It was a one-score game in the fourth quarter.
It was just about everything the Bronchos wanted — pitted in a five-point game late, matching blow for blow on the road in a back-and-forth battle with one of District 2-6A’s best.
But Odessa High saw it slip away.
Amarillo Tascosa scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away late, and ultimately dropped visiting Odessa High 36-9 Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium.
Odessa High trailed by just one score at 14-9 going into the fourth, but that’s when undefeated Tascosa put together its best punches — converting a fourth-and-six play to keep a key drive alive, then capitalizing to score on the series and make it 22-9 with just more than eight minutes left on the clock.
Then Tascosa forced a Bronchos fumble on the next play from scrimmage, raced in another touchdown in four plays, before adding one more score in the final minutes.
Just like that, Friday night got away from the Bronchos.
“I just told them, when you have the opportunity to make a play, you’ve got to make a play, and we didn’t do that tonight,” Bronchos head coach Danny Servance said.
Odessa High had the ball in Tascosa territory down five late in the third, marching to the Tascosa 32-yard line.
But that’s when Tascosa started making its big moves toward 5-0, and 1-0 in District 2-6A.
After a false start moved Odessa High back to the 37 and made it third-and-nine for the Bronchos, Tascosa forced the Odessa High offense’s first turnover of the season, picking off a Trey Smith pass and returning it into Bronchos territory.
Odessa High still had its chances, though. One play into the ensuing drive, Tascosa was penalized for a personal foul, putting the Rebels behind the chains, first-and-25.
The Rebels rose to the occasion. Quarterback Connor McAnaul rushed for seven, then after a King Doerue run for one yard, McAnaul hit Will Baxter for an 11-yard gain, before time ticked down to end the third quarter.
After the break, Tascosa faced fourth-and-6, and on a pivotal play, McAnaul connected with Nashon Ray for eight yards and the big conversion to the Odessa High 27-yard line.
Tascosa marched from there. Four straight rushes in the Rebels’ triple option scheme by McAnaul, including a sneak on fourth-and-1, moved the chains to give the Rebels a first down at the 15.
McAnaul ran for nine, then four, before Lamaron Smith busted through the middle to score and give Tascosa breathing room with 8:15 left.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Tascosa defense came up with what might have been the decider — stripping Bronchos’ running back Josh Lara of the ball and setting the Tascosa offense up again to send Odessa High on its way to 2-3, and 0-1 in league.
“They made plays when they had to make plays,” Servance said. “That was the biggest thing.
“When they had to make plays, they came up with those plays. And we didn’t.”
Tascosa drove on the tired Odessa High defense to go up 29-9 with 6:42 to go. After the Bronchos offense drove into Tascosa territory but saw another drive stall on fourth down, Tascosa’s Zabrian King broke loose for a 47-yard touchdown with 2:18 left.
Tascosa head coach Ken Plunk agreed the final score was not indicative of how the game played out Friday night.
“That was the toughest 36-9 game I’ve ever been in,” Plunk put it simply.
McAnaul led Tascosa with 173 yards rushing. He scored the Rebels’ first touchdown of the night, putting them up 7-0 in the first.
Odessa High bounced right back, when Alex Perales broke loose for a 57-yard kickoff return on the ensuing kick to get the Bronchos to the Tascosa 42. A 14-yard run by Lara then a 13-yard connection by Trey Smith to Jacob Munoz got the Bronchos near the red zone — where sophomore running back Senjun McGarity punched in a touchdown to make it 7-6.
Tascosa went up 14-6 midway through the second on another clutch Rebels play, when McAnaul hit Brandon White behind the defense for a 23-yard touchdown on third-and-15.
Cain Cordova booted through a field goal for Odessa High in the late stages of the frame to give the game its halftime score — but the Bronchos never managed to pull ahead.
Odessa High matched blow for blow with the Rebels in the third, before the Rebels raced away in the fourth.
“Tascosa is a good football team,” Servance said. “Coach Plunk does a great job with them. There was a reason that they were 4-0 coming into tonight. They execute, and do what they do in their offense and their defense well.”
Tascosa rolled up 318 rushing yards on its way to 360 total yards, while holding Odessa High to 239 total yards — and forcing the Bronchos’ offense first two turnovers of the season.
“That’s the best overall defense we played all year, because that’s a quality opponent,” Plunk said.
Odessa High’s offense slowed in the second half without playmaking threat Tyrone Caufield at receiver. He was on the sidelines in the second half with his shoulder pads off, with an arm in a sling.
By the end of the game, offensive guard Ke’Evan Majors was in a sling too.
“It started to slip away from us a little bit, because we didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities that we had, both on offense and defense,” Servance said. “We had opportunities to get off the field on defense, and we didn’t, and then on offense, we had opportunities to get the ball down and get it in the end zone, and we didn’t do that.
“We’ve just got to get those things corrected and get ready for next week.”
