The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity football team came up short in their district-opener on Friday, as they fell to Coahoma on the road, 35-28.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 4-2 overall, 0-1 in district play.
The Wildcats totaled 387 yards of offense, including 276 passing yards and 111 rushing yards.
The Wildcats got the ball to open the contest and after taking the ball up near midfield, they were faced with a fourth and two. They elected to go for it, but a quarterback keeper by sophomore, Chip Green, was stuffed short of the sticks by Coahoma for a turnover on downs with 9:50 left to play in the opening quarter.
The Bulldogs took over at the Littlefield 49-yard line, as Billy Bailey picked up five yards on a run up the middle on first down. Back-to-back runs by Jaidyn Vineyard had the Bulldogs set up with a second and seven at the Littlefield 29-yard line. The pass on second down fell incomplete, but on the next play, the Wildcats were flagged for being offsides, giving Coahoma a first down at the 22-yard line.
The Bulldogs first- down run was stuffed by the Wildcat defense and a pass on second down was broken up by senior, Daniel Garcia, bringing up third and 12 from the 24-yard line. On third down, Boyd Cox connected with Bailey for a solid chunk of yards to set up first and goal from the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Vineyard took a direct snap in for the three- yard touchdown. Reagan Chapman nailed the PAT to put the Bulldogs up, 7-0, with 6:01 left to play in the first quarter.
After a touchback on the kickoff, Littlefield took over at their own 25- yard line. Green scrambled for nine yards on first down and senior tailback, Mason Jones, was able to picked up the first down on the next play, taking the ball up to the 37-yard line. Mason Jones took a sweep around the left side, but it was called back on a holding penalty, backing the Wildcats up to first and 20 from their own 27-yard line.
Coahoma was flagged on the next play for being offsides, giving five yards back to the Wildcats, but Green’s pass on first down was incomplete, looking for senior, Javen Jimenez. A pass on second down, intended for Jimenez, was batted down by the defense, but on the next play, Green connected with Jimenez on a screen pass, as he took the ball up to midfield for a first down, before being brought down by the Bulldogs.
Mason Jones picked up eight yards on first down, on a run up the middle, but a sweep to Jimenez on the next play was stuffed for a two-yard loss, making it third and four for the Wildcats. On third down, Mason Jones took a handoff to the left, before cutting back across the field for a big gain, taking the ball down to the Bulldog’s 15-yard line for a first down.
A few plays later, the Wildcats were faced with a fourth and short situation, where they elected to go for it. The pass fell incomplete on fourth down, but they were able to draw an offsides penalty on the Bulldogs to make it first and goal from the four-yard line. Mason Jones would punch it in for the four-yard score, and Angel Salazar nailed the PAT to even the score, 7-7, with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter.
The onside kick was covered by Landon Wells, and on the very next play, Cox connected with Tristan Guerrero for a 66- yard touchdown pass that was followed with the PAT from Chapman to put Coahoma back in front, 14-7, with 1:19 remaining in the quarter.
Littlefield took over at their own 30-yard line, after the kick out of bounds, but their drive was derailed on third down when Green’s pass to Jimenez was picked off by Guerrero with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Coahoma would take over on offense, marching the ball down the field 62 yards, capping the drive off with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cox to Bailey. The PAT by Chapman was good, as the Bulldogs extended their lead to, 21-7, with 9:32 remaining in the first half.
Littlefield took over at their own 35-yard line, after the fair catch by sophomore, Major McNeese. Green’s pass on first down was batted down by the defense and a sweep to the left by Mason Jones was stuffed for a two-yard loss, making it third and 12 from their own 33-yard line. Green completed a pass on third down to Omar Martinez, who was able to pick up first down yardage for the Wildcats.
On first down, the Wildcats were flagged for a false start and on the next play, Jimenez’s run was stuffed for a loss of one, making it second and 16 for Littlefield. Green hit Martinez on a slant for eight yards and on the next play, Green found sophomore, Ian Mendez on the near sideline for a big play, setting them up with first down at the Coahoma 18-yard line. The Bulldogs were flagged for being offsides, making it first and five for the Wildcats and on the following play, Green found Martinez for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The PAT by Salazar was good, trimming the score to, 2114, with 6:20 to play in the half.
Coahoma wasted no time answering, as they capped off an eight-play, 68-yard drive with a 53yard touchdown run by Bailey. The PAT was good, stretching their lead back out to, 28-14, with 3:08 to play in the first half. The score would stand going into the locker room at halftime.
The Wildcat defense forced a punt on Coahoma’s opening drive of the second half, as they got the ball back with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter.
On first down, the Wildcats got a free play, as Coahoma jumped offsides, but Green dropped back and fired a pass to Martinez, who broke loose down the far sideline for a 70- yard touchdown. The PAT was good by Salazar, closing the gap to, 28-21, with 6:36 remaining in the quarter.
Coahoma would answer with 3:01 left to play in the third, as Cox dropped back on third and 34 and connected with Guerrero for the 70-yard touchdown pass. The PAT sailed through the uprights, pushing their lead back out to two scores, 35-21.
Mason Jones punched in a oneyard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that was followed with the PAT by Salazar, but the Wildcats would come up short on the road, falling to the Bulldogs, 35-28.
Green finished the game, 25-40 passing for 276 yards two touchdowns and one interception, while adding nine carries for 39 yards.
Mason Jones chipped in 15 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns on on the ground.
In the receiving game, Martinez led the Wildcats with six catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, while Jimenez tallied nine catches for 90 yards, Mendez contributed two catches for 40 yards and Mason Jones finished with eight catches for 31 yards.