WOLFFORTH Odessa High was looking to make a statement.

Thanks to their defense and special teams, the Bronchos did so emphatically with a 56-10 victory against Wolfforth Frenship in a key District 2-6A game Friday at Peoples Bank Stadium.

Odessa High (5-3 overall, 1-2 in district) returned two kicks for scores and forced six turnovers to snap a two-game losing skid for its first district win of the season.

“We wanted to try and start the game really fast,” Odessa High head coach Danny Servance said. “That’s what we told our kids and they did exactly that.”

The Bronchos started off with a bang thanks to a familiar face as Charles McClure returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

McClure was back in action after missing the Midland Lee game with an injury.

“It was great to start the game off like that,” McClure said on his second kickoff return for a touchdown this season. “Being able to come back out there and make that play gave us a lot of confidence.”

From there, the Odessa High defense made its statement early on forcing two three-and-outs to open the game.

The Bronchos took advantage of a short field off a Frenship (3-5, 0-3) punt as the offense took all of three plays to score again, this one coming off a 6-yard run by wide receiver Julian Galindo off of a direct snap.

The Tigers would respond quickly thanks to a 14-yard pass from freshman quarterback Jess Hoel to Skyler Newsome for a touchdown.

It then appeared that Frenship was going to seize momentum in the game after Christian Kiser intercepted an Odessa High to halt a drive deep in Tigers’ territory.

But, after a defensive stand, the Bronchos’ special team stepped up again thanks to Galindo, who returned a punt 70 yards for another score.

From then on, the defense was able to bring pressure on Hoel, forcing three interceptions and a fumble in consecutive possessions during the first half.

Two of those interceptions came from McClure, with the third coming from Xavier Minjarez, that put the Bronchos at midfield with less than five minutes left in the half.

“That was the game plan coming in,” Servance said of his defensive effort. “We wanted to try to get some pressure on him and make some quick decisions.”

“That was all about the game plan,” McClure said. “Coach A (Anastasio) set it up and we did a great job of just executing it.”

Josh Lara did the work from there, running for two touchdowns, from 10 and one yard, within the last three minutes of the half. He finished with 122 yards on 14 carries and the two scores.

The second touchdown came off a forced fumble by Oscar Lucio that was recovered by the Bronchos with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Hoel was injured on the play and did not return. He was replaced by sophomore Jake Sherrard for the second half.

Odessa High would continue to take care of business offensively after the break.

 Galindo would add an 11-yard touchdown pass reception from Trey Smith to continue a strong all-purpose night for the senior receiver

The defense would make one more big play to cap off an impressive night as Austin Aguirre picked up a fumble on a bad snap and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

Frenship would add a 22-yard field goal from Cage Jones for the last score for the Tigers.

Odessa High’s Kameron Gonzales found Paulino Gabaldon for a 16-yard touchdown within the last 90 seconds of the game for the last Bronchos’ score.

“It felt great,” Servance said of the win. “The kids have been battling the last two weeks and they needed to have a ball game like that. It was overdue.”

The Bronchos put themselves back in position to get back into the playoffs and now look ahead to Amarillo Tascosa, which pulled an upset of Midland Lee on Friday night.

“It’s a huge momentum swing for us,” McClure said. “We came back and fought tonight and we’re treating every game as a playoff game from here on out because it all counts.”

“We know that we’re going to face a very good Amarillo Tascosa team next week,” Servance said. “Coach Plunk does a great job with his team and we’re going to have to do a great job of getting ready to play.”
