Football: Cavazos runs over Alpine to claim 4-2A title for Crane

CRANE Senior Jordan Cavazos is not only the Crane quarterback, but also the Golden Cranes' holder for extra points and field goals. On Friday night, his secondary duty was accompanied by a deep exhale.

He was exhausted. Five times in Crane’s 48-14 victory the kick followed his touchdown run, and they were all long.

“This is the first time in my whole football career that I’m tired after a game,” Cavazos said.

With those five scores and 389 yards on 13 carries, he may be a little sore Saturday morning, too. But the aches will be accompanied by a District 4-2A trophy, played for at El Ave Stadium in a matchup of the last two undefeated teams in district play.

The Golden Cranes (9-1 overall, 5-0 district) attacked Alpine’s greatest weakness, its run defense, while the Bucks’ strength, the passing game led by quarterback Dominic Scott, was quieted.

“We knew coming into it they were going to focus on No. 10 (Crane senior Cody Black, one of the top running backs in the area),” said Golden Cranes head coach Naldo Esparza, whose team will play Idalou at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Seminole in a bi-district playoff. “We found a few weaknesses and called some plays to fit (Cavazos’) running style.”

Often, they were keepers that Cavazos easily took to the first layer of the defense and bounced to the outside once he saw linebackers.

Cavazos had 256 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the first half.

In his first four carries, which totaled 60 yards and four first downs, his runs were called. In his fifth, it was a mix-up, and Cavazos turned the busted play into a 31-yard scoring run to put Crane ahead 7-0 with 1:04 left in the first quarter.

It would be the first of three Golden Cranes scores in a span of 29 seconds.

On the kickoff following Cavazos’ touchdown, Alpine (9-1, 4-1) fumbled and Crane recovered. On the Golden Cranes’ first play, Cavazos turned up the right side for another 31-yard score. And on the subsequent possession, Scott’s pass was picked off by Crane linebacker Justin Mendoza and returned 25 yards for a touchdown to give the Golden Cranes a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“I’m so proud of the defense going into playoffs,” Mendoza said.

Whether it was dropped passes, partly because Crane defenders hit Alpine recievers quickly after the ball touched their hands, or an inability to get in sync with his receivers, Scott’s performance was not like his season’s. He passed for more than 3,000 yards this year, but Scott finished 19-for-44 passing for 248 yards and two scores Friday, with most of the positive statistics in the fourth quarter.

“We dropped a few balls,” said Alpine head coach Shad Hanna, whose squad will play Littlefield at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium. “Crane’s got a good football team. They played their best football game all year.”

About five minutes in to the second quarter, Cavazos took another keeper, this time up the gut, and was met by plenty of defenders but none took him down. He bounced it to the left side and ran for a 46-yard score to make it 28-0.

Cavazos wasn’t done.

It was 35-7 at halftime, and to start the second half, Crane stuck with what got it there.

Alpine turned it over on downs on its first possession, and on Crane’s first play, it dialed up another keeper for Cavazos. He bounced it to the outside, yet again, for a 46-yard score.

For the Bucks, they were going for their first district title since 2001, but for the second consecutive season finished with a thumping at the hands of Crane.

“Next week is what matters,” Hanna said. “We just need to regroup and play as good as we can. We’ll be all right.”

For Crane, it is riding a six-game winning streak and the proud owner of that district trophy, something last year’s successful team fell short of doing.

“Last year’s team was very talented,” Cavazos said. “But this year’s team has a lot of heart.”

Crane 48, Alpine 14

Alpine................................. 0    7    0  7 — 14

Crane................................ 21  14    7  6 — 48

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Crane: Jordan Cavazos 31 run (Fabian Moreno), 1:04.

Crane: Cavazos 31 run (Moreno kick), :51.

Crane: Justin Mendoza 25 interception (Moreno kick), :35.

Second Quarter

Crane: Cavazos 48 run (Moreno kick), 6:53.

Crane: Cavazos 81 run (Moreno kick), 4:18.

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 3 pass from Dominic Scott (Javier Vispo kick), 1:15.

Third Quarter

Crane: Cavazos 46 run (Moreno kick), 10:02.

Fourth Quarter

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 20 pass from Dominic Scott (Javier Vispo kick), 6:52.

Crane: Cody Black 5 run (kick failed), 3:37.

———

TEAM STATISTICS

                                           Alpine         Crane

First Downs    ......................... 16              21

Total Yards   ........................  343            563

Rushes-Yards   ...............  18-95       39-523

Passing ......................... 19-44-1       2-10-0

Passing Yards   ...................  248              40

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

Punts-Avg    ..................... 7-39.3        5-37.2

Penalties-Yards   ...............  9-60           8-74

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Alpine: Dominic Scott 14-69, Alfredo Armendariz 2-18, Emilo Lopez 1-10, Arael Huerta 1-0, Oscar Trevino 1-6. 

Crane: Jordan Cavazos 13-389, Cody Black 22-98, Dominic Doss 3-26, Justin Mendoza 1-10. 

Passing

Alpine: Scott 19-44-1—248.

Crane: Cavazos 2-10-0—40.

Receiving

Alpine: Taylor O’Bryant 5-47, Armendariz 3-25, Carlos Mendoza 3-74, Oscar Trevino 2-26, Emilo Lopez 3-16, Arael Huerta 1-5, Saul Ordonez 1-44.

Crane: Woods 1-24, Mendoza 1-16.