Sophomore Colton Rose continued his district run as he found paydirt on two more occasions in the second half of the Pampa Harvesters’ (0-7, 0-2) 38-14 loss to Hereford (3-4, 1-1).
Early miscues by the Harvesters’ offense spelled disaster as the Whitefaces took a 31-0 lead at the half. The Harvesters rallied in the second, but it was too little, too late for the young squad.
“We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to be ready to play,” Head Coach Floyd White said. “We came out flat as can be. We turned over the ball right off the bat. It’s the same old song and dance. We’ve got to figure out how to compete early. We can’t wait until we’re down 28, or down 31, to compete. That’s our biggest obstacle right now. We’ve got to make our own breaks.”
The Harvesters’ first scoring drive started with 4:36 left in the third quarter at the Hereford 35-yard line. A pair of runs from Rose for three and five yards started the drive, followed by a personal foul penalty moved the Harvesters closer to the goal line, putting them in position for a five-yard touchdown run.
The final Harvester scoring drive came in the fourth quarter, but started in the third quarter with one minute left when Pampa took over at their own 30-yard line.
Junior Jeryn Owens and Rose took turns with carries to move down the field. Later, the drive seemed to sputter until a fake punt led by Junior Aiden Hammond moved the sticks. Three plays later, Rose took the hand-off 55 yards for a touchdown for a second time. Hammond also had a pair of tackles in the game on defense.
“Aiden is a hard worker,” White said. “He’s one of the first ones in the building every day. He works his tail off. You can’t ask for a better young man. He’s going to be a great leader. He’s a great leader right now. But he will be a great leader as a senior. Those are the guys that are the thermostats, they set the tone and energy. We’ve just got to continue to help him learn how to grow and mature so he can help lead this team in the future.”
The Harvesters didn’t find the endzone the rest of the game and Hereford took the 38-14 win.
The Harvesters take the road for the first time in a month when they travel to Dumas, who just knocked off Randall on Thursday night.
“Dumas is battling some of the same issues we are, they have a lot of injuries and stuff they are dealing with,” White said. “But they did the same thing to Randall we did in the second half, they ran the ball on them and did some things. It’s the same old stuff. It’ll be a winnable game for us but we’ve got to make sure we work our tails off and put ourselves into a position to where we can muddy up the district standings ourselves.”
Stat Round-Up
Sophomore Colton Rose rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns; Junior Jeryn Owens rushed for 20 yards on 13 carries; Sophomore Madden Campos rushed for four yards on two carries.Junior Gunter Thomas had nine yards on one reception; Owens went 1-of-5 for nine yards.
Special Teams
Junior Brayan Montelongo led the Harvesters’ special teams with three punts for 123 yards, averaging 41.0 yards per punt, including a long of 82 yards and two punts inside the 20-yard line. Montelongo also handled three kickoffs for 140 yards, including one touchback. In the return game, Senior Gunter Thomas returned one kickoff for 23 yards, while Junior Aaron Martinez added an 11-yard return. Junior Jeryn Owens also recorded one kickoff return.
Defense
Sophomore Paxton Daniels led the Harvesters defensively with three solo tackles and a fumble recovery. Senior Connor McKinley also recorded three tackles, including two solo and one assisted. Sophomores Cade Wilson, Cruise Godino, Mason Mitchell and junior Aiden Hammond each finished with two solo tackles. Senior Kiaro Flores contributed one solo tackle, while Senior Ira Smith recorded one assisted tackle. As a team, the Harvesters finished with 18 tackles, including 15 solo tackles and three assists, along with one fumble recovery by sophomore Miguel Moreno.
Scores
Dumas 28, Randall 19 (Thursday)
Canyon 19, West Plains 18
Estacado 66, Borger 0
Levelland 63, Perryton 39 (3rd quarter)
Shallowater 49, Bushland 28
Canadian 70, Dimmitt 31
Fritch 62, Sunray 60 (4th quarter)
White Deer 38, Booker 22
Claude 52, Wildorado 0
Panhandle 55, Spearman 26
Clarendon 58, Shamrock 26 (4th quarter)
