If you were watching the first quarter of Friday’s game between Iowa Park (1-0) and Pampa (0-1), it seemed like it would be the first to three points. The other three quarters, however, became a competition of who would have the ball last with meaningful time on the clock.
The Hawks were the beneficiary of that prophetic football cliché. Their final drive resulted in a touchdown with 15 seconds left the play and the heartbreaking 28-27 loss for the Pampa Harvesters at Harvester Field at Zach Thomas Stadium.
“We got out there, and our kids played hard,” Head Coach Floyd White said.” We made too many small errors today. We missed the three extra points, if I’m not mistaken. We gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. These things are very uncharacteristic of us.
“But right now, our deal is we have got to stop beating ourselves. I’ve got to give all kinds of credit to Iowa Park, because they did a great job. They had a great game plan, and they executed. But at the same time we didn’t do anything to help ourselves.”
The Harvesters opened the game with the ball and immediately debuted their new offense with carries by Senior Max Neff of seven and 18 yards to move the chains. Later in the drive, Seniors Parker Webb and Jarren Hill each had carries of 12 and 14 yards each for a fresh set of downs. The promising drive came up empty, however, as an Iowa Park defender ripped the ball out of Senior Clayton Ward’s hands for an interception.
The Harvesters and the Hawks each struggled to move the ball until at the start of the second quarter when Hill carried the rock for 19 yards and a first down on the opposing side of the field. Three plays later, Neff continued to be the bell cow with a pair of carries to move Pampa just outside of the redzone at the Iowa Park 21. Neff drove the ball down to the four-yard line, setting up a four-yard touchdown scamper by Hill to put the Harvesters on the board 6-0 with 4:32 left in the half.
On a great heads-up play, Hill picked up a blocked extra point attempt and ran it in for the two-point conversion, giving Pampa the 8-0 lead.
Iowa Park had a kick return for the touchdown and two-point conversion to knot the score up at 8-8.
The Harvesters took over at their own 48-yard line to start their second scoring drive of the half. Neff started with a 16-yard run for a first down. Neff added another 11 yards to move the chains two plays later. On only his third pass of the game, Hill found junior Gunter Thomas for 17 yards to set Pampa up at the eight-yard line of Iowa Park. Neff took the ball on the very next play for the touchdown to give Pampa the 14-8 lead at half.
The Hawks took the lead later in the game on a deep pass, 21-14.
In the fourth quarter, the Harvesters forced a turnover on downs after a tackle by seniors Parker Webb and Andrew Waldrip stopped the Hawks well short of a first down.
The Harvesters set up shop following the big play at the Pampa 44-yard line. Neff and Sophomore Aiden Hammond combined for a pair of carries for three yards. On the following play, Hill found Neff for 12 yards and a first down to the Iowa Park 38-yard line. The very next play, Neff got loose and took the ball 38 yards to pay-dirt. Sophomore kicker Mauro Lopez and Lopez added the extra point and Pampa had knotted it up at 21-21 with 6:57 left to play.
“We’re so blessed with what our kids are doing right now,” White said. “We’ve asked them to be physical. We’ve asked them to be grimey. We’ve got a back that can do it and that’s what they are doing.
“What we’ve got to do on the defensive side is we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to find ways to get those stops. We got that stop at the end of the first half and we had a chance to get another one right there. We did our own thing right there at the end. We did our own thing and it gave us the issues it gave us.”
The Harvesters forced a punt on the following Iowa Park drive, setting up Pampa at their own 46-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, Neff took the ball up the middle and broke half a dozen tackles for a 54-yard touchdown run. The Harvesters led 27-21 with 4:45 left to play after the extra point was missed.
The game essentially came down to the final drive when Iowa Park scored a touchdown and extra point to give them the lead, 28-27, and ultimately was the final score.
The Harvesters return to action next week when they take the road when they head to Plainview.
“We’ve watched a little bit of Plainview film this week, not much,” White said. “But they’ve got an incredibly explosive offense. They’ve got a quarterback that can deal it. They’ve got a couple of receivers that can deal it.
“They got some skill out there. On the defensive side, those guys get after people. We’re going to have our work cut out for us. I really believe we are chugging in the right direction. We’ve just got to make our own breaks on this.”
Official stats
Senior Jarren Hill was 2-5 for 29 yards and an interception.
Senior Max Neff had 256 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns; Senior Parker Webb had 19 yards on four carries; Hill had 66 yards on 10 carries and a score; and Sophomore Aiden Hammond had five yards on two carries.
Neff had one catch for 12 yards and Junior Gunter Thomas had one catch for 17 yards.
Senior Boston Botello had six tackles; Webb had five; Hammond had five tackles; Senior Junior Kiaro Flores; Senior Caden Waldrip had three tackles; Junior Jace Jones had two tackles; Junior Gunter Thomas had two tackles; Junior Raidyn Brown, Senior Justin Chavez, Senior Clayton Ward, Senior Andrew Waldrip, Senior Kaviontra Brach, Senior Jose Alonzo, Senior Robert Galvan and Senior Cy LeBlanc all had one tackle.
Senior Jack Dyer and Botello each had a sack.
Sophomore Mauro Lopez had an extra point.
