Football: Bronchos hang on for wild win over Mustangs

This one lived up to the hype.

With the top two passing attacks in District 2-5A meeting on the Ratliff Stadium turf Friday night when Odessa High hosted Lubbock Coronado, everyone in the stands and along the sidelines knew that the football was going to see plenty of air time.

It did, as the teams combined for 75 passes and more than 700 yards.

In the end, however, it was the ground game of the Bronchos that proved to be the difference.

Bradley Marquez rushed 12 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns, Ronnie Marquez added 125 yards on 11 carries, with one touchdown and quarterback Derrick Teegarden finished with 79 yards on 15 carries as OHS ran out to a huge lead and then held on for a 49-42 victory.

Odessa High (3-0 overall, 2-0 District 2-5A) has opened with wins in its first two district games for the first time since 2000.

"I am trying not to have a heart attack right now," OHS head coach Ron King said. "I knew that it wasn't safe when we had the big lead, and I kept telling the team to stay in the game because Lubbock Coronado can score from anywhere on the field.

"I was real pleased with the way the team responded when Coronado scored first. This was a heckuva game."

Teegarden also had a fine night throwing the ball, completing 17 of 30 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. It is the second straight game that he has thrown four touchdown passes.

He spread the wealth, hitting six different receivers, with Joseph Limon finishing with 83 yards on four catches, including a 48-yard touchdown pass.

Miles Torres caught two passes, both touchdowns, for 75 yards, with Bradley Marquez finishing with 73 yards on five receptions. Tyler McQueen had four catches for 47 yards and one score.

"We were just trying to keep going down the field," Teegarden said. "I think that when we got the big lead, we relaxed a little; I know that I did and we can't do that."

The loss by Coronado (2-1, 1-1), which had defeated OHS the past two seasons, overshadowed another top performance by quarterback Chris Camp, who completed 25 of 45 passes for 399 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions.

The Mustangs took the lead before the homecoming crowd even had settled in its seats, taking the opening kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown with just 15 seconds gone in the game.

Instead of worrying about what had just happened, however, the Bronchos came right back as Teegarden drove the team 70 yards in six plays, with Limon catching a screen pass over the middle on second-and-17 from the Coronado 48 and outrunning defenders to the end zone with 9:31 left in the first quarter.

Teegarden made a big play earlier in the drive to keep the Bronchos rolling, hitting Gabriel Rodriguez with a 26-yard pass on third-and-7 from the OHS 33. The Bronchos missed the extra point, however, and the Mustangs led, 7-6.

They increased their lead to 14-6 with 3:43 left in the first quarter when Camp, after hitting tight end Brandon Springer for 39 yards from the OHS 43, raced over the right side from the 4.

Again OHS answered, then time taking the ball 90 yards in five plays, with Teegarden finding Torres over the middle on a post pattern for 59 yards and a score with 2:18 left in the first quarter. Limon then gathered in Teegarden's toss on the extra point and the teams were tied, 14-14.

The Bronchos then showed their quick-strike ability to take the lead for good before the quarter ended, thanks to a one-handed interception by Bronchos linebacker Kody Tennison at the Coronado 37.

Teegarden rushed for nine yards on first down and 17 more on second down to put the ball on the 11. From there, Teegarden rolled right and found McQueen on the two and the OHS wide receiver, turned, stumbled and dove into the end zone at the pylon with no time left in the first quarter to give the Bronchos a 21-14 lead.