The Compass Academy football team dropped its home opener with a 34-14 loss to Iraan Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
The Cougars (0-2) trailed the entire game as Iraan moved to 2-0 with the victory.
Coming off a 41-38 loss to Sterling City the other week, Compass Academy kept things close at times before Iraan pulled away in the fourth quarter.
“It was a tough one,” Iraan head coach Berry Bowman said. “We knew they were going to be tough. We knew they were well-coached. Compass Academy’s coaching staff has done a great job. Last year it was a seven-point game and this year was about us thinking ‘hey, we’ve been here longer than they have’. You can tell that experience kicked in.”
The Braves got on the board first after an 82-yard drive resulted in a 15-yard touchdown run by Andrew Gallegos to help give Iraan a 7-0 lead with 5:40 left in the first quarter.
Compass Academy responded with a scoring drive to tie things up.
A 100-yard kickoff return by Aiden Mendoza put the Braves back in front and the visitors had a 14-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
After an interception by Iraan, a 99-yard touchdown run by the Braves was soon negated by an offensive holding on the following play.
Neither team could get much going on offense for the remainder of the half.
A Compass Academy fumble was recovered by the Braves at midfield with 2:33 left.
A field goal attempt at the end of the half was blocked by the Cougars and Iraan’s lead remained 14-7 at the break.
An interception by the Braves soon led to a touchdown pass from quarterback Prather Schneemann to Chris Quintero helped give the visitors a 21-7 lead with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.
Soon after, another interception by Iraan gave the Braves possession at their own 20.
However, Compass Academy got the answer it needed with a pick-six by Barret Hall on the last play of the quarter. Christian Bush’s PAT made it 21-14.
However, Iraan used another touchdown pass to Quintero to help the Braves to a 14-point lead with 10:02 left in the game.
An incomplete pass on fourth down resulted in a turnover for the Cougars and the Braves took over on their own 35 with eight minutes left.
Iraan added a 20-yard touchdown run by Tristan Griffin to extend the Braves’ lead with 3:10 remaining. The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete as Iraan’s lead was 34-14.
“I’m proud of the way our kids fought,” Compass Academy head coach Boe Smith said. “I told the kids that I’m not going to go down. We’re going to keep swinging. If we have to throw the ball 70 times, then our defense needs to be ready. The kids need to have that mentality especially after last week. We were going to go down fighting, one way or another.”
Compass Academy will next face Reagan County on the road at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at Owl Stadium in Big Lake.
Iraan will next face Crane at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at El Ave Stadium in Crane.
“We’re on the right track,” Bowman said. “What we’re trying to do is build on this and keep moving forward and win the next one.”
