FOOTBALL: Monahans battles past Shallowater, makes semifinals

MIDLAND It’s not like Monahans to give up 14 points in the span of less than a minute, especially when it’s trying to protect a fourth-quarter lead.

It’s also not like the Loboes to panic when a little adversity strikes, which is why they weren’t stunned when Shallowater stormed back to tie the Class 3A Division II state quarterfinal football game at Grande Communications Stadium.

Monahans simply gathered itself and reasserted itself, reclaiming the lead less than three minutes later and then holding on for a 27-20 win on a cold, misty Friday night.

PHOTO GALLERY: Monahans vs. Shallowater

“We knew we couldn’t get our heads down, and we never quit,” said Monahans senior Pedro Cano, who rushed for a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown with 4 minutes, 47 seconds remaining. “We just kept pounding it and pounding it, and we knew sooner or later we were going to bust it.”

BLOG: Monahans vs. Shallowater after further review

The Loboes (12-2) then got a defensive stop in their own territory to seal the win, which sends them to the state semifinals for the first time since 1998. Monahans faces Argyle (13-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Abilene Wylie High School.

Monahans thought it had the game put away with 10:24 left. Byron Scharf rushed for his second touchdown of the second half, and a two-point conversion pass from Ozzie Lujan to Christian DeAnda made it 20-6.

But Shallowater (11-3), despite losing leading rusher Koley King to a shoulder injury on the ensuing possession, responded less than three minutes later with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brandon Hall. The Mustangs’ Kade Willis recovered a fumbled handoff between Scharf and Zack Navarro on the next play from scrimmage, and Hall rushed for another touchdown two plays after that to tie the game at 20 with 7:03 to go.

“You’ve got to look past (the deficit) and just find something deep down inside to keep you going,” Hall said. “I think we did. It was just a little too late.”

Monahans’ Freddy Garcia, who had a first-half interception and a 41-yard reception that set up Scharf’s second score, returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to Shallowater 44-yard line. The Loboes got lucky four plays later, when they went for it on fourth-and-5 from the 39.

Navarro dropped back to pass, scrambled and threw the ball near a crowd of Shallowater defenders for what appeared to be an incompletion and a turnover on downs. But the Mustangs were called for defensive holding, giving Monahans a first down at the 29.

“That was a big break for us,” said Scharf, who finished with a game-high 145 rushing yards. “It was great.”

Two plays later, Cano ran 26 yards to the right corner of the end zone on the same misdirection play that produced a touchdown on the first play of the Loboes’ area-round victory against Lubbock Estacado.

“That play was there,” Cano said, “and I took it all the way again.”

The game still wasn’t over. Shallowater returned the ensuing kickoff near midfield, converted a fourth down on a pass from Hall to Marc Rios and got as close as the Monahans’ 38-yard line.

But the Loboes pushed them back to the 45. Then, on fourth-and-14, Payton Marcum batted down a pass over the middle to Rios. That gave the Loboes the ball with 1:34 left, and they ran out the clock from there.

“They kept going back and forth to that play, so we knew there were going to throw to (Rios),” Marcum said. “I just jumped up and did the best I could to make a play.”

The game started out as a defensive struggle that Monahans coach Mickey Owens called “a baseball game.”

The Loboes went up 2-0 on a first-quarter safety — Hall fumbled a snap in the end zone right after a 60-yard punt by Junior Morales — and led 5-3 at halftime after each team kicked a field goal.

Monahans stretched the lead to 20-6 on the touchdown runs by Scharf, but Shallowater wasn’t done. The Mustangs forced the Loboes to dig deep themselves, and they found a few more winning plays.

“There’s something about this group,” said Owens, who got past the quarterfinal round for the first time in three tries at Monahans. “We’re not the most talented. We jog on the field and everybody goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t know about this group.’ But they get it done.” 

Monahans 27, Shallowater 20 

CLASS 3A DIVISION II STATE QUARTERFINAL

At Grande Communications Stadium, Midland 

Shallowater                0    3       3  14   —     20

Monahans                  2    3       7  15   —     27

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Monahans: Safety (fumbled snap in end zone); 3:03.

Second Quarter

Shallowater: FG Luke Stutler 38; 3:40.

Monahans: FG Alejandro Mendoza 28; 0:34.

Third Quarter

Monahans: Byron Scharf 10 run (Alejandro Mendoza kick); 5:43.

Shallowater: FG Luke Stutler 25; 1:58.

Fourth Quarter

Monahans: Byron Scharf 1 run (Christian DeAnda pass from Ozzie Lujan); 10:24.

Shallowater: Brandon Hall 1 run (Luke Stutler kick); 7:47.

Shallowater: Brandon Hall 5 run (Luke Stutler kick); 7:03.

Monahans: Pedro Cano 26 run (Alejandro Mendoza kick); 4:47.

TEAM STATISTICS

Yardstick              Shallowater         Monahans

First Downs                          14                      14

Total Yards                        341                    302

Rushes-Yards              37-140              39-210

Passing                          4-8-1               8-16-1

Passing Yards                   201                      92

Punts-Avg.                    2-30.5               2-58.0

Fumbles-Lost                     2-0                    2-1

Penalties-Yards               8-57                  4-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Shallowater: Koley King 17-104, Brandon Hall 11-25, Jarek Black 9-11.

Monahans: Byron Scharf 18-145, Pedro Cano 14-66, Freddy Garcia 3-10, Jackson Scharf 1-0, Zack Navarro 3-(-11).

Passing

Shallowater: Brandon Hall 8-16-1 – 201.

Monahans: Zack Navarro 4-7-1 – 92, Pedro Cano 0-1-0 – 0.

Receiving

Shallowater: Marc Rios 4-118, Jarek Black 2-39, Tobias Sultan 1-22, Cameron Knight 1-22.

Monahans: Freddy Garcia 1-41, Pedro Cano 1-28, Junior Morales 1-15, Alejandro Mendoza 1-8.