Football: Odessa High beats Franklin, sets up rematch

EL PASO It wasn’t the start that the Odessa High Bronchos were looking for.

The finish?

That was exactly what they had planned for.

Running back Ronnie Marquez rushed for a playoff-record 268 yards on 20 carries, with four touchdowns, to lead the Bronchos to a 37-23 victory over El Paso Franklin on Friday night in a Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff game at the Sun Bowl.

Marquez, who missed the season finale against Midland Lee with a chest injury, scored on runs of 38, 49, 16 and 54 yards to lead Odessa High (9-2) into the area playoffs for the second consecutive season.

“I got some rest and I came back healthy,” Marquez said. “I feel really good right now and I think I’ll be better for next week.

“Before the game even started, I had a goal of 250 and it turned to be even more. What I’ve learned from this season is to be optimistic and now I’m looking on the bright side and things are turning out better.”

The Bronchos will host Arlington High at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium in a rematch of last year’s area contest won by the Colts, 28-27.

The Cougars (6-5) were led by running back Joe Damian’s 219 rushing yards on 21 carries, including a 60-yard touchdown run with 3:50 left in the game.

Marquez wasn’t the only OHS player with a record-setting night as wide receiver Gabriel Rodriguez caught six passes for 67 yards and now has 1,090 for his career to break the mark of 1,059 set by Byron Monahan (2004-06).

“Gabriel has done a great job for us the past three years and this is a testament to his hard work and getting the job done,” OHS coach Ron King said. “He runs great routes, has great hands and gets a lot of yards after he catches the ball.”

Odessa High quarterback Derrick Teegarden finished the night with a 14-of-20 performance passing the ball, for 182 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

In the celebration on the field after the game, the senior quarterback admitted to being nervous when the game got underway.

“I don’t know what it was, but I was nervous,” Teegarden said. “I overthrew the receiver on the first pass and it got intercepted, but when I went to the sideline my teammates told me not to worry about it because there was plenty of time left.

“Then, the offensive line took over and did a great job for Ronnie and myself. This was a great stadium to play in, a memory that we’ll all cherish for the rest of our lives and to get the win and advance to face Arlington is something that we’ve been working for the entire offseason and this year.”

Franklin began the game with the football and as would be its pattern most of the night, drove down the field to the OHS 30 but came away with no points when Bronchos safety Frank Mijares intercepted a Josh Valenzuela pass at the 21 and returned it to the 30.

The Odessa High offense returned the favor on its third play of the game when Teegarden, rolling left to escape pressure, overthrew his receiver and Cougars’ defensive back Jorge Guzman intercepted the ball at the Franklin 40 and returned it to the OHS 44.

Again, however, the Cougars’ offense ground out some yards behind Damian, but could not find the end zone and finally turned the ball back over to the Bronchos at the OHS 22 when a fourth-down pass by Valenzuela failed to find its intended target.

That’s when Franklin began to get a heavy dose of Marquez and Rodriguez.

On first down, Marquez took a pitch from Teegarden around the left corner and went 22 yards up the left sideline to the 44.

Teegarden then hit Rodriguez over the middle for 18 yards on the next play, moving the ball to the Cougars’ 38. Marquez then did the rest, taking a handoff and bursting through a hole on the left side to run untouched into the end zone with 2:55 left in the first quarter.

In all, the drive went 78 yards in three plays, lasting just 37 seconds.

>> Odessa High 37, El Paso Franklin 23

Odessa High                 7  10    7  13     — 37

El Paso Franklin            0    3    7  13     — 23

First Quarter

Odessa High — Ronnie Marquez 38 run (Craig Branum kick), 2:55. Drive: 3 plays, 78 yards, :37            Key play: On first-and-10 at the OHS 22, Ronnie Marquez takes a pitch from quarterback Derrick Teegarden and goes around the left end for 22 yards.

Second Quarter

Odessa High — Johnny Campos 35 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Craig Branum kick), 11:25. Drive: 6 plays, 84 yards, 1:51. Key play: On second-and-9 from the OHS 40, running back Ronnie Marquez breaks through the right side for 11 yards to the El Paso Franklin 49.

El Paso Franklin — FG Daniel Wolford 31, 7:50. Drive: 6 plays, 42 yards, 3:35. Key play: On third-and-6 at the OHS 42, running back Joe Damian goes over the left side for 11 yards and when a personal foul penalty is added to the end of the run, the Cougars are at the Bronchos’ 16.

Odessa High — FG Craig Branum 22, :00. Drive: 6 plays, 66 yards, 1:32  Key play: On third-and-2 at the Franklin 24, OHS quarterback Derrick Teegarden scrambles around the right corner for 19 yards to the 5 to set up Branum’s kick at the end of the first half.

Third Quarter

Odessa High — Ronnie Marquez 49 run (Craig Branum kick), 8:02: Drive: 3 plays, 85 yards, 1:06. Key play: On second-and-10 from the OHS 15, quarterback Derrick Teegarden threads the needle down the middle and hits Tyler McQueen for a 36-yard gain to the Franklin 49.

El Paso Franklin — Josh Valenzuela 19 run (Daniel Wolford kick), :49. Drive: 5 plays, 73 yards, 1:38. Key play: On second-and-7 at the Cougars’ 33, wide receiver Chris Valtierra takes a reverse from the left, then pulls up and hits quarterback Josh Valenzuela for a 35-yard gain to the OHS 32.

Fourth Quarter

Odessa High — Ronnie Marquez 16 run (Craig Branum kick), 10:46. Drive: 8 plays, 53 yards, 1:56.  Key play: On fourth-and-5 at the Cougars’ 27, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hits wide receiver Johnny Campos with a swing pass on the left side and the sophomore battles down the left sideline for five yards and the first down.

El Paso Franklin — Chris Valtierra 59 pass from Josh Valenzuela (Daniel Wolford kick), 6:15. Drive: 80 yards, 5 plays, :56. Key play: On third-and-4 at the Cougars’ 20, quarterback Josh Valenzuela hits wide receiver D’Mont Herring for 21 yards to 41.

Odessa High — Ronnie Marquez 54 run (kick failed), 6:03. Drive: 1 play, 54 yards, :12.

El Paso Franklin — Joe Damian 60 run (kick failed), 3:50. Drive: 9 plays, 91 yards, 2:13. Key play: On third-and-3 from the Cougars 32, quarterback Josh Valenzuela rushed for eight yards to the 40 for a first down.

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TEAM STATISTICS

                           Odessa High           Franklin

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

Total yards.................. 520                 458

Rushes-yards............ 34-338            40-291

Passing........................ 182                 167

Comp-Att-Int.............. 15-21-1          12-28-2

Sacked-Yards Lost.......... 1-11                  0-0

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

Kickoff returns................ 4-25              4-127

Punts-Avg................... 3-33.7             2-54.0

Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1                  2-0

Penalties....................... 4-45                6-60

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Odessa High

Ronnie Marquez 20-268, Derrick Teegarden 11-67, Ivan Subia 2-4, Team 1-(-1).

El Paso Franklin

Joe Damian 21-219, Josh Valenzuela 14-46, Mike Martinez 4-23, D’Mont Herring 1-3.

PASSING

Odessa High

Derrick Teegarden 14-20-1-182, Team 0-1-0-0.

El Paso Franklin

Josh Valenzuela 11-27-2-132, Chris Valtierra 1-1-0-35.

RECEIVING

Odessa High

Gabriel Rodriguez 6-67, Tyler McQueen 3-56, Johnny Campos 3-40, Ivan Subia 1-8, Ronnie Marquez 1-1.

El Paso Franklin

Chris Valtierra 7-91, D’Mont Herring 3-37, Josh Valenzuela 1-35, Christian Ortega 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS

Odessa High

Frank Mijares 2.

El Paso Franklin

Jorge Guzman 1.