What Andrews Said

By Lew
September 20, 2004

The following is from the Andrews County News:
Thanks to Rudy Diaz.

Lew

Penalties hurt Mustangs in Sweetwater loss
(Sunday, September 19, 2004


by RUDY DIAZ
Sports Editor

If the final outcome in the Andrews Mustangs and Sweetwater instant football classic Friday night in Sweetwater would have come down to “heart and guts”, coach Blaine Sprngston’s boys would have walked off beautiful Mustang Bowl with an easy win.
If mistakes had anything to do with the final outcome, and they did, Andrews would have come up short.
They did.


In a game Springston pretty much labeled as a “give away”, his Andrews boys came up on the losing end of a hard-to-swallow 28-21 contest.
The game itself had everything a sports fan might want, but not a coach.
Said Springston moments after realizing it was over, “I’m disappointed because we gave them the ball game. We gave them the first three touchdowns on stupid penalties. That is something we are going to have to address. We’ll punish them for it and if they don’t respond they just won’t play anymore.
“We played much better the second half. Early in the ball game is what killed us.”
Three first half personal penalties on the Mustangs really opened the door for Sweetwater, and like all good teams they took advantage.
Then with the game tied at 21-21 with just 5:25 left in the fourth quarter, and the outcome still very much in the air, Sweetwater managed to put together a 65-yard drive that was capped off by a Joseph Banyard five-yard touchdown run with just 34 seconds left in the game to give the red Mustangs the win.
The game did not lack in excitement, but at the end the results were not what Andrews fans had hoped for.
On the other side of things, it was what Sweetwater coach Kent Jackson had prepared his troops for.
Said Jackson, “When it mattered the most our guys up front were able to take over and help us put a big, big drive together.
“It was a huge, huge win over a great program and a bunch of guys that are going to put a bunch of wins together. It was great work for us tonight. This is what we needed. We we’ve worked for.
“It was a great thrill and we are going to enjoy for a while, and get back to work tomorrow for hopefully bigger things to come.”
Going into the game no one in their right football mind expected a defensive battle and in the first 24 minutes – they would not get one.
Andrews took the opening kickoff and a big 41-yard pass play from quarterback Jeremy Bueno to tight end Chris Stephens quickly had the “good” Mustangs threatening. Three plays later the threat was gone when Stephens tipped a high pass up in the air and Brittan Pittman intercepted at the SW 20 with 9:57 left in the first quarter.
Three plays later, Sweet-water gave it right back when Chris Sauceda recovered a fumble at the SW 20 yard line.
Just like that Andrews had their second scoring threat, but three plays went for minus three yards and on fourth down an incomplete pass gave Sweetwater the ball back.
Sweetwater managed their first down of the game with 6:03 left in the first quarter on a Kendall Carrillo six-yard run. After that the AHS defense rose to the occasion and forced a punt, but Cassidy Hamilton was stripped of the ball and Justin Clowers recovered the ball and raced 33 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Parker Marrow added the extra point and with 4:45 left in the first quarter Sweetwater led 7-0.
Andrews responded just the way one would expect. They took over at their own 35 and under a very heavy rush Bueno somehow managed to get a pass off to Michael Grady for 44 yards to the Sweetwater 21. A Bueno run and sack moved them back to the 26, and on third down Bueno and Grady connected for four yards to the 22. AHS went for it on fourth down and when Bueno hit Ray Dunn to the SW six-yard line, they earned an extra set of downs.
Two plays later, Bueno hit Hunter Morren with a six-yard TD pass and Bueno kicked the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with just 48 seconds left in the first quarter.
Just like Andrews had an answer for the Sweetwater score, the red Mustangs had an answer for the black Mustangs score.
They started their next drive at their own 20 and the first of three, first-half personal fouls on AHS gave them a quick first down. A 20-yard draw by Alan Copeland and a 34-yard scramble by SW quarterback Jeremy Thompson moved the ball to the AHS six yard line. Three plays later, Banyard scored from the two-yard line off the wishbone formation and after Morrow added the PAT, Sweetwater led 14-7 with 9:35 left in the first half.
Andrews went three and out in their next offensive possession, but three plays into the next SW drive, Pablo Gutierrez recovered a fumble at their own 38 to stop a legitimate Sweetwater drive.
Springton’s boys turned it around and marched 62 yards on just five plays and tied the game 14-14 when Bueno hit Hamilton with a 10-yard touchdown pass. While Hamilton got the score, it was a circus-like catch by AHS’s Jesse Ortiz with a defender all over him for 25 yards to the SW 10-yard line that was the highlight of the drive. Still, after Bueno split the uprights on the PAT, the game was deadlocked with 2:52 left in the first half.
Which was just enough time for Sweetwater to march 65 yards and take a 21-14 lead just before halftime. It took SW 12 plays (11 of them runs) to cover the 65 yards of real estate. With SW out of timeouts and the ball at the AHS 16 yard line, Thompson took a QB option right up the middle of the Andrews defense for a touchdown with just 14 seconds left before halftime. Morren added the extra point and the red Mustangs went into halftime with a 21-14 lead.
A different and fired-up Andrews team came out for the second half and it showed right away.
Sweetwater received the second half kickoff, but three plays later Eddie Salgado intercepted a Thompson pass at the AHS 42. Salgado was stripped of the ball on the way down and Ortiz picked it up and raced 22 yards to SW 20 yard line.
After a McQueen five-yard run, Bueno threw a perfect lob pass into the end zone and Hamilton made a great catch for the tying touch-down. Bueno kicked the extra point and with 10 minutes left in the third quarter the game was again tied at 21-21.
The good Mustangs again held Sweetwater to a three and out and took over at their own 42. After an AHS penalty, Bueno hit a streaking Hamilton down the middle of the field for 49 yards to the SW 16 yard line. But a short run and three incomplete passes gave SW the ball back and the “dog fight” was about to go to another level.
For the third time in the second half, the Andrews “11” on defense totally dominated the SW offense. The AHS “11” with the front four of Garrett Ballew, Brad Villa, Gutierrez, and Morren, plus linebackers Roy Rangel, Dunn, and Stephens and the secondary of Chris Sauceda, Salgado, Ortiz and Larry Grant simply were magnificent. They didn’t just toy with the SW offense, they took total control.
After their third three and out, AHS took over at their own 19 late in the third quarter. A McQueen 11-yard run gave them a quick first down, but after that the SW defense forced a punt of their own and took over at the AHS 47 headed into the fourth quarter.
Sweetwater managed to move the ball to the AHS 21, but Morrow was wide left on a 31-yard field goal attempt with 8:20 left in the game and the game not only remained tied, but the ball changed hands.
Behind a 16-yard run by McQueen and a Bueno to Ricky Carrasco 29-yard pass completion to the SW 35, the AHS offense was threatening. But four plays netted just one yard and SW took over with 5:25 left in the game.
Behind huge runs by Thompson and Carrillo, the SW offense moved the ball to the AHS 16-yard line with just 80 seconds left in the game. Runs by Banyard and Carrillo moved it to the AHS 5, and on the next play Banyard went wide right for the touchdown. Morrow kicked the PAT and with just 34 ticks left on the game clock, the red Mustangs had the lead, 28-21.
The good Mustangs made things interesting at the end as they marched into Sweetwater territory behind a Bueno to Hamilton pass completion, but a holding penalty eventually did AHS in and the game ended when Carrillo intercepted a Bueno desperation pass at the SW eight-yard line.
Despite the setback, Andrews played the way they always do – with a lot of pride and guts.
“I’m not disappointed in our kids, they played their guts out,” added Springston.
“Just like true Mustangs, Andrews Mustangs, they give everything they’ve got, all the time. As long as we have that we have a chance to be really, really good.
“We just beat ourselves.”
Yardage wise, the game was pretty even with Andrews totaling 358 yards as Bueno got the majority on 18 of 32 passing for 322 yards. Hamilton had the most receiving yards with 117 on six catches, while Ortiz caught two for 37 and Dunn had three catches for 35 yards. On the ground, McQueen gained 31 yards on nine carries to pace their running game.
For Sweetwater, they ended up with 303 total yards with 290 coming from their running attack. Thompson had the most with 106 on 13 carries, while Banyard added 74 on 14 rushes.
Andrews will finally get to play at home this coming Friday when they host Greenwood at the Mustang Bowl starting at 7:30 p.m.

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