Pebble Hills spent much of its game against Eastlake running uphill. When the Spartans finally caught the Falcons, they were back on their heels.
No matter. A goal-line stand, capped by a fourth-down stop from Matthew Ortega against Eastlake quarterback Julian Williams, preserved a 19-14 Pebble Hills win in a game they trailed until the middle of the fourth quarter.
Pebble Hills got two touchdown passes from Joe Fernandez to Noah Tarrant, the final one with 8:39 remaining for the final points.
The Falcons then drove to a first-and-goal from the 10, then a first-and-goal from the 5, but Pebble Hills bowed up and made the stop to get the win.
Pebble Hills goes to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in District 1-6A, while Eastlake went to 4-3, 3-2.
Eastlake up 14-6 at halftime
Eastlake scored on its first and last possessions of the first half and recovered a fourth-down Pebble Hills fumble in the end zone to take a 14-6 lead into the locker room.
Eastlake went 87 yards on the opening possession of the game, getting a score on a 40-yard scramble from Julian Williams, and Williams later engineered an 83-yard drive against the clock for a bookend touchdown. Drick Holguin claimed it on a 1-yard run.
The Falcon defense was impressive throughout and forced and recovered a fumble in their end zone in the middle of the second quarter. They may even have had a goal-line stop if the ball hadn’t been fumbled.
Pebble Hills did get a stop after that and went 54 yards for a score, getting it on a 20-yard pass from Joe Fernandez to Noah Tarrant. The extra point that would have tied the game never got off and Eastlake still led 7-6.
Up next
Eastlake closes out the regular season next Thursday, Nov. 6 at Coronado. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Pebble Hills hosts Franklin at the SAC I on Thursday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Pebble Hills goal-line stand turns back Eastlake upset bid in District 1-6A thriller
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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