Football: Crane dominates Comfort

SAN ANGELO Behold the transforming power of turnovers.

Thanks to a mountain of Comfort miscues — brought on largely by a smothering Crane defense — the Golden Cranes turned a game that was tied at 21 entering the fourth quarter into a 50-21 demolition of the Bobcats in the Class 2A Division II bi-district round playoff Thurs-day at San Angelo Stadium.

It happened in a flash, as Crane (10-1) used two fumbles and an interception to score 29 points in a span of less than six fourth-quarter minutes to give coach Naldo Esparza a victory in his head coaching playoff debut.

“All year long, our defense has played well like that,” Esparza said. “We told them that if they did what they were supposed to do, they would make things happen, and that’s exactly what happened in the second half.”

Crane advanced to face the winner of Saturday’s game between Haskell and Coleman. The game will take place in San Angelo at a time and date to be determined.

Credit for much of the turnaround has to go to linebacker/wide receiver Justin Carrasco, who had two interceptions as well as three second-half touchdown catches on offense — the first on a pass from fellow wideout Tyler Esparza that made it 14-14 early in the second half.

Carrasco added two TD catches in a span of less than 3 minutes to make it 43-21 Crane. Carrasco finished with six catches for 84 yards.

“If I get the ball in my hands, I try to make a play,” Carrasco said. “I’m not going to let it slip by if the ball comes my way.”

The first major momentum swing seemed to fall into Crane’s hands midway through the second quarter when Carrasco dropped into coverage on third-and-5 at the Comfort 40, picked off a Travis Chrisman pass and returned it 67 yards for an apparent touchdown. But an illegal block on the return negated the score, bringing the ball back to the Crane 41.

Four plays later, Lloyd Chisum was stopped short on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak with 2:51 remaining in the half, and the Bobcats regained possession at the 50 — 10 yards closer to the end zone than they were before the interception.

Comfort reached the Crane 26 before calling timeout on fourth-and-4 with 25.5 seconds on the clock. The ensuing play worked to perfection, as Chrisman lobbed one to a wide-open Scotty Richter in the middle of the end zone for a go-ahead score and a 14-7 lead that the Bobcats would carry into the halftime intermission.

Crane had won by an average of 28.1 points during its eight-game winning streak, but Comfort quickly convinced the Golden Cranes that this would not be so easy. The Bobcats went 83 yards in just six plays on the game’s opening possession, capped by a short pass to the left sideline that Vance Lich elusively turned into a 52-yard touchdown.

The Cranes were unfazed, however, responding with a four-play scoring drive of their own. On second-and-17 from the Bobcat 25, Crane ran play-action out of a two tight-end set. Comfort bought it, leaving Jordan Cavazos all alone for an easy Chisum touchdown pass and a 7-7 score with 8:50 left in the first quarter.

The score remained frozen at 7-7 until Chrisman’s second TD pass just before halftime. Then the Golden Cranes turned up the heat.

“The first half was really bad,” Carrasco said. “We didn’t come at all close to our best game. We knew we would have to come out and do something if we wanted to win. And then once (the turnovers) started coming, it was like a domino effect.”

Crane forced six Comfort turnovers while committing none. The defense also held Comfort (7-4) scoreless over the final 16 minutes.

Crane 50, Comfort 21

Crane 7 0 14 29 — 50

Comfort 7 7 7 0 — 21

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Comfort—Vance Lich 52 pass from Travis Chrisman (Miguel Lozano kick), 10:26.

Crane—Jordan Cavazos 25 pass from Lloyd Chisum (Daniel Padilla kick), 8:50.

Second Quarter

Comfort—Scotty Richter 26 pass from Travis Chrisman (Miguel Lozano kick), :18.

Third Quarter

Crane—Justin Carrasco 36 pass from Tyler Esparza (Daniel Padilla kick), 9:21.

Crane—Teague Esparza 7 run (Daniel Padilla kick), 7:51.

Comfort—Will Pace 3 pass from Travis Chrisman (Miguel Lozano kick), 4:13.

Fourth Quarter

Crane—Jordan Mendoza 2 run (Daniel Padilla kick), 11:06.

Crane—Justin Carrasco 4 pass from Lloyd Chisum (Justin Carrasco pass from Lloyd Chisum), 9:03.

Crane—Justin Carrasco 12 pass from Lloyd Chisum (Daniel Padilla kick), 6:11.

Crane—Cody Black 28 run (Daniel Padilla kick), 5:14.

TEAM STATISTICS

Crane Comfort

First downs 16 11

Total yards 290 276

Rushes-yards 39-180 23-81

Passing 110 195

Comp-Att-Int 8-17-0 14-33-3

Sacked-Yards Lost 1-7 0-0

Punt returns 1-25 1-2

Kickoff returns 3-45 8-171

Punts-Avg. 4-38.0 2-35.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 4-3

Penalties-Yards 6-45 8-49

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Crane

Jordan Mendoza 12-83, Cody Black 7-53, Teague Esparza 10-37, Lloyd Chisum 7-13, Robert Barriga 1-(-2), Jordan Cavazos 2-(-4).

Comfort

J. Frank Derby 9-45, Travis Chrisman 11-38, Vance Lich 1-19, James Bowman 1-2, team 1-(-23).

PASSING

Crane

Lloyd Chisum 7-16-0—74; Tyler Esparza 1-1-0—36.

Comfort

Travis Chrisman 14-33-3—195.

RECEIVING

Crane

Justin Carrasco 6-84, Jordan Cavazos 1-25, Tyler Esparza 1-1.

Comfort

Vance Lich 5-103, Will Pace 5-50, Justin Ashley 3-15, Scotty Richter 1-26.

INTERCEPTIONS

Crane

Justin Carrasco 2-10.

Comfort

None.