another TD in the final minute.
Eleazar Hernandez, JonnieRae Adame and Garrett Walling all rushed for TDs for Eldorado. Walling also had five catches for 116 yards.
Adame was 14-of-27 passing for 180 yards.
Ozona improved to 2-0 and will host Brady next week. Eldorado (1-1) will play at Sonora.
Junction Sneaks Past San Saba
The Junction Eagles improved to 2-0, but just barely with a 28-27 win at home against San Saba.
Junction trailed 7-0 after the first quarter and 21-14 at halftime, but the Eagles defense stood strong from there.
In fact, Junction’s defense had the winning score with an interception return for a TD with about 9:30 left in the third quarter.
San Saba found the end zone again with about seven minutes left in the game, but the Armadillos’ conversion failed, and Junction hung on for the win.
This recap will be updated with statistics when they become available.
Junction will play again next week when it visits Early. San Saba (1-1) will host Goldthwaite.
Lohn 2-0 for First Time in 21 Years
After not seeing a win since 2017, the Lohn Eagles have won back-to-back games following their 60-0 win over Lueders-Avoca.
Lohn is now 2-0 for the first time since 2003.
Connor Nuncio had two interceptions for TDs and a forced fumble in a stellar defensive effort. He also had seven tackles and a sack.
Barrett Brock threw for 104 yards and tossed TD passes to Dallas Keller and Jase Moreno. Brock also had 66 rushing yards and a TD.
Gabriel Torres, Fermin De La Rosa and Joe Anthony De la Fuente each added a TD run.
Lohn will play again next week when it hosts Paint Creek.
Johnson City Steals Late Win From Sonora
The Sonora Broncos weren't able to hang on to a 14-point lead in the final minutes as Johnson City pulled off a 36-35 comeback win.
Sonora took a 35-21 lead with about five minutes to play, but Johnson City scored twice in the final minutes to rally for the victory.
Sonora sophomore quarterback Aaron Segura put up some impressive numbers with 373 passing yards and four TDs. He was 18-of-33 passing and also had two interceptions.
He nearly had three 100-yard receivers. Kam Aguero had three catches for 133 yards, Jorge Leija had four catches for 126 yards, and Juan Castillo had nine catches for 97 yards.
Casen Boggs led Sonora's ground game with 16 carries for 74 yards. He also had a team-high nine tackles.
Sonora (0-2) will host Eldorado next week.
Reagan County Rolls Past Grape Creek
Kason Brown ran for 116 yards and two TDs, while Chris Johnson added 80 yards and three TDs to lift Reagan County to a 38-20 win over Grape Creek.
Brown was also 12-of-19 passing for 134 yards with an interception.
Jarrett Brown had six catches for 110 yards, along with six carries for 49 yards.
Lyric Holland had a team-high 11 tackles for the Owls' defense, while Jarrett Brown, Alfredo Hidalgo and Hector Rios all had 10 tackles. Hidalgo also had an INT.
Reagan County (2-0) will host Odessa Compass Academy next week.
Mason Bounces Back With Win Over Brady
The Mason Punchers got back on track from their season-opening loss with a 47-19 win at Brady.
Mason's offense struggled last week in a 28-6 loss to Wall, the No. 9-ranked team in 3A, and it's easy to see why after Wall held 4A state power Brownwood to only 17 points this week.
The Punchers' offense found its footing, though Brady also had some impressive showings.
Junior running back Ashton Taylor had 20 carries for 110 yards and a TD to lead the Bulldogs' offense.
Johnny Menefield led Brady's defense with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. Demarcus Reed had six tackles and a tackle for loss. Mason Airheart had an interception, and Zech Ledezma blocked a field goal.
This recap will be updated when Mason's stats are available.
Other area scores
Hermleigh 36, Water Valley 28
Miles 55, Sterling City 20
Veribest 78, Santa Anna 0
Cisco 62, San Angelo TLCA 8
Bronte 28, Rule 18
Clifton 33, Coleman 12
Rochelle 83, Menard 34
Munday 41, Winters 6
Zephyr 56, Blackwell 8
Loraine 52, Paint Rock 6
Rankin 60, Irion County 12
Richland Springs 62, Bryan St. Joseph 15
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