Football: Littlefield fights off Alpine in 2A playoff at Ratliff

Even when things went right for Alpine in Friday night’s Class 2A Division I bi-district playoff game, they ended up going wrong.

The Fightin’ Bucks season ended with a 29-12 loss to Littlefield at Ratliff Stadium that began with hope that Dominic Scott could play like he did in the regular season, when the senior quarterback threw for 3,191 yards and 40 touchdowns.

After allowing a quick Littlefield (10-1) touchdown to start the game, Scott took Alpine (9-2) down the field in seven plays, tying the game 6-6 with nine minutes to play in the first quarter. But just as quickly as Alpine got the momentum, it was taken away on Raymond Sansom’s return of a blocked Javier Vispo extra point.

That gave Littlefield an 8-6 lead, which it never relinquished.

From there, the Bucks had missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Their high-powered offense got into Wildcats territory six times without scoring. Their only other touchdown came on a one-play drive in the second quarter, where Scott hit Taylor O’Bryant on a 38-yard pass, which was followed by a failed two-point conversion that only allowed Alpine to get within 15-12.

“We both made mistakes,” Alpine coach Shad Hanna said. “We both turned the ball over. They were a better football team and we had to play a better game to win and we turned the ball over.”

Along with 297 passing yards, Scott had two interceptions, both after Alpine fell behind in the fourth quarter. He had only five in the regular season.

“Our seniors knew it was our last chance to come back,” Scott said. “We tried to over do it. We tried to do stuff that we weren’t coached to do.”

Littlefield coach Bryan Huseman said his kids stepped up to shut Alpine out in the second half.

“I give a lot of credit to Alpine,” he said. “They played really hard. We really adjusted to their spread stuff and did a great job in the second half.”

Littlefield now moves on to face Amarillo River Road, which dethroned defending state champion Muleshoe 25-21 Friday. Huseman said the game is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Plainview.

Hanna welled up when talking about the seniors who led the Bucks to a 9-0 start before losing 48-14 at Crane in a game for the District 4-2A title.

“There was some talent, but it was the heart of all of the other guys,” he said. “We weren’t big — my right tackle was 5-3, 150 pounds. Size didn’t matter, it was just about playing together as a football team.” 

Littlefield................... 15     0    7   7      — 29

Alpine........................... 6     6    0   0      — 12

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Littlefield: Will McDowell 3 run (kick failed), 10:45.

Alpine: Carlos Mendoza 19 pass from Dominic Scott (Littlefield Raymond Sansom blocked extra point return), 9:00.

Littlefield: McDowell 1 run (Armando Silvas kick), 3:12.

Second Quarter

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 38 pass from Scott (pass failed), 5:42.

Third Quarter

Littlefield: Zach White 81 pass from Tracy Huseman (Armando Silvas kick), 7:42.

Fourth Quarter

Littlefield: Patric Silvas 6 run (Armando Silvas kick), 6:48.

———

TEAM STATISTICS

Yardstick                  Littlefield              Alpine

First Downs                   20                    16

Total Yards                   409                  367

Rushes-Yards              46-252               13-70

Passing Yards                 157                  297

Passing                        6-14-2           24-46-2

Fumbles-Lost                  2-2                   0-0

Punts-Avg                      2-38                 3-40

Penalties-Yards               5-60                 9-69

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Littlefield: Tracy Huseman 17-110, Cheeto Richardson 10-72, Patric Silvas 9-43, Will McDowell 10-27.

Alpine: Dominic Scott 10-54, Emilio Lopez 1-11, Oscar Trevino 1-3, Taylor O’Bryant 1-2.

Passing

Littlefield: Tracy Huseman 6-14-2-157.

Alpine: Dominic Scott 24-46-2-297.

Receiving

Littlefield: Zach White 1-84, Barrick Hodge 3-37, Raymond Sansom 1-10.

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 6-124, Carlos Mendoza 9-101, Emilio Lopez 5-38, Oscar Trevino 2-13, Tony Alvarez 1-7, Arael Huerta 1-2.