Football: Rebels run past Bronchos in second half

Climbing toward a playoff berth in District 3-5A means conquering a steep, slippery slope and Friday night at Ratliff Stadium, when the final horn sounded, Odessa High’s playoff chances lay buried under an avalanche of second-half points by Midland Lee.

The Rebels, by virtue of three Bronchos turnovers, scored four touchdowns in less than seven minutes in the third quarter to blow open a close game and cruise to a 51-14 victory.

Odessa High and Midland Lee now are both 3-5 overall and 1-2 in district play.

“I know the kids are hurting,” Odessa High head coach Ron King said. “But we didn’t do a very good job of protecting the football in the third quarter and Midland Lee capitalized.

“I think, too, one of the things that I was most disappointed in was the fact that we lost our composure worrying about calls that were made that weren’t going to change. Instead of getting back into the game, bowing up and doing the job, we let it affect us the rest of the second half and we got beat.”

Bronchos quarterback Derrick Teegarden finished 13 of 27 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball 21 times for 70 yards.

He was overshadowed, however, by the play of Midland Lee’s Corey Petro, who rushed for three touchdowns and caught a 34-yard pass from Jason Nash for another. Petro finished with 122 yards on 18 carries, the first time this season Midland Lee has had a running back break the century mark.

The final margin of victory is quite a contrast to the two-point lead — 16-14 — the Rebels held at halftime.

The Bronchos were looking to erase that deficit on the opening drive of the second half.

Having driven OHS from its own 21-yard line to the Midland Lee 46, Teegarden rolled to his right and found wide receiver Javorian Guyton downfield at the 38.

Just as Guyton gathered in the pass, he was hit by a Midland Lee defender and the ball fell to the turf, where Casey Forga scooped it up and race, untouched, 62 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter.

King argued the call as he felt that Guyton was either down by contact or the pass was incomplete.

“The official said that he had gathered the ball in and tried to make a move,” King said. “I disagreed.”

The next Bronchos’ play saw another fumble recovery by the Rebels at the OHS 12. Just two plays later, Nick Salois scored from the 1 to make it 30-14 and the rout was on.

Tempers began to flare and the Bronchos twice were called for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that allowed Midland Lee to kick off in OHS territory, negating any chance for run back.

“You are going to have things happen in a football game that you have to overcome and we didn’t do a very good job of it,” King said. “Everyone is disappointed because they worked hard in practice and they knew what was at stake in this game.”