Bronchos fight past Bulldogs, win first outright district title since 1964

MIDLAND Odessa High’s players realized at halftime that Midland High wasn’t going to just roll over and allow the Bronchos a key District 2-5A victory Friday night.

So, in the second half, OHS went out and realized a dream.

With 21 second-half points and answers for every Midland High score, the Bronchos held on for a 28-21 victory at Grande Communications Stadium that clinched the school’s first outright district crown since 1964.

The victory was capped by the second sack of the night of Midland High quarterback Jack Bolger, by OHS defensive end Dejion Rangel, on a fourth-and-12 play from the OHS 46.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group of kids,” Odessa High head coach Ron King said. “They believed in what we were telling them for the past three years and they’ve seen all their hard work pay off.

“This is a dream come true and I’m not sure that anyone outside the program three or four years ago, believed this could happen, but we did.”

The Bronchos (8-0, 8-1) close out the regular season on the same turf against Midland Lee. Midland High (5-4, 5-3) needs to defeat Permian next week to have any chance at making the playoffs.

Odessa High running back Ronnie Marquez carried the ball 23 times for 175 yards, with backfield mate Ivan Subia adding 76 more on nine carries. Quarterback Derrick Teegarden rushed for 58 yards and one touchdown and passed for 93 yards and two other scores, both to wide receiver Gabriel Rodriguez.

Wide receiver Johnny Campos also threw a touchdown pass to Jonathan Lara in the first quarter to get the Bronchos on the board.

“We wore them down in the second half,” Teegarden said. “The offensive line did such a great job run blocking that we just kept going at them.

“This is unreal to think about, knowing where we were three years ago. Now we’re district champs and it’s a great feeling.”

Both team struggled in the first half, with the Campos-to-Lara connection providing the only points for OHS, while kicker Grant Sirgo connected on field goals of 32 and 35 yards for the Bulldogs.

With the one-point lead at the break, the Bronchos were not breathing easy.

“I think that’s when we knew that we were going to have to work for it,” Teegarden said. “Midland High wasn’t going to just give it to us and some of us talked to the team at halftime about what we needed to do in the second half.”

The first thing the Bronchos needed to do was stop the Bulldogs, who took the second-half kickoff and marched downfield to the OHS 20. That’s when the OHS defenders stiffened and the next three plays netted Midland High zero yards and Sirgo’s third field-goal attempt of the night, from 38 yards, was short.

“Renel (Rodriguez) got a piece of it,” OHS linebacker Cody Ross said of the kick. “That was a real turning point, I think, because we kept them off the board and then the offense went to work.”

Indeed, as the Bronchos took over at their own 22 and went 78-yards in six plays with Teegarden finding Rodriguez in the right side of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Rodriguez started the play in motion from the left side, cut up the field and raced behind the defenders for the score with 4:03 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs, however, refused to go quietly and on their first play on the ensuing drive, running back Corey Street ripped through the Bronchos’ line and went 70 yards to the OHS 20. The next play saw him carry to the 1 and after an illegal procedure call backed the ball up to the 6, Bolger carried it in for the touchdown, with Tyler Middleton’s two-point conversion tying the score with 11:48 left to play in the game.

Odessa High then went on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that consumed more than six minutes of the quarter, with Teegarden capping the march with a 5-yard run around the left corner.

“We needed to get more ball control at that point,” King said. “That was such a huge drive for us and then we gave the points right back.”

That’s because Midland High’s Antwan Goodley, who will be playing at Baylor next season, took the kickoff and went 89 yards for the touchdown to again tie the game at 21-21 with 5:30 left to play.

But Teegarden and the Bronchos weren’t through. Subia carried the ball for 27 yards on the first four plays and then Teegarden hit wide receiver Tyler McQueen on a screen pass that the senior turned into a 35-yard gain to the Midland 8.

Just two plays later, Teegarden rolled to his right to escape the pressure and found Rodriguez in the end zone for the eventual winning score with 2:02 left to play.

>> Odessa High 28, Midland High 21 

Odessa High                 7    0    7  14     — 28

Midland High                 0    6    0  15     — 21

First Quarter

Odessa High — Jonathan Lara 34 pass from Johnny Campos (Craig Branum kick), 4:55. Drive: 4 plays, 68 yards, :56. Key play: On first-and-10 from the OHS 43, wide receiver Tyler McQueen catches a pass along the left sideline for 9 yards and then the Bulldogs are penalized 15 yards for a late hit, out of bounds, taking the ball to the Midland 34.

Second Quarter

Midland High — FG Grant Sirgo 32, 6:21. Drive: 8 plays, 39 yards, 2:56. Key play: On first-and-goal at the OHS 7, Midland High quarterback Jack Bolger makes a bad pitch on the option, with the Bulldogs recovering at the 15.

Midland High — FG Grant Sirgo 36, :00. Drive: 9 plays, 48 yards, 2:06. Key play: On third-and-2 at the OHS 47, Midland High receiver Antwan Goodley takes a pass over the middle and breaks free for 17 yards to the 30.

Third Quarter

Odessa High — Gabriel Rodriguez 14 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Craig Branum kick), 4:03. Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards, 2:46. Key play: On second-and-11 from the Midland 26, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hits Johnny Campos with a shovel pass fro 12 yards and a first down to the 14.

Fourth Quarter

Midland High — Jack Bolger 6 run (Tyler Middleton run), 11:48. Drive: 3 plays, 90 yards, :33. Key play: On first-and-10 at the Midland High 10, running back Corey Street breaks over the left side for a 70-yad gain to the OHS 20.

Odessa High — Derrick Teegarden 5 run (Craig Branum kick), 5:45. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 6:03. Key play: On second-and-14 from the Bronchos’ 16, running back Ivan Subia breaks free over the left side for a 24-yard gain to the 40.

Midland High — Antwan Goodley 89 kickoff return (Grant Sirgo Kick), 5:30.

Odessa High — Gabriel Rodriguez 5 pass from Derrick Teegarden (Craig Branum kick), 2:02. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:22. Key play: On first-and-10 at the Midland 43, quarterback Derrick Teegarden hits wide receiver Tyler McQueen with a screen pass on the left side and McQueen goes 35 yards to the Bulldogs’ 8.

———

TEAM STATISTICS

                           Odessa High   Midland High

First downs................ 22                   15

Total yards................ 425                 306

Rushes-yards.......... 41-298            33-200

Passing.................... 127                 106

Comp-Att-Int.......... 10-16-0          14-25-0

Sacked-Yards Lost....... 1-5                2-12

Punt returns................ 0-0                2-18

Kickoff returns............ 4-63              5-215

Punts-Avg................. 5-34.0             3-30.6

Fumbles-Lost............... 2-1                  3-1

Penalties.................... 9-66                7-52

———

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Odessa High

Ronnie Marquez 23-175, Ivan Subia 9-76, Derrick Teegarden 7-58, Johnny Campos 1-1, Team 1-(-12).

Midland High

Corey Street 11-128, Tyler Middleton 11-49, Jack Bolger 8-16, Jerome Ellis 2-8, Team 1-(-1).

PASSING

Odessa High

Derrick Teegarden 9-15-0-93, Johnny Campos 1-1-0-34.

Midland High

Jack Bolger 14-25-0-106.

RECEIVING

Odessa High

Tyler McQueen 2-44, Gabriel Rodriguez 4-38, Jonathan Lara 1-34, Johnny Campos 1-12, Ronnie Marquez 1-0, Jairo Galvadon 1-(-1).

Midland High

Antwan Goodley 7-67, Jake Malone 2-24, Kendahl Johnson 2-13, Chris Babcock 1-8, Corey Street 2-2, Jack Bolger 1-(-2). 

ODESSA HIGH FOOTBALL DISTRICT TITLES

2009 — Outright

1993 — Tri-champs

1990 — Co-champs

1964 — Outright

1953 — Outright

1948 — Outright

1947 — Outright

1946 — Outright

1928 — Outright

1926 — Outright

1924 — Outright