THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

All week, the Bronchos have walked through the hallways at Odessa High, watching their school get caught up in the spirit of homecoming. In class, Joseph Chavez has seen students barge through in costumes, getting involved and dressing up with different theme days. Around campus, Tony Carrasco has heard classmates buzzing about ‘proposals’ before the weekend’s dance. Wednesday night, Jacob Munoz helped light the pallets at the school’s bonfire, and stood in its glow with hundreds gathered together in red and white at Ratliff Stadium. The Bronchos have seen familiar faces all through the school and across the west side celebrate their community all through homecoming week. Tonight, the Bronchos want to give them one more big reason to celebrate. Odessa High hosts Wolfforth Frenship for homecoming at 7:30 at Ratliff Stadium — and the Bronchos are bent on giving their classmates, their families and everyone in West Odessa more to enjoy. “There’s a little more hype to the week,” Bronchos receiver Zay Brown said. “There’s more people coming out to watch. “We want to let them celebrate something.” Brown is a senior along with Chavez, Carrasco and Munoz — and for them and the rest of the team’s seniors, tonight also marks one last homecoming together. Odessa High hopes to make it a special one, and a win would do just that for those seniors and their fellow classmates in the class of 2018. Together, they haven’t gotten the chance to experience a win on homecoming. The football team has lost its last three homecoming games in each of the last three seasons, with the Bronchos’ last homecoming win coming against Lubbock Coronado in 2013, back when the current seniors were in junior high. At the same time, it’s been nearly three years since Odessa High has won a district game, with the team’s last league win coming in 2014. The Bronchos have a chance to wash away both those droughts tonight against winless Wolfforth Frenship. “We’ve been working hard, and hopefully we’ll come out with this victory,” Munoz said, standing off Coleman Field after the team’s practice Wednesday afternoon. “It’s the last one,” he added, speaking as one of those seniors. “We’ve got to make it the best.” Odessa High enters tonight’s game 2-5 on the season and 0-3 in District 2-6A after a heartbreaking loss decided in the final moments last week against Midland Lee. To any objective eye, the Bronchos have made tremendous strides this season, forward from years past. But the Bronchos know their classmates can’t go bragging about ‘strides forward’ — so they’re excited about the chance to represent their school with a victory on the scoreboard tonight in Ratliff, for everyone in the big homecoming crowd. “The entire school’s going to be up there — teachers, students, older graduated people,” Chavez said. “Besides Permian, this is one of the biggest games,” he added. Internally, the Bronchos go into every game stressing the same importance, but they know, tonight, for many of their classmates, homecoming has a different air. “You can say it’s extra, because most of our fans are coming to watch the game,” Carrasco said. “We can’t lose on them.” Tonight, the Bronchos plan to add their own flair to the festivities. “It’s pretty cool,” senior captain Chase Webster said. “Everybody pays attention to football here, but it’s extra people participating (this week). “We want to make everybody celebrate when we score and we win — and just give everybody a good time,” he said.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

BRONCHOS BENT ON GIVING ODESSA HIGH CLASSMATES PLENTY MORE TO CELEBRATE ON HOMECOMING AGAINST FRENSHIP

JUSTIN LEE

Odessa American | 10/26/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Ford