Football: Greenwood holds on to beat Fort Stockton in wild finish

MIDLAND Just like last year, the season opener between Greenwood and Fort Stockton was suspenseful until the end.

And like 2008, Greenwood came out on top, this time 21-16, at Grande Communications Stadium on Thursday evening in the opening game of 2009 ASCO Midland Football Madness.

On third-and-10 from Greenwood’s 9-yard line with 8:43 remaining, Rangers quarterback Trey Edwards was pressured and passed with the rush in his face while in the end zone. Intentional grounding was called, resulting in a safety to make it 21-16.

However, in the Panthers’ remaining two drives in the quarter, they came up empty.

"At the beginning, we looked unready, just sloppy," Greenwood running back Kyle Young said. "In the second half, we knew we had to go all out."

The Rangers opened the third quarter on a tear. Young scored on a 6-yard run on the team’s first drive. A 59-yard pass from Trey Edwards to Aaron Norris on third down helped set it up. The Rangers went for the two-point conversion and Young took a pitch right into the end zone to tie it, 14-14.

On the Rangers’ first play of their next possession, Jesse Madrid had a clear path on a counter and took it 70 yards. Two plays later, he dove in for a 1-yard score to make it 21-14.

It was a second half quite different from the first quarter, when Fort Stockton’s offense — especially Galvan — practically dominated the Greenwood defense.

The Panthers’ first drive was crisp, with Galvan breaking for a 28-yard run on the first play and the quarterback using a 22-yard pass to Alex Mendoza to set up Lorenzo Hayes’ 1-yard scoring dive.

Fort Stockton’s second drive was almost as smooth. Galvan connected with senior Brandon Mehan for the Panthers’ second score, a 12-yard pass that made it 14-0 at the 4:00 mark. Quickly, Mehan became the fifth different Fort Stockton receiver to catch a ball.

But Galvan wouldn’t complete another pass in the second half, largely because he took a few too many risks — through the air and on the ground — and midway through the second quarter, he was intercepted by Saul Leyva, Galvan’s second interception of the quarter.

On the Rangers’ second play, Edwards zipped it to Aaron Norris on a slant and the latter took it 82 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-6.

"If we hadn't hit that and gone into halftime down 14-0, I don't know how we would have done," Greenwood head coach Steve Taylor said.

It was only a matter of time before Greenwood started 2009 like it did 2008.

>> Greenwood 21, Fort Stockton 16 

Greenwood...................... 0...... 6     15       0 —  21

Fort Stockton................. 14...... 0        0       2 —  16

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Fort Stockton: Lorenzo Hayes 1 run (Omar Fierro kick), 10:11.

Fort Stockton: Brandon Mehan 12 pass from D.J. Galvan (Omar Fierro kick), 4:00.

Second Quarter

Greenwood: Aaron Norris 82 pass from Trey Edwards (Mark Burfeind kick failed), 4:46.

Third Quarter

Greenwood: Kyle Young 6 run (Young run), 10:00.

Greenwood: Jesse Madrid 1 run (Burfeind kick), 7:04.

Fourth Quarter

Fort Stockton: Safety (Greenwood intentional grounding in end zone), 8:43.

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TEAM STATISTICS
Yardstick    Greenwood    Fort Stockton
First Downs    8    12
Total Yards    260    287
Rushes-Yards    25-114    37-128
Passing Yards    146    159
Passing    4-11-0    11-18-2
Fumbles-Lost    0-0    4-3

Punts-Avg    6-39.8    2-43
Penalties-Yards    3-40    5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Greenwood: Trey Edwards 7-1; Alex Lara 6-9; Jesse Madrid 4-75; Cole Barton 3-14; Kyle Young 5-15. 
Fort Stockton: Lorenzo Hayes 12-21; D.J. Galvan 20-91; Angel Martinez 4-15; Jared Carpenter 1-2.
Passing
Greenwood: Trey Edwards 4-10-0 --- 146; Jesse Madrid 0-1-0.
Fort Stockton: Galvan 11-17-2 --- 159; Jared Carpenter 0-1-0.
Receiving
Greenwood: Aaron Norris 2-141; Barton 1-6; Jesse Madrid 1-1.
Fort Stockton: Alex Mendoza 4-51; Frankie Madrid 1-17; Christian Lozano 1-10; Edgar Wislar 2-12; Brandon Mehan 1-22; Wade Bryant 1-45; Lorenzo Hayes 1-2.