Football: Bronchos roll past Rams in impressive fashion

The question marks for the Odessa High football team heading into Friday's season opener against El Paso Montwood at Ratliff Stadium were on the defensive side of the ball and just how much of a weapon Bradley Marquez really is as a sophomore.

The Bronchos had plenty of answers against the Rams - on both fronts.

With the defense pressuring Montwood quarterback all night long, Marquez broke the game open with three second-quarter touchdowns as OHS ran away to a 42-14 victory in the nondistrict contest.

Marquez, making his varsity debut, finished with 107 yards rushing on 13 carries and two touchdowns and added a 73-yard touchdown reception to his opening night.

"I was excited to finally get a chance to run through the Broncho and get on the field," Marquez said. "It felt great to get the first touchdown and to be able to help the team win."

Quarterback Derrick Teegarden was 4-of-10 passing for 180 yards and three touchdowns. The junior also rushed seven times for 73 yards, including a 47-yard sweep for a touchdown.

Wide receiver Joseph Limon was the Bronchos' top target, catching three passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bronchos (1-0) now will have to get ready for Lubbock High on Thursday night at Lowrey Field in the District 2-5A opener.

That game, however, was far from the mind of Ron King as he watched his team celebrate around him.

"I'm proud of the team and the way they came out and executed our game plan," King said. "That's a good football team over there and they are going to be in the playoffs.

"Defensively, I thought we did a great job of containing their quarterback, which is what we talked about all week. This was a great way to open the season."

El Paso Montwood (0-1) took the opening kickoff, and behind quarterback Louie Tinoco, quickly recorded a first down at Odessa High's 30-yard line. That's when the Bronchos defenders began to assert themselves, both on the line of scrimmage and in the secondary.

On first down, Montwood's Chris Sazo was stopped for a 4-yard loss by Ruben Talamantes. On the next snap, Tinoco found himself scrambling for his life before being sacked.

A delay-of-game penalty pushed the Rams even farther back, and sophomore defensive end Dejion Rangel recorded the first sack of his career by dropping Tinoco for an 8-yard loss on third down.

That forced a punt that the Bronchos corralled at the Montwood 45, but Teegarden was sacked on first down for an 8-yard loss and then threw incomplete on second down. After an offside call wiped out another incomplete pass, Teegarden found Limon on a screen pass over the middle.

"I let the ball go and got hit and never saw what happened," Teegarden said. "Then, I sat up and Joseph has the ball and a huge hole."

Limon made the most of the opening, bursting up the middle and racing untouched 48 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 8:49 left in the first quarter.

After the teams traded possessions, the Bronchos defense got back into the act by forcing Tinoco to fumble the ball on a third-down play at Montwood's 16.

That set up Marquez's debut as he carried the ball on four of the next five plays for OHS, the final one into the end zone from the 1 with 11:30 left in the first half.

The Rams, though, fought right back as Tinoco, who finished 20-of-31 for 258 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, hit wide receiver Chris Muncie down the left side for an 80-yard touchdown just 16 seconds after Marquez's score.

The Bronchos, however, had a big play of their own set up, and after forcing the Rams to run the ball over on downs midway through the second quarter, they unleashed it.

Taking the snap in the shotgun, Teegarden moved to the right and then flipped the ball on a reverse to Marquez to the left. Marquez turned the corner with no Montwood defender within 10 yards and accelerated all the way to the end zone, 77 yards away, for a 21-7 Odessa High lead with 5:45 left before halftime.

"That was a great call," Teegarden said. "Bradley is so fast and when he gets to the corner and has room to run, there are very few people who are going to catch him."

Odessa High 42, El Paso Montwood 14 

El Paso Montwood 0....... 7...... 0        7     - 14

Odessa High.................... 7.... 21        7       7 -  42

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Odessa: Joseph Limon 48 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Travis Austin kick), 8:49. Drive: 4 plays, 45 yards, :53.

Second Quarter

Odessa: Bradley Marquez 1 run (Travis Austin kick), 11:30. Drive: 5 plays, 12 yards, 1:35. Key play: Marquez's 3-yard run on third-and 2 from the Rams' 4.

Montwood: Chris Muncie 80 pass from Louie Tinoco (Juan Armenta kick), 11:14. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, :26.

Odessa: Bradley Marquez 77 run (Travis Austin kick), 5:45. Drive: 1 play, 77 yards, :15.

Odessa: Bradley Marquez 73 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Travis Austin kick), 2:04. Drive: 1 play, 73 yards, :10.

Third Quarter

Odessa: Joseph Limon 52 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Travis Austin kick), 11:03. Drive: 3 plays, 54 yards, :57.

Fourth Quarter

Odessa: Derrick Teegarden 47 run (Travis Austin kick), 9:44. Drive: 1 play, 47 yards, :11.

Montwood: Daniel Galvez 22 pass from Louie Tinoco (Juan Armenta kick), 6:46. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 2:58. Key play: Tinoco's 12-yard pass to Larry Felix on second-and 11 from the OHS 46.

TEAM STATISTICS

Yardstick                    Montwood                   Odessa

First Downs                             20                            14

Total Yards                            367                          399

Rushes-Yards                  37-109                    33-218

Passing Yards                       258                          191

Passing                           20-31-1                     5-11-0

Fumbles-Lost                         2-2                          3-2

Punts-Avg                         5-32.6                     3-53.0

Penalties-Yards                 10-81                      10-79

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Montwood: Domingo Torres 22-129, Louie Tinoco 14-(-16), Chris Sazo 1-(-4).

Odessa: Bradley Marquez 13-107, Derrick Teegarden 7-73, Ronnie Marquez 9-29, Dean Ramos 4-9.

Passing

Montwood: Louie Tinoco 20-31-1-258.

Odessa: Derrick Teegarden 4-10-0-180, Brandon Maples 1-1-0-11.

Receiving

Montwood: Chris Muncie 1-80, Domingo Torres 5-71, Chris Sazo 6-44, Marco Flores 6-27, Daniel Galvez 1-22, Larry Felix 1-14.

Odessa: Joseph Limon 3-107, Bradley Marquez 1-73, Ronnie Marquez 1-11.

Interceptions

Montwood: None.

Odessa: Darrian Samuels.