There wasn’t much left to say.
There wasn’t much left to talk about, or think about, or even really feel.
The Bronchos had already spilled all that out on the turf.
Against so many odds, the Odessa High football team staged a late rally Friday night, pushing Midland Lee to its limit, but ultimately, the Bronchos’ hard-fought comeback bid came up just short in a 28-21 loss at Grande Communications Stadium.
Odessa High trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter, with starting quarterback Trey Smith sidelined with injury, with top receiver Tyrone Caufield on the sideline in a sling, after break after break went against Odessa High’s favor on Midland Lee’s way to what should’ve been a dagger touchdown run to make it 21-7 with just more than 10 minutes to go — but even then, the Bronchos kept fighting.
Chase Webster, in at quarterback, hit Zay Brown for a touchdown pass to make it 21-14. Odessa High got a stop to get the ball back, but seemed to hit its last leg again when a fourth-down pass slipped through a receiver’s hands and allowed the Rebels to punch in a 33-yard score to make it 28-14 with 3:14 on the clock.
But Odessa High wasn’t finished. Webster led the Bronchos down the field and hit Brown for 25-yard touchdown to cut it to one score.
Midland Lee recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Odessa High still wasn’t finished. A big defensive stop and a hurry on the Midland Lee punter gave the Bronchos the ball back near midfield with a minute and a half left, and a chance to upset the Rebels.
That’s when it happened — when the Bronchos finally broke — when Midland Lee forced and recovered a fumble at midfield, and went into victory formation on offense.
The Bronchos only quit when the clock hit zeros, and Midland Lee survived to move to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in District 2-6A, while Odessa High (2-5, 0-3) fell short again.
And as the Bronchos gathered on the turf at Grande for a post-game meeting, that’s when there wasn’t much left to say for Odessa High head coach Danny Servance.
After that, all he could really do was hold his players up.
“That’s one of the toughest ones,” Servance said of that talk. “I’m telling you, they played with every ounce of heart that you could ask for. That’s what we’ve been asking them to do, and they did.”
They did everything, it seemed, in those moments in the fourth quarter when most everyone in the stadium would be nothing but rational in counting them out — time and again.
Odessa High showed up ready for a fight from the opening whistle. The Bronchos held a Rebels offense that averaged 45.6 points per game entering Friday night to just seven points in the first half.
The Bronchos’ offense made plays of its own, but couldn’t punch in a score, seeing 24-yard field goal blocked cleanly by the Rebels late in the first half, before another 27-yard attempt was blocked by Midland Lee early in the third.
Odessa High rallied, with the Bronchos defense forcing a sack-fumble to give their offense the ball at the 1-yard line, and allow Senjun McGarity to tie the game by punching in the score.
Midland Lee answered right back, with quarterback Colby Standard hitting Josh Traylor out of the backfield for a 23-yard touchdown to cap a fast-paced, hurry-up no-huddle drive, then, on the ensuing possession, the Rebels forced a three-and-out as Smith went to the sideline in the middle of the sequence with an apparent leg injury — all before Standard capped a six-play drive with his 11-yard separation touchdown.
With all that against them early in the fourth, the Bronchos could’ve folded, but in defeat, kept battling back.
Webster stepped in and the Bronchos rallied, and kept going, even after that Standard touchdown could’ve been the backbreaker; even later in the fourth, when Odessa High’s fake-punt pass slipped off a fingertip and the Rebels punched in a 28-14 touchdown that could’ve been the backbreaker; even after that onside kick could’ve been the backbreaker.
“I just told them that I am so proud of this football team, and the effort that they gave tonight, and the heart that they played with, and the way they represented our community and our school, and our program,” Servance said. “Hats off to them.”
Odessa High entered having never beaten Midland Lee in Grande Communications Stadium. The Bronchos entered 2-14 against the Rebels in the new millennium.
That didn’t slow Odessa High down in its upset bid.
“It is special,” Servance said. “This is a special group. They continue to fight and do the things that we ask them to do, over and over and over again.
“Their resiliency is unmatched.”
Odessa High outgained Midland Lee with 322 yards to the Rebels’ 298.
The Bronchos will close the season with three straight games at Ratliff Stadium, including the Nov. 3 rivalry meeting Permian.
Friday’s loss seemed to make a potential playoff run impossible — but, Friday night showed, the Bronchos will likely keep charging on in those last three games anyway.
“These kids, they just continue to fight,” Servance said. “Man. The heart that they have, and the intestinal fortitude that they showed — it’s unbelievable.
“It’s unbelievable.”
