Longhorns ride Mesa to victory over Hugoton
Courtesy of Kirk Hutchinson
Hugoton, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Holcomb’s all-purpose senior Damon Mesa shredded the Hugoton Eagle defense for 280 yards on the ground Friday night, carrying the Longhorns to a 21-13 victory. The win secures second place in the district standings and guarantees Holcomb a home playoff game.
Mesa’s night included a 67-yard touchdown run to open the 3rd quarter and give Holcomb the lead for good. He also had runs of 39, 33, 25, and 17 yards in the 1st half, totaling 154 rushing yards before halftime.
“He really stood out tonight,” said Longhorn head coach Trey Teeter. “I’m really happy for him and proud of him. We’ve challenged him the last few weeks that he needed to run the ball extremely hard and physical. He was one that we needed to lean on.”
After the two teams traded punts on their opening possessions, Hugoton drove 77 yards in six plays to get on the board first. Isaac Martin had the big play on the drive, racing 44 yards on 3rd down to set the Eagles up inside the 20. Then, Martin hit Hunter Garza for a 17-yard TD and Hugoton led 7-0 with 3:26 to play in the opening quarter. Martin finished the night with 103 yards rushing, with a fumble, and 185 yards passing, including two touchdown passes, but also two picks.
Near disaster struck on the Longhorns’ next possession, as Devon Garcia had the ball stripped after a 10-yard pass completion, and the Eagles were in business at the Holcomb 31. But Greg Martinez picked off a Martin pass in the end zone, turning Hugoton away and keeping the deficit at one score. It was Martinez’ 8th interception of the season and he wasn’t done.
The Longhorns took advantage of the turnover, driving 80 yards in six plays, capped by a 14-yard Korbin Johnson TD run. Manny Anguiano added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 early in the 2nd quarter.
Defenses prevailed for the remainder of the half, with Martinez ending one Hugoton drive with his second interception of the night, ninth of the season.
“He’s playing really well,” Teeter said. Martinez is just one interception shy of the Holcomb single-season record.
On the first play of the 2nd half, Mesa raced 67 yards for the go-ahead score and the PAT put Holcomb up 14-7.
After the teams traded punts on the next two possessions, Hugoton put together a 64-yard drive that ended at the one-yard line. The Eagles faced a 4th-and-2 at the three-yard line, and the Longhorn defense stopped Martin short of the line to gain, giving the ball back to the offense on the Holcomb 1.
The Longhorns then drove 99 yards, capped off by Mesa’s 2nd TD of the night, a 9-yard run, and Holcomb went up 21-7 in the 4th quarter.
Teeter had high praise for the offensive line. “That was a really good drive that kind of sealed the game.”
Martin fumbled on the next Eagle possession and the Longhorns took over at the Hugoton 37. They would eventually punt and pin Hugoton back at its own 1. Martin then led the Eagles on a 99-yard drive, capped by a 30-yard TD pass from Martin to Griffin Heger, trimming the lead to 21-13, with just 1:15 left in the game.
Keegan Johnson covered the onside kick and Holcomb ran out the clock for the win, improving to 5-2 on the year, 3-1 in district play. Hugoton drops to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in district play.
The Longhorns rolled up 367 total yards on offense, 338 of those on the ground.
This Friday night is Senior night for Holcomb, as the Longhorns host Southwestern Heights in the final regular season game.
