Estacado football coach Eric Ward referenced Murphy’s Law when talking about the difficulties of Thursday night.
Give the Canyon Randall defense some credit, too.
Still, the tough times didn’t last for the Matadors. Estacado grinded through a defensive bout to come away with a 14-7 victory over the previously unbeaten Raiders. The Matadors scored twice in the final 9:18 after falling behind 7-0.
The game was scoreless through three quarters.
“You’ve always got to stay in the fight, no matter what,” Ward said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in football and in life. You’ve just got to stay a medium-low. You’ve got to always stay consistent and keep your head down and keep working.”
That Estacado did. After what seemed like 36-plus minutes of crashing into a brick wall, the Matadors broke through. James Bozeman gritted his way through a crowd at the line of scrimmage to escape for a 40-yard touchdown, and Cedric Ross danced his way up the middle for a 23-yard run that provided enough points.
Considering the explosiveness both possess, Randall coach Dan Sherwood couldn’t be too disappointed. Bozeman and Ross twice have been on state-qualifying 800-meter relay teams, with Ross earning silver in the 100 meters in 10.57 seconds at last season’s state track meet.
“We did a great job for three quarters of containing them,” Sherwood said. “… (The defense) played their butts off, but those guys showed how great of players they are. We knew that coming in. It was going to be a hard test to keep those guys contained. But hats off to them.”
Estacado (3-2) has now won consecutive games for the first time this season.
“It’s easier to fix things when you win,” Ward said. “I think they deserve to win. They practice hard enough. … Sometimes football don’t go your way, but sometimes when it does, you’ve got to honor those things and fix the things that you can fix.”
NON-DISTRICT
Estacado 14, Canyon Randall 7
Randall 0 0 0 7 — 7
Estacado 0 0 0 14 — 14
SCORING SUMMARY
Fourth quarter
RAN — Conner Miller 16 pass from Kaison Benton (Jacob Avalos kick), 10:04
EST — James Bozeman 40 run (Estavan Rodriguez kick), 9:18
EST — Cedric Ross 23 run (Rodriguez kick), 2:56
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: (R) 9; (E) 16
Rushes-Yards: (R) 21-73; (E) 49-258
Passing: (R) 128; (E) 48
Comp-Att-Int: (R) 15-25-0; (E) 7-11-1
Punts-Avg: (R) 5-37.4; (E) 3-40.3
Fumbles-Lost: (R) 0-0; (E) 1-1
Penalties-Yards: (R) 8-96; (E) 9-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Randall, Kaison Benton 6-29, Drayden Ray 8-22, Isaiah Martinez 7-22. Estacado, Cedric Ross 17-108, James Bozeman 14-74, Donivan Torrez 11-65, Jay’ric Ward 3-10, Ry’Heim Hunter 1-2, Gary Brooks 2-1, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING: Randall, Benton 15-25-0—128. Estacado, Ward 6-10-1—46, Torrez 1-1-0—2.
RECEIVING: Randall, Kobe Baccas 5-74, Conner Miller 5-33, Ray 4-17, Phoenix Sherwood 1-4. Estacado, Ross 2-22, Raydon Sanders 2-8, Demari’A Kyles 1-9, Torrez 1-7, Hunter 1-2.
RECORDS: Canyon Randall 4-1; Estacado 3-2.
Week 5 football live updates: Canyon Randall at Estacado
9:43 p.m. — FINAL: Estacado 14, Canyon Randall 7. Raiders drove to the Estacado 46 before a pass breakup on fourth down. Matadors hand Raiders their first loss.
9:26 p.m. — Cedric Ross gives Estacado its first lead on a 23-yard TD run. Matadors lead 14-7 with 2:56 to go.
9:08 p.m. — An offensive avalanche. Estacado answers with James Bozeman’s 40-yard TD run. We’re tied at 7 with 9:18 remaining.
9:04 p.m. — We have points! Randall’s Conner Miller takes a screen pass from Kaison Benton for a 16-yard TD. Raiders lead 7-0 with 10:04 left.
8:56 p.m. — END 3Q: Randall 0, Estacado 0. Defenses still ruling this game. Matadors face fourth-and-32 at their 9-yard line to start the final quarter.
7:58 p.m. — HALFTIME: Randall 0, Estacado 0. Raiders missed a 55-yard FG attempt at the buzzer. The Matadors drove to the Randall 18 on the previous possession before getting picked off in the end zone.
7:28 p.m. — END 1Q: Randall 0, Estacado 0. The Matadors took half the quarter on the opening possession and lost a fumble on their second. Raiders face fourth-and-3 at the Estacado 21 to start the second quarter.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Estacado football hands Canyon Randall first loss in defensive slog
Reporting by Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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