THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

When Aaron Ochoa drops into his backpedal, in the chaos of Friday night football, eyes darting to track receivers flashing across the field in front of him, he knows, behind him, just where safety Parker Cherry will be. On the other side, when Charles McClure starts to make his move, measuring carefully as the play develops, he trusts that, in front of him, Cam Limon is stepping stride-for-stride with any receiver charging on. That’s when it’ll happen: The Bronchos fly to the football — for a strong tackle, or a swift deflection; a dive for a fumble, or a leap toward an interception; a big play for Odessa High, and a game flipped upside down by the Bronchos defensive backs. Ochoa, Limon and the cornerbacks are working in sync with McClure, Cherry and the safeties out in the Bronchos’ defensive backfield, and that trust, dependability and chemistry has led to big plays time and again this season as the Odessa High secondary wreaks havoc on opposing offenses. Those Bronchos will look to do more of the same tonight when Odessa High takes on Midland Lee at 7:30 p.m. inside Grande Communications Stadium in Midland. McClure returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in the Bronchos’ last outing against San Angelo Central, and Ochoa pulled down his third interception of the season in the same contest, while leading a ball-hawking secondary including Cherry, who has recovered three fumbles and pulled down an interception of his own this season. Tonight they’ll look to create more game-changing plays as the Bronchos challenge the Rebels on the road. That crew feels confident it can do just that, and, the Bronchos say, that chemistry is the reason why. “I think we’re more connected as a unit, as a team, and we’re getting at it,” McClure said earlier this week after another Bronchos workout at Coleman Field behind the school. The Bronchos got back on the practice field in game-week mode again this week, after going through some bye-week workouts ahead of the team’s open Friday last week. Now, the team is ready to attack its last four games of the season starting tonight with Midland Lee — and the Bronchos’ defensive backs are primed for more big performances. “I feel like we’re all doing our part as a unit, DB’s in general, just doing what we’re supposed to do,” McClure said. “We mess up. It’s going to happen. But as a unit, I feel like we’re getting stronger every game, and getting better.” McClure, the junior safety, has tallied 41 tackles this season to go along with that pick-six against Central, and a forced fumble this year. His fellow junior safety, Cherry, has forced two fumbles to go with his team-best three recoveries. Alex Perales, another junior, has split some snaps with Cherry, corralling 20 tackles while also making a big impact as Odessa High’s leading kickoff returner. Down at corner, Ochoa leads three Bronchos seniors in the group, has wrapped up 25 tackles to go with those three picks; Limon, who has two pass breakups and 23 tackles, and another senior in Seth Marsh. “They want to play for each other,” Bronchos safeties coach Chris Murry said. “That’s the biggest thing. There’s no selfishness out there. “They all play for each other.” The secondary has been huge for the Bronchos defense throughout the season — but it has been a growing effort all through the defensive backfield. Ochoa, an all-district honorable mention selection in 2016, Limon and Marsh all returned at corner, but going into the season they found themselves working with new faces at safety, after Odessa High graduated two multiple-season starters at safety in Jorge Lopez and Colt Beard after the 2016 season. In their place stepped three juniors in Cherry, Perales and McClure, the latter being the only one to see significant varsity playing time in 2016 as a sophomore. Those juniors were thrown into the fire early this season. But they’ve survived it, and come out the other end better for it. “It’s kind of like, for all of us, we don’t have a choice but to step it up,” Cherry said. For this group, it started on a rainy night in Van Horn, when the Bronchos struggled in the secondary and saw several touchdowns fly by against the potent passers at El Paso Montwood during the teams’ preseason scrimmage. Through that, though, the Ochoa said he saw those new juniors make the adjustment to varsity speed. “After that, when we watched film, we just worked on everything we needed to, and they got the game speed down after that. They were used to it — able to adjust,” he said. Now, together, the Bronchos defensive backs have pulled down more interceptions through six games than the Odessa High defense had all through last season — and they’ve made more of those game-changing plays. “We’re getting to the football now, as opposed to last year,” Odessa High corners coach Ahmad Quigley said. “I always tell them in practice, every day, ‘Just fly to the football. Good things happen when you get to the football, every single time.’” That’s been the case quite often for the Bronchos this year, who look to find their way to the ball more tonight against Midland Lee. “They just work hard,” Murry said. “They want to be a unit, and they’ve bought in to what we’ve asked them to do. They show up every day with an attitude that they refuse to lose.” The Bronchos aren’t done just yet — and they aren’t done moving forward. “We’re improving every time,” McClure said. “It’s just step by step. We’re not rushing anything, we’re going game by game, play by play. The improvement’s there, and it’s still improving.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

COHESIVENESS KEY FOR ODESSA HIGH SECONDARY MAKING GAME-CHANGING PLAYS

JUSTIN LEE

Odessa American | 10/19/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Ford