This time, the Odessa High football team was able to have the last laugh.
After coming up short in last week’s loss to El Paso Eastwood, the Bronchos recovered with another high-scoring contest, and this time, they were able to come away with the 57-49 win against Lubbock Monterey on Thursday at Ratliff Stadium.
The Bronchos moved to 2-1 for the season while the Plainsmen fell to 1-3.
“It feels good, knowing that we were able to come away with the win,” Odessa High head coach Erik Hartman said, who got his first win at home as head coach of the Bronchos. “We were a little nervous but it’s tough on defenses in this day and age to stop people. We just kept rolling and their defense couldn’t stop us. That’s something I could be proud of.”
Odessa High’s offense was led by quarterback Mikey Cota who went 25-of-39 passes for 482 yards and threw seven touchdowns.
Wide receiver Santiago Medrano had three receptions for 158 yards and three touchdowns while Wide receiver Aramis Rodriguez had seven receptions for 113 yards and wide receiver Andrew Rodriguez had eight receptions for 112 yards.
Running back Jorge Valdez had 19 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Monterey’s running back Dez Williams had 21 carries for 285 yards and three touchdowns while quarterback Luke Arrington went 19-of-34 for 239 yards passing.
Monterey’s wide receiver Cam Taylor had four receptions for 85 yards and a touchown.
“We just have to come out and execute better,” Monterey head coach Judd Thrash said. “We were in the game. We just have to cover better. Our offense was very effective tonight. We ran the ball well. We should’ve kept running the ball more. We need to keep the ball on the ground more because that’s what we’re good at.”
Odessa High struck first with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Cota to Medrano and Joseluis Zubia’s extra-point made it 7-0 with 8:50 left in the first quarter.
Monterey only needed a six-play, 83-yard drive to respond as Williams scored on a 44-yard run on a handoff and Gio Cardenas’ PAT tied it up at 7-7.
Odessa High managed to add two more touchdowns to build a 14-point lead before the end of the quarter.
Valdez scored on a two-yard run with 2:55 left.
Cota’s pass to Aramis Rodriguez on a 48-yard touchdown pass then made it 21-7 as the quarter expired.
Monterey responded with back-to-back touchdowns with Kyree Baxter scoring from 18-yards out.
Dez Williams scored on a 16-yard run to tie it up at 21-21 with 3:33 left in the second quarter.
Odessa High responded with a touchdown pass from Cota to Aramis Rodriguez with 31 seconds left, giving the Bronchos a 28-21 halftime lead.
After forcing the Plainsmen to punt in the third quarter, OHS managed to get points on its next drive, scoring on an 80-yard pass from Cota to Medrano, with 8:02 left, giving the Bronchos a 35-21 lead.
Both teams responded with touchdown drives and Odessa High’s lead was 42-28 at the end of the third.
The Plainsmen scored consecutive touchdowns to tie things up in the fourth quarter.
Monterey managed to convert on third-down and 33 with 4:09 left, moving the ball to the OHS 15.
Two plays later, Monterey scored on a short run by Baxter with 3:26 left.
Odessa High answered with a touchdown pass to Medrano and the two-point conversion was good, giving the Bronchos a 57-49 lead with 3:10 remaining.
With the game winding down, Odessa High’s defense finally got the stop it needed, forcing a turnover on downs for the Plainsmen and escaping with the win.
“It was big,” Hartman said. “Everyone was saying that all we needed was a stop and if we could get that stop, we’d win it.”
