Football: Alpine unhappy with mistakes in victory against Lamesa

The Alpine Fightin’ Bucks felt like they came out flat for their non-district game against Lamesa on Saturday night at Ratliff Stadium.

Yes, Alpine won — 38-33 — but it believed the game was too close and a little too suspenseful at the end.

Yet as much as the Fightin’ Bucks complained about their performance out of the gate, which they said permeated throughout the game, the contest likely ended up coming down to the very beginning.

Alpine (5-0) began the game with an onside kick and recovered it to score its first touchdown.

Lamesa, on the other hand, ended the game with an onside kick, and it didn’t get it.

Victory, Alpine.

“I want us to get better,” Fightin’ Bucks head coach Shad Hanna said. “We played with a lot of heart, but … it was way closer than I’d like it do be.”

The slim margin of victory had its reasons.

Two Alpine first-half turnovers; Lamesa came out with an I offense and not the spread, with Daveonn Thomas at halfback and not quarterback — both abnormal; and the Fightin’ Bucks, despite quarterback Dominic Scott throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns, could have had even more success through the air were it not for dropped passes.

All of which left Alpine with a bittersweet feeling.

“We made too many mistakes,” Fightin’ Bucks middle linebacker Taylor Moore said. “We had some errors, they got some big plays. We weren’t making our reads.”

After a rushing score and a failed two-point conversion attempt, the Golden Tornadoes trimmed Alpine’s lead to 31-27 with about seven minutes remaining.

The Fightin’ Bucks quickly marched to the red zone, but they couldn’t quite get a hold of Scott’s passes and were stopped on fourth down on Lamesa’s 6-yard line.

“We dropped balls we should have caught,” Alpine receiver Carlos Mendoza said.

On the Golden Tornadoes’ ensuing possession, they were forced to punt on fourth-and-14 on their own 19. Scott proceeded to connect with Emilo Lopez for an 11-yard touchdown and the game-winning cushion, 38-27, with 1:56 remaining.

Alpine had been ahead 12-0 in the first quarter, 25-15 at halftime. But a stronger rushing attack by Lamesa was the second-half constant.

For the Fightin’ Bucks, it was an inside deep post route by receiver Taylor O’Bryant, a route that almost always worked and accounted for much of his 144 receiving yards.

O’Bryant had four catches and one score and could have had more on a better night for Alpine’s receivers.

“We probably didn’t throw it enough,” Hanna said, referring to that route.

But the Fightin’ Bucks were sufficient, and that meant a win.

>> Alpine 38, Lamesa 33

At Ratliff Stadium

Alpine                                18    7    6  7 — 38

Lamesa                               7    8    6 12 — 33

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 1 pass from Dominic Scott (pass failed), 11:27.

Alpine: Alfredo Armendariz 25 pass from Scott (pass failed), 6:11.

Lamesa: Kale Furguson 33 run (Brent Sevedge kick), 3:22.

Alpine: Scott 64 run (pass failed), 2:00.

Second Quarter

Lamesa: Lupe Gonzales 3 run (Aaron Reeves run), 9:37.

Alpine: Dakota Armbruster 13 pass from Scott (kick good), 8:05.

Third Quarter

Lamesa: Daveonn Thomas 8 run (run failed), 8:36.

Alpine: Scott 1 run (kick failed), 4:12.

Fourth Quarter

Lamesa: Gonzales 8 run (run failed), 7:19.

Alpine: Emilo Lopez 10 pass from Scott (kick good), 1:56.

Lamesa: Izsel Thomas 50 pass from Reeves (run failed), :6.6

———

TEAM STATISTICS

                                           Alpine     Lamesa

First Downs                       16              16

Total Yards                      488            270

Rushes-Yards                  16-159       45-272

Passing Yards                    329              98

Passing                         19-34-1       7-20-0

Fumbles-Lost                      3-2             0-0

Punts-Avg                         2-55.0        6-46.3

Penalties-Yards                    8-60           8-50   

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Alpine: Dominic Scott 12-135; Arael Huerta 3-14, Emilo Lopez 1-0.

Lamesa: Daveonn Thomas 19-(68), Aaron Reeves 11-65; Jesus Lopez 4-13; Kale Ferguson 5-67; Lupe Gonzales 6-59.

Passing

Alpine: Scott 19-34-1—329.

Lamesa: Reeves 7-20-0—98.

Receiving

Alpine: Huerta 3-72; Taylor O’Bryant 4-144; Alfredo Aremendariz 2-30; Carlos Mendoza 5-28, Joey Iniguez 1-2, Emilo Lopez 2-44; .

Lamesa: Thomas 1-(-7); Brent Sevedge 3-41, Izsel Thomas 2-59; Kristian Guajardo 1-5.