Football: Rebels upset Bronchos

MIDLAND No emotion, no offense and no defense added up to no chance Friday night for the Odessa High football team.

Looking to finish the regular season with an undefeated District 2-5A record, the Bronchos instead watched Midland Lee play with much more emotion on both sides of the football to pull off the 21-14 upset in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Odessa High (8-2 overall, 8-1 district) saw an eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss, with was eerily similar to the season-opening defeat at El Paso Montwood when the Bronchos came out flat for the first half and then were forced to play from behind in the second half.

“Give Midland Lee credit,” OHS coach Ron King said. “They came out ready to play and we needed to match their intensity and didn’t do it.

“We did a nice job on the first drive of the second half, but we could take advantage of our opportunities after that and Midland Lee’s offense was running well.”

Odessa High now has to rebound quickly as it gets ready for a Class 5A bi-district playoff game on Nov. 13 against El Paso Franklin in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

The Rebels (6-4, 6-3) earned the final District 2-5A playoff berth, largely on the feet of quarterback Jace Edwards, who rushed 22 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

He was just 5-of-9 for 95 passing, but 69 of those went to wide receiver Gilbert Gutierrez for a touchdown pass with 10:39 remaining in the first half that put the Rebels in the lead, 13-7, at halftime.

Odessa High quarterback Derrick Teegarden was 15-for-22 for 115 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 44 yards on seven carries.

The Rebels, who came into the game tied with Midland High and earned the playoff berth when the Bulldogs lost to Permian, came out and established the line of scrimmage on their first drive, taking the ball 75 yards on 15 plays.

Edwards, who was knocked out of last week’s loss to Amarillo High with a concussion, capped the march with a 15-yard run through the right side in which he ran over an OHS defender at the 10 before breaking free for the touchdown.

OHS, however, matched the Midland Lee opening score with one of its own, with Teegarden making Permian Basin history on the drive.

On second-and-5 from the OHS 45, the Bronchos’ senior quarterback hit wide receiver Johnny Campos on a slant across the middle that went for 19 yards and pushed Teegarden above the 5,000-yard mark for his career.

He is the first Class 5A quarterback in the Permian Basin to reach that milestone.

He continued to lead the Bronchos down the field and on the final play of the first quarter, running back Ivan Subia ran into the end zone from the 2 to tie the game.

“It was a good response by the team,” King said. “But we just didn’t make enough plays.”

After halftime, the Bronchos took the second-half kickoff and went 60 yards in eight plays to take a 14-13 lead when Teegarden hit Tyler McQueen with a 10-yard touchdown pass.

That was the final high point for the OHS offense on the night, though, as the Rebels continued to chew up yardage on the ground and time off the clock on their ensuing drives.

And despite two fumbles inside the OHS 20 yard line, the Rebels were able to find the end zone one last time, with 9:08 left in the game, when Edwards capped a 45-yard drive with an 8-yard run to end the scoring.

“We have to get our focus back and get ready for the playoffs,” said King, who watched his defense play without starters Kody Tennison and Josh Reyes, with running back Ronnie Marquez also on the sideline.

“I hate for the seniors to lose their final regular-season game like this, but we have to forget about it and get our intensity where it needs to be right now.”

Midland Lee 21, Odessa High 14

Odessa High................ 7    0    7    0     — 14

Midland Lee................. 7    6    0    8     — 21

First Quarter

Midland Lee: Jace Edwards 15 run (George Ulmo kick), 5:17. Drive: 15 plays, 75 yards, 6:43. Key play: On fourth-and-4 from the OHS 44, Jace Edwards went around the right corner for nine yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.

Odessa High: Ivan Subia 2 run (Craig Branum kick), :00. Key play: On second-and-5 from the OHS 45, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hits wide receiver Johnny Campos with a 19-yard pass over the middle to Midland Lee 36.

Second Quarter

Midland Lee: Gilbert Gutierrez 69 pass from Jace Edwards (kick failed), 10:39. Drive: 3 plays, 86 yards, 1:21.

Third Quarter

Odessa High: Tyler McQueen 10 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Craig Branum kick), 8:00. Drive: 8 plays, 60 yards, 4:00. Key play: On third-and-8 at the Midland Lee 31, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hits wide receiver Jonathan Lara for 21 yards to the 10.

Fourth Quarter

Midland Lee: Jace Edwards 8 run (Jace Edwards pass from Austin Jumper), 9:08. Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 2:52         Key play: On third-and-1 from the OHS 26, Jace Edwards goes around the right side for 11 yards to the 15.

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TEAM STATISTICS

                           Odessa High    Midland Lee

First downs......................... 12                   18

Total yards....................... 218                 302

Rushes-yards............. 25-103            41-276

Passing............................ 115                   95

Comp-Att-Int.............. 16-23-0              5-9-0

Sacked-Yards Lost.......... 3-16                  0-0

Punt returns....................... 1-0                  0-0

Kickoff returns................. 3-28                3-76

Punts-Avg..................... 4-34.5             1-34.0

Fumbles-Lost.................... 0-0                  2-2

Penalties........................... 1-5                4-37

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Odessa High

Ivan Subia 17-60, Derrick Teegarden 7-44, Team 1-(-1).

Midland Lee

Jace Edwards 22-170, Austin Jumper 13-79, Stefen Watson 5-29, Team 1-(-1)

PASSING

Odessa High

Derrick Teegarden 15-22-0-115, Jonathan Lara 0-1-0-0.

Midland Lee

Jace Edwards 4-8-0-26.

RECEIVING

Odessa High

Jonathan Lara 5-47, Tyler McQueen 3-31, Johnny Campos 1-19, Gabriel Rodriguez 5-15, Jairo Gavaldon 2-4, Ivan Subia 1-(-1).

Midland Lee

Gilbert Gutierrez 1-69, Austin Jumper 1-11, Alberto Mireles 1-10, Devin Savage 1-3, Christian Coogan 1-2.