The Pampa Harvesters (2-2) hosted the Borger Bulldogs (1-3) for Homecoming 2024 on Friday night. The game kicked off at Zach Thomas Stadium with cloudy skies and wind but unseasonably warm temperatures for late September in the 90s. Homecoming is already an exciting time but when you play host to your rivals, it adds to the flair. Personally, I call it “The Battle of Highway 152.”
The Homecoming King was Aaron Diaz and the Homecoming Queen was Cambree Dyer.
Borger won the toss and deferred to the second half. Pampa would get the ball to begin the game.
“It’s just a complete team-win. We played complementary football for the first time in a long time tonight. Our kids were locked in and focused and they just came out there and gave their hearts out in a game that means a lot for both communities,” Head Coach Floyd White said.
Pampa’s junior quarterback Jarren Hill ran for 14 yards to begin the first Pampa drive of the game. The Harvesters ended up not doing much on that drive after that and had to punt. Junior punter Jeremiah Davis had a great punt that landed at the Borger 1-yard line. This forced a safety on a bad snap which went through the endzone to give Pampa a 2-0 lead with 8:59 to play in the first quarter.
Junior Running Back Max Neff then started the following drive with three straight runs for over 20 yards and the Harvesters were driving in Borger territory. A sack on third-and-long ended that Pampa drive.
The Bulldogs also punted on their ensuing drive. Borger took the lead at 7-2 after a 46-yard fumble return for a touchdown by a defensive lineman. This was with 5:04 to play in the first quarter.
Pampa was forced to punt on another drive despite a couple of good plays by Neff on the drive. The Bulldogs also were forced to punt on their next drive.
The Harvesters finally connected on a big play on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Senior Wide Receiver Aaron Diaz. Senior Running Back Christian Davalos had a 6-yard run on the drive as well as Hill having a couple of runs for 4-yards and 6-yards on the drive. After the extra point was good by Davis, Pampa took a 9-7 lead with 8:47 to play in the first half.
The Bulldogs then took nearly the whole last of the clock on their next drive. Borger punched in a touchdown from the 1-yard line with 22 seconds to play in the half. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful and Borger’s lead rested at 13-9 going into the locker room for halftime.
The Pampa defense got a nice three-and-out stop to begin the second half. Senior Running Back Christian Davalos started the second half for an injured Neff. He ran for seven yards to begin the drive after an incomplete pass. Hill then ran for 12 yards and 6 yards on the next two plays. Hill picked up another first down with a 10-yard rush. Pampa had a few penalties set them back before they struck big paydirt. On a third-and-long play, Hill found Senior Wide Receiver Bryce Lynn wide open for a 27-yard touchdown score. The extra point was good by Davis to give Pampa a 16-13 lead with 6:24 to play in the third quarter.
“We knew that he (Christian Davalos) was going to have to step up at some juncture through the course of the night. We knew that Max (Neff) could not go the entire night. Christian has done it before. When we were at Compass, he played every play of the game every night. He’s built for it. This is just what he has always done,” White said.
The Harvesters looked to have Borger stopped on a third down before a penalty extended the drive. Pampa was able to force a punt a little bit later on in the drive with 3:07 left to play in the third quarter and Pampa still leading 16-13.
The ensuing Harvester drive was a steady dose of power run football from Davalos. He started the drive with runs of 18, 13, 4, 9, and 7 yards before the end of the third quarter with Pampa still leading 16-13. Davalos ran for another five yards to begin the fourth quarter before a holding penalty set the Harvesters back 10 yards. After a couple of incompletions, Pampa faced a long third down. The option play by Pampa was stuffed back and the Harvesters had to punt again with 10:25 to play in the game.
The teams would trade punts for the next couple of drives by each team. The biggest action happened with 6:39 to play in the game with Borger attempting a 47-yard field goal to try and tie the game.The snap was botched and Lynn recovered the fumble to give the Harvesters the ball back. Pampa would not be able to get anything going on the next drive however and were forced to punt again.
Borger took the ball back with 5:16 to play in the game. The Harvester defense stood tall again and forced another punt. Pampa had been playing great defense the entire second half and this drive was no exception. The Harvesters would take over with 4:22 to play in the game and would be trying to ice the game with a long drive.
Davalos opened the drive with a 3-yard run, followed by a 4-yard run and a 12-yard run to get a huge first down with 3:29 to play in the game. The Harvesters were unable to get anything going after the few good runs by Davalos and would be punting with 1:12 to play in the game and still clinging to the 16-13 lead.
Borger started the last drive of the game with 1:03 to play at their own 25-yard line in an attempt to try to tie or take the lead. The drive started dicey for the Pampa defense as Borger had two straight completions to convert first downs and set up shop deep into Pampa territory at the Harvester 28-yard line. There was a sigh of relief for all the players, coaches, and fans as Borger had a pass fall incomplete on a wide open receiver in the endzone which would have won the game for the Bulldogs. Davalos then made a huge stop on an open field tackle, forcing a fumble. He then recovered that fumble to give Pampa the ball back. Hill would kneel down in victory formation to ice the win for Pampa.
FINAL: Pampa 16, Borger 13.
“Today, we talked about making sure we succeed and still lose. We talked about doing things out of what you’re supposed to do and just doing things within the framework of what we do. When you’re successful that way, then you’re going to find yourself on the winning side of things. When you succeed doing stuff wrong, then you start learning bad habits. We just made sure we played hard and did what we are supposed to do and we saw the results of that,” White said.
UNOFFICIAL STATS
Christian Davalos had 21 carries for 95 yards.
Jarren Hill had 14 carries for 41 yards.
Max Neff had 9 carries for 50 yards.
Bryce Lynn had 2 catches for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Aaron Diaz had 2 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Jeremiah Davis had several good punts and connected on both extra point attempts.
SCORES FROM DISTRICT
Canyon beat Caprock 27-3 on Thursday night.
Bushland beat West Plains 28-15.
Hereford beat Perryton at home 41-13.
Randall defeated Wichita Falls Legacy 56-16.
Dumas lost at Plainview 35-28.
Pampa will hit the road next Friday, September 27th against the Perryton Rangers. It will be the final non-district game of the season before Pampa heads into a bye week October 4th. The game will kickoff at 7 PM.
“We’ve already started looking at film on those guys (Perryton). They are a great outfit. They are playing hard. We’re going to have to go up there and make it another game,” White said.
