EAGLES FOOTBALL GRIDIRON NEWS
Eagles eliminated by
Brownsville Hanna 28 to 13
Eagles plagued by penalties & turnovers
By: Conrado Perez, Jr. – Eagle Pass Sports Central
“Your best and only source for local sports news in Eagle Pass”
The high flying Eagle Pass Eagles varsity football team under the tutelage of head football coach Tom Gonzalez coming off their thrilling overtime bi-district title victory over the PSJA Bears soared into San Antonio, Texas on Friday, November 23, 2018 to battle against the tough Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles for the UIL Region IV Class 6A Division II area round championship game at the Gayle and Tom Benson Football Stadium on the campus of Incarnate Word University with a 3:00 PM kickoff. The Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles entered this matchup with an overall season record of 10-1 while the mighty Eagle Pass Eagles came in sporting an overall season record of 9-2.
This area round matchup proved to be quite a defensive struggle early on in this game with both teams exchanging punts back and forth. On the Eagles third offensive series of the game freshman standout running back Jose Hernandez busted loose for an apparent 54 yard touchdown run but the play was called back because of a holding call against the Eagles and to make matters worse the Eagles were penalized three more times in that series so instead of coming away with some points the Eagles were forced to punt the ball back over to the Golden Eagles.
Midway through the second quarter, the usually potent Eagle Pass Eagles offense finally dented the scoreboard first with a 44 yard scoring drive that was set up by the Eagles famed stingy defense when defensive back Raul Lechler made an over the shoulder interception to set up the Eagles offense but the offense had to settle for a 34 yard field goal placekicker Erick Ramirez to take 3 to 0 lead over Brownsville Hanna.
The Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles quickly countered with a 53 yard scoring drive culminating with a 21 yard touchdown run by their featured running back Cesar Mancias with 2:53 remaining in the second quarter. Miguel Payan tacked on the point after to give the Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles a 7 to 3 lead in this contest.
The Eagle Pass Eagles offense lone bright spot of the first half came with 1:22 left before halftime when they orchestrated a five play 70 yard scoring drive with the Eagles sustaining the drive on a crucial 45 yard pass completion from quarterback Richie Luna to sure handed slot receiver Oscar Castillon and the scoring drive being capped off by freshman stellar running back Jose Hernandez who tallied from two yards out with placekicker Erick Ramirez converting the point after to give the Eagle Pass Eagles a slim 10 to 7 lead heading into their respective halftime locker rooms.
Things looked promising at the start of the third quarter when the Hanna fullback coughed up the pigskin and Eagles safety Ryan Chisum returned the fumble deep into Hanna territory but surprisingly the Eagles offense did not gain much yardage on three plays and had to settle for a 31yard field goal by Erick Ramirez to extend the Eagle Pass lead to 13 to 7 with 9:04 left in the third quarter.
Late in the third period with the Eagle Pass Eagles still holding on to their 13 to 7 lead over Brownsville Hanna came the momentum and game changing play as Eagles standout linebacker intercepted a Hanna pass attempt and during his return which he battled for every possible yard he fumbled the ball right back to the Golden Eagles which took full advantage of the turnover by mounting a 59 yard scoring drive capped off with a sensational 54 yard sprint to pay dirt by their hardnosed and talented running back Cesar Mancias with 3:50 ;left in the third quarter. Miguel Payan split the uprights with the point after to give the Brownsville Hanna the 14 to 13 lead over the Eagle Pass Eagles and would not relinquish their lead the rest of this game.
With a visibly exhausted Eagles “Land Sharks” defense the Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles took full advantage to tack on a pair of touchdowns in that fourth and final quarter of this game the first coming on a 14 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Victor Campos to wide receiver Eduardo Mendoza and the second coming on a four yard scamper to pay dirt by Cesar Mancias with Miguel Payan converting on both extra points to come away with the 28 to 13 victory over the gallant Eagle Pass Eagles who end their season with a 9-3 overall season record. Eagle Pass freshman running back Jose Hernandez led all Eagle Pass runners with 82 yards rushing on 14 carries and tallied the only touchdown for the Eagles. But the Player of this Game was Brownsville Hanna’s stellar running back Cesar Mancias who finished the game with a team and game high 254 yards rushing on 26 carries and tallied a total of three rushing touchdowns. Eagle Pass receiver Oscar Castillon led the Eagles in the receiving department with three catches for a team high 56 yards followed by teammate Rey Rey Mendoza who had three catches for 30 yards.
Eagle Pass Sports Central congratulates the mighty 2018 Eagle Pass varsity football team on a very fine overall season finishing with an overall season mark of 9-3 and would like to thank each of the graduating senior class member for their countless number of thrills and memories that each of you provided during your respective high school football careers at Eagle Pass High School and wish each of you continued success in all of your future endeavors.
GAME STATS:
EAGLES OPPONENT
First Downs 11 12
Att./ Yds. Rushing 30/96 44/319
Yards Passing 121 101
Total Yards 217 420
Pass att./comp./int’s 12/26/2 10/19/2
Return Yards 72 48
Punts /Avg. 7/32.0 5/33.4
Fumbles/Lost 1/1 1/1
Penalties/Yards 7/45 8/60
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATS:
PASSING:
#10 Riche Luna 12 comp. 26 att. 1 int. 121 yds.
RUSHING:.
#10 Riche Luna 10 carries (-) 11 yds
#21 Saul Peralez 6 carries 25 yds.
#23 Jose Hernandez 14 carries 82 yds. 1 TD
RECEIVING:
#4 Jacob Ruiz 1 rec. 12 yds.
#7 Rey Rey Mendoza 3 rec. 30 yds.
#11 Isaac Gonzalez 2 rec. 19 yds.
#14 Oscar Castillon 3 rec. 56 yds.
#18 Carlos Santos 1 rec. 3 yds.
#21 Saul Peralez 1 rec. (-)1 yd.
#23 Jose Hernandez 1 rec. 2 yds.