The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity football team won their first playoff game since 2016 on Friday when they took down Friona, 7236, at Wildcat Stadium in Clovis, N.M. in the Class 3A Division II Bi-district round of the Football Play-offs.
“I’m proud of these kids, I love them so much,” Head Coach Bo Bryant said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them, the effort and the heart that they play with, they deserve this so much, and couldn’t be more happy for them.”” H e added, “We also have a great group of coaches. These coaches love these kids, they come out and work so hard and I just appreciate everything they do for our program.”
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 7-4 overall on the season.
The Wildcats totaled 617 yards of total offense, including 328 passing yards and 289 rushing yards.
Littlefield won the coin toss and elected to take the ball in the second half, giving Friona the ball to open the contest. Adam MacDonald’s kick-off was fielded by Friona’s Francisco Gutierrez, but a flag for helmet to helmet contact put the ball on Friona’s 10yard line as the Chiefs came out for their first offensive possession.
Back-to-back runs by Damian Sanchez to open the drive were stuffed by Jakob Kirkland and Bradyn Redman and Justen Trevino kept it himself on third down, but picked up just three yards, before being brought down by Caden Reyes. Friona punted the ball away on fourth down with 10:11 remaining in the opening quarter. Littlefield took over at their own 47-yard line, but a screen to Gabriel Villanueva on the left side was stopped for no gain and a run by Ian Mendez on second down was stuffed up the middle, gaining just one yard. Chip Green’s third-down pass fell incomplete looking for Villanueva forcing the Wildcats to punt it away with 9:32 left to play in the quarter.
Friona took over after the punt at their own 22-yard line, but they were again unable to get much going on offense, this time they elected to go for it on fourth and one, but Trevino was stuffed by the Wildcat defense for a turnover on downs with 7:55 to play in the first quarter.
The Widcats took over at the Friona 28-yard line and used a heavy dose of Green and Mendez in the ground game, as they took the ball down inside the 10-yard line. The drive would stall out, and on fourth and goal from the sevenyard line, Green’s pass fell incomplete in the back of the endzone for a turnover on downs with 6:14 to play in the quarter.
Littlefield’s defense remained stingy, as they forced another three-and-out forcing Seth Hoyle to punt the ball out of his own endzone with 4:28 to play in the quarter.
The ball was downed by Abram Rocha at the Friona 39-yard line, as Littlefield’s offense came back out onto the field.
Major McNeese carried the ball on back-to-back plays, as the Wildcats were faced with a third and eight, but a pass to Villanueva was dropped on third down and Redman dropped a pass on fourth down for another turnover on downs with 3:29 to play in the quarter.
Frione went to the bag of tricks on first down as Trevino dropped back and fired a pass to his right that found Anthony Diaz, who then lateraled it to Jameson Daniels, who sprinted down the Friona sideline for a 62-yard touchdown to get the Chiefs on the board with 3:14 to play in the quarter. The PAT by Mario Garcia was good, making the score, 7-0.
Littlefield went three-and-out on their next possession, but Friona was pinned deep in their own territory on the punt, as Gutierrez was tackled by Redman at the Friona four-yard line.
Trevino dropped back to throw on first down, but he was picked off by McNeese, who returned it for the short pick-six, making the score, 7-7, after the PAT from MacDonald with 2:15 to play in the first quarter.
Gutierrez muffed the kick-off, but was able to recover it before being brought down by Nate Castaneda at their own 19-yard line. Sanchez picked up nine yards on a run to the right on first down and Trevino kept it on second down, taking it up the middle to move the chains for Friona. On first and 10, Trevino connected with Daniels on a drag route over the middle, who cut it up the Friona sideline for a 68-yard touchdown with 1:25 left to play in the quarter. The PAT was good on the second try, thanks to an offsides penalty on the Wildcats on the initial try, making the score, 14-7.
Littlefield’s offense took over at their own 45-yard line after a return by Villanueva. Villanueva took the touch pass to the right side, but it was sniffed out by Friona for a one-yard loss. Green was able to move the chains on the next play on a second-down pass to Eizeah Coleman, taking it across midfield to the Friona 44-yard line. The Wildcats would keep it on the ground to close out the first quarter with a combination of runs from Mendez and Green making it fourth and four from the Friona 16-yard line to open the second frame.
Green would call his own number on fourth down, as he carried it around the left side for the 16-yard touchdown. The PAT to tie the game was good from MacDonald, making the score, 14-14, with 11:50 remaining in the half.
Friona fielded a short kick-off, but the Littlefield defense was able to force a three-and-out. Friona lined up to punt, but a bobbled snap by Hoyle allowed Ben Castillo to get to him in the backfield for a sack with 10 minutes to play in the half.
Littlefield took over at the Friona 28-yard line, and needed just four plays to find the endzone, as Green kept it for the 13-yard touchdown run with 9:12 to play in the half. The PAT from MacDonald was no good, leaving the score, 20-14.
Friona would go three-and-out again on their next drive, giving Littlefield the ball at their own 41-yard line after the fair catch call by McNeese.
Green connected with Coleman on a pass to the left, as he cut it up field for a nice gain, but he had the ball punched out by Rafael Rocha, however Villanueva was there to cover it for a Wildcat first down at the Friona 20-yard line. McNeese picked up five yards on first down and Green called his own number on the next play, making it first and goal from the nine-yard line. McNeese would carry it for seven yards on first down, and Green punched in the two-yard touchdown run on the next play, making the score, 27-14, after MacDonald’s PAT with 6:53 to play in the half.
Friona’s offensive struggles continued on their next drive. Faced with a fourth and seven they decided to go for it, but Trevino’s pass for Sanchez fell incomplete for a turnover on downs with 5:41 to play in the half.
Littlefield took over at their own 25yard line after the punt, but their drive was derailed by penalties and they were also forced to punt with 4:30 left to play in the second quarter. However, the punt was blocked by Friona and rolled out of the back of the endzone for a safety making the score, 27-16, with 4:24 to play in the half.
Rafael Rocha fielded the kick-off but he was tackled at his own 44-yard line by Jacob Silvas. Friona would look to strike quickly on first down, as Trevino dropped back and hit Daniels over the middle, who shook off the tackle by McNeese for a 56-yard touchdown with just over four minutes remaining in the half. The twopoint conversion run by Trevino was stopped, trimming the lead to, 27-22.
Littlefield took over after the kickoff at their own 20-yard line, as Green connected with Villanueva on a first down throw for a short gain. Mendez picked up four yards on a second down run and Green kept it on third down, taking it up the middle to move the chains for the Wildcats. Mendez carried it on first down, moving the chains again for Littlefield, as he took the ball down to the Friona 43-yard line.
After a pass fell incomplete to Champion on first down, back-to-back runs by Mendez set the Wildcats up with first and goal from the five-yard line. Two plays later, Villanueva took the hand-off on the sweep around the right side for a four-yard touchdown run with 2:20 to play in the half. The PAT from MacDonal sailed through the uprights, pushing the lead to, 3422.
Friona would score on a quarterback sneak by Trevino from two-yards out as time expired and the PAT by Garcia was good, making the score, 34-29, going into the locker room at halftime.
Littlefield got the ball at their own 35-yard line to begin the second half, as Green connected with Champion on three consecutive passes, taking the ball across midfield to the 37-yard line. McNeese carried it on first down, but was stopped for no gain, however that set up a deep pass to the right side on second down, that found a wide open Champion for the 37-yard strike through the air. The PAT was good, pushing the lead to, 41-29 with 11:03 to play in the third quarter.
Friona got a big kick-off return from Izaac Ortiz Carrillo, but they were unable to get anything going on offense, going three-and-out, punting the ball away with just under 10 minutes to go in the third.
Littlefield began their next drive at their own 32-yard line, as back-to-back runs by McNeese set them up with a third and five. On third down, Green dropped back and hit a streaking Villanueva down the Friona sideline, taking the ball down to the 20-yard line for a first down. McNeese picked up two yards on the first-down run, and two plays later, Green hit Villanueva on a slant to set up first and goal from the one. The Wildcats rushed to the line, as Green snuck it in for the one-yard score with 8:16 to play in the quarter. The PAT was good, making the score, 48-29.
Friona’s offensive woes continued, after taking the ball just inside Wildcat territory at the 48-yard line, Trevino dropped back to throw on first down, but he was picked off by Jayden Barrio, who returned it down the Friona sideline to the one-yard line to set up first and goal for the offense.
Mendez would punch it in on the next play and MacDonald drilled the PAT, stretching the lead to, 55-29, with 5:35 to play in the third quarter.
After a series of turnovers by both teams, Littlefield took over at their own 30-yard line with 1:35 left to play in the third. Back-to-back runs from Green and a run to the left by Mendez gave the Wildcats a first down at their own 47-yard line. On first down, Green dropped back and found Villanueva on the far sideline, who took it in for the 53-yard touchdown through the air with 30.1 seconds remaining in the quarter. MacDonald knocked the PAT through the uprights, as Littlefield extended their lead to, 62-29.
Friona would punt the ball away to begin the fourth quarter and after a two-yard run by Castaneda made it third and eight for the Wildcats, Castaneda dropped back and fired a strike to Redman on the right side, who made a man miss before taking it to the house for the 53-yard touchdown with 10:25 to play in the game. MacDonal’s PAT was good, stretching the lead to, 69-29.
Friona took over at their own 31yard line and was able to string together a five-play drive that ended with a 44-yard touchdown run by Trevino with 8:53 remaining in the game. The PAT by Garcia was good, trimming the lead to, 69-36.
MacDonald would tack on a 27yard field goal later in the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats went on to take the contest, 72-36.
“We really talked about building off of that second-half performance at Roosevelt and our guys came out and really played well, aside from a few big plays and some missed tackles, we pretty much shut them down. The defense played really hard.”
He added, “I think nerves got us a little bit in the first half, we had some guys miss some plays, that they usually make. But we settled in, especially after halftime and started making plays that we normally make and we pulled away from them. We got our tempo going and once we get going we’re hard to stop.”
Offensively, Green finished the game 13-23 passing for 240 yards and two touchdowns, while Castaneda finished the game 2-2 passing for 88 yards and one touchdown.
Mendez led the rushing attack for the Wildcats with 14 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown, while Green added 16 carries for 98 yards and four touchdowns. McNeese tallied 15 carries for 28 yards, while Soliz contributed eight carries for 37 yards and Villanueva finished with two carries for two yards and one touchdown.
In the receiving game, Villanueva led the way with five catches for 118 yards and one touchdown, while Champion hauled in six catches for 105 yards and one touchdown and Redman chipped in one catch for 53 yards and one touchdown. Coleman caught two passes for 52 yards.
The Wildcats will take on Crane on Friday in the Class 3A-DIIArea round of the play-offs at Lamesa High School.
Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.