The Littlefileld Wildcats’ varsity football team went on the road on Friday night and took down the Denver City Mustangs, 35-14.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Wildcats won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, giving Denver City the ball to start the game.
The Mustang offense took over at their own 25-yard line after the touchback from senior kicker, Adam MacDonald. But, they would have nothing going on their opening drive. Quarterback, Jacen Yanez threw a swing pass to his left to Abraham Velasco, but it was blown up for a loss by junior linebacker, Ben Castillo.
Yanez kept it himself for a run up the middle on second but gained just a yard on the play. Yanez’s pass on third down fell incomplete, forcing the Mustangs to punt from their own 24yard line with 10:28 to play in the opening quarter.
A short punt was downed at midfield by the Mustangs, as the Wildcat offense took the field for the first time. Senior tailback, Major McNeese picked up four yards on the first-down carry, but senior quarterback, Chip Green’s pass fell incomplete on second down, looking for senior, Eizeah Coleman. Green was stuffed for no gain on a third down run, but the Wildcats elected to go for it on fourth down from just inside Denver City territory, as Green took a run to the right down the sideline for a huge gain to set up first and goal.
However, the drive would stall out and fourth and goal from the 11-yard line, MacDonald lined up for a 30-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was no good, as Littlefield turned it over with 8:24 to play in the first quarter.
The Mustangs took over at their own 11-yard line and marched 89 yards down the field, capping the drive off on fourth and goal with a twoyard touchdown run by Velasco. The PAT by Yanez was good, making the score, 7-0, with 4:10 to play in the quarter.
Senior, Bradyn Redman, called for a fair catch on the kick-off at the Littlefield 37-yard line, giving the Wildcats good field position to start the drive.
After an incomplete pass on first down, Green picked up two yards on a quarterback keeper, before Denver City was flagged for an offsides penalty on third down, making it third and three. McNeese took a run up the middle to the Wildcat’s 48-yard line to move the chains for Littlefield, but on the next play, the Wildcats were flagged for holding, backing them up to the 38-yard line.
Green was sacked on first and long, and on second and 25, he completed a short pass to McNeese, leaving them with a third and long, however, on the next play, Green dropped back and found senior, Gabriel Villanueva down the Littlefield sideline for the touchdown with 1:37 left to play in the quarter. The PAT from MacDonald was good, making the score, 7-7.
Denver City started their next drive at the 25-yard line after a touchback from MacDonald, and after their drive extended into the second quarter, on third and 14, Yanez was picked off by sophomore, Jayden Barrio, who returned it back to the Mustang’s 47yard line with 11:14 to play in the half. Senior tailback, Ian Mendez picked up three yards on the first-down run, but Green’s pass intended for Villanueva fell incomplete. The Mustangs were flagged for defensive holding on third down, giving Littlefield an automatic first down at the Denver City 18-yard line, as Mendez carried the ball on back-to-back plays, setting up third and short.
Green took the quarterback sneak across the line to gain to set up first and goal and Mendez carried it to the six-yard line on first down. Littlefield was flagged for holding backing them up to the 16 yard line, but back-toback offsides penalties make it second and goal from the six-yard line once again, as Mendez carried the ball up the middle to make it third and goal from the one-yard line.
Green would carry it in on the oneyard sneak on third down to put the Wildcats up, 14-7, after MacDonald’s PAT, with 8:44 to play in the half.
Denver City got a big return from Velasco, as they started their next drive from their own 46-yard line. Denver City would drive the ball into Wildcat territory, but on first and 10 from the 13-yard line, Yanez ran the option to his right pitching the ball to Velasco, but senior linebacker, Caden Reyes, forced a fumble and it was recovered by the Wildcats with just under six minutes to play in the first half. The score would stand going into the locker room at halftime.
Littlefield got the ball to begin the second half, but after gaining a first down, a pass to Coleman was stripped out and recovered by the defense with 10:58 to play in the third quarter, giving them the ball at the Littlefield 32yard line.
Littlefield’s defense wouldn’t give an inch, as they forced a fourth and long. The Mustang’s elected to go for it on fourth down, but the quarterback keeper by Yanez was stopped by Castillo for a turnover on downs with 8:40 to play in the quarter.
Green opened their next drive with a pass to Barrio, who took the ball past the sticks for a first down. Green would connect with Barrio again on a screen, moving the chains for another first down, before Green’s next first down pass fell incomplete looking for junior, Zane Champion. McNeese ran up the middle for a short gain on second down and a keep by Green on third down, brought up fourth and two from the 30-yard line.
Littlefield ran the quarterback sneak on fourth down, moving the ball down to the 26-yard line, giving them a first down. A few plays later on third and long, Green kept it starting to his right before cutting back to the middle of the field, taking it in for the 40-yard touchdown run. The PAT from MacDonald was good, making the score, 21-7, with 5:39 left to play in the third.
Denver City got a big return from Case McGuire on the kick-off, as they started their next drive just inside midfield, but after picking up one first down, the drive stalled out. They would elect to go for it on fourth down, but the pass from Yanez fell incomplete looking for Jacob Acosta for a turnover on downs with 3:19 to play in the quarter.
Littlefield took over at their own 35yard line, and used an 18-play drive, marching 65 yards, capping it off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Villanueva with 11:11 remaining in the game. The PAT from MacDonald was good, pushing their lead to, 28-7.
Denver City’s offensive woes continued, as they went three-and-out on their next drive, giving Littlefield the ball around their 25-yard line. The Wildcats would march the ball down the field, running off almost three minutes off the clock, as Villanueva took the jet sweep around the right side for a touchdown. The PAT was good from MacDonald, extending their lead to, 35-7, with 6:26 to play.
Denver City would score on a oneyard keeper from Yanez with 1:43 to play, as Littlefield went on to take down the Mustangs on the road, 3514.
Offensively, Green finished the game 12-27 passing for 222 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while also adding 17 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
Mendez carried the ball 17 times for 64 yards, while, McNeese added nine carries for 14 yards and Villanueva one carry for four yards and one touchdown.
Villanueva led the receiving game with three catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, while McNeese tallied two catches for 37 yards and Barrio added two catches for 32 yards.
Defensively, Castillo led the Wildcats with 13 total tackles, 10 solo, two for loss, while Reyes tallied 11 total tackles, five solo, one for loss, a sack and a forced fumble, and Redman finished with nine tackles, seven solo, one for loss and a fumble recovery. Jakob Kirkland and AJ Cantu each tallied six total tackles, while Coleman tallied three tackles and a sack.
The Wildcats will go to Abernathy on Friday to take on the Antelopes.
Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.