Football: Big plays key to Crane's victory

CRANE It came down to this.

The Crane Golden Cranes sat on Greenwood’s 31-yard line ahead by a touchdown, but facing fourth-and-19 with just over four minutes to play. That’s when quarterback Jordan Cavazos and running back Cody Black did what they’d done all night — come up big.

Cavazos hit Black who dodged Greenwood tacklers on his way to the end zone, racing in to give Crane the final 41-28 margin Friday night at El Ave Stadium.

“Coach (Naldo) Esparza really had a good play, I threw a perfect pass to Cody and he ran his route,” said Cavazos, a first year starter for Crane (2-0). “And he came up with a big, big play.”

It was Black’s second touchdown of the night. The senior finished with 117 rushing yards on 14 carries. He also had two huge kick returns that gave the Golden Cranes the ball inside the 40, both of which set up touchdowns.

Greenwood (1-1) coach Steve Taylor said the kicking game is where his young Rangers failed Friday.

“We’ve got to get better and maybe we need to replace a few people,” he said. “Maybe we need to replace me because two parts of the kicking game I coach.”

Cavazos finished the game completing 8 of 13 passes for 84 yards, but, more importantly ran for three touchdowns, including an eight-yard scramble as time expired in the first half to tie the game at 21.

Greenwood quarterback Trey Edwards completed 15 of 27 passes for 175 yards, but threw two interceptions, including one to Cavazos in the first quarter.

Big plays were key for the Cranes, who play next Friday at Grape Creek.

“That’s what we like about our offense,” Esparza said. “We’re fortunate to have some kids who can make some big plays for us.”

>> Crane 41, Greenwood 28

Greenwood       0   14   7   7 —      28

Crane              7    7  15  12 —      41

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Crane: Cody Black 4 run (Fabian Moreno kick), 6:53.

Second Quarter

Greenwood: Trey Edwards 18 run (Mark Burfeind kick), 10:01.

Greenwood: Edwards 1 run (Burfeind kick), 3:32.

Third Quarter

Crane: Cavazos 10 run (Manuel Flores pass from Cavazos), 8:34.

Crane: Cavazos 29 run (Moreno kick), 8:21.

Greenwood: Kyle Young 6 run (Burfeind kick), 0:42.

Fourth Quarter

Crane: Teague Esparza 6 run (kick blocked), 11:51.

Greenwood: Jesse Madrid 1 run (Burfeind kick), 7:20.

Crane: Black 31 pass from Cavazos (kick failed), 4:15.

TEAM STATISTICS

                             Greenwood               Crane

First downs                          23                  15

Total yards                        348                  318

Rushes-yards                 39-178                26-234

Passing                             170                   84

Comp-Att-Int              15-27-2                  8-13-0

Fumbles-Lost                    1-1                    3-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Greenwood: Trey Edwards 16-83, Kyle Young 11-50, Cole Barton 5-34, Jesse Madrid 3-21,Jarett Hall 3-(-4), Jerry Garcia 1-(-6).

Crane: Cody Black 14-117, Jordan Cavazos 12-83,Teague Esparza 6-26, Justin Mendoza 2-9, Darryl Grammer 1-0.

PASSING

Greenwood: Trey Edwards 15-27-2-170.

Crane: Jordan Cavazos 8-13-0-84.

RECEIVING

Greenwood: Aaron Norris 4-56, Kolten Kelley 2-28, Cody Williams 2-27, Jesse Madrid 2-17, Jarett Hall 2-16.

Crane: Teague Esparza 4-53, Cody Black 2-32, Darryl Grammer 1-12, Fabian Moreno 1-11, Dalton Degraffenreid 1-7.