QB Ike Hall, Brownwood football control second half to secure key win over Estacado
The No. 8 Brownwood football team outscored Estacado 21-0 in the second half to claim a 35-14 win Thursday at Lowrey Field. The result gave the Lions at least a share of the district championship with one regular-season game remaining.
Brownwood quarterback Ike Hall ran for four touchdowns, including three in the decisive half. The Lions took advantage of a three-and-out and fumble recovery on Estacado's first two drives of the third quarter to build a 28-14 lead.
The Matadors (6-2 overall, 1-1 district) did not gain a first down after halftime and finished with three overall. Brownwood ran the final 8 minutes, 49 seconds off the clock to secure the victory.
The Lions (8-1, 3-0) will look to clinch the outright District 2-4A Division I title with a win over Andrews in their finale next week.
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Highlights
Brownwood built a 14-0 lead, before Estacado found traction off an onside kick attempt. Matadors receiver Xavier Lucio returned the try to the Lions' 2-yard line to set up James Bozeman's score. Following a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Estacado marched 53 yards for the tying TD.
The Matadors lost that momentum after halftime, with a quick possession giving way to Hall's third rushing TD. That followed a 38-yard scamper by the senior signal-caller. Hall finished with seven other rushes of at least 10 yards.
Thursday's stars
Hall led all players with 176 yards on 28 carries. Sophomore Levi Pearson complemented his QB with 92 rushing yards.
Brownwood's Weston Wolf tallied 1½ sacks for a defense that surrendered 64 yards.
Although Estacado's offense never got on track with Division-I recruit Bobby Ross limited, linebacker Nate Orta had half of the team's four sacks. Dee'Ondric Green also made an interception for the Matadors.
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Notes and quotes
All of Estacado's first downs and 53 of its yards came on the final drive of the second quarter, which ended with Cedric Ross' 15-yard TD. Bobby Ross, who entered with 1,173 rushing yards and 17 TDs, ran on the Matadors' first two plays but did not have a carry the rest of the night.
Matadors coach William Blaylock: "We weren't worried about it, but you're always gonna miss a Bobby Ross. But I'm not gonna jeopardize his health or his future for any game. That kid has a long football career ahead of him. We knew he was dinged up. We wanted to see how he warmed up and the first couple of carries. … We knew coming in that the young guys were gonna have to go. It just wasn't our night."
The Lions went up two scores within the first 5:23 of the second half.
Brownwood coach Sammy Burnett: "(We had) the three-and-out and then we scored. Then our defense is fired up, ready to go do it again. They force a turnover and our offense gets fired up. All of a sudden we took the momentum away. At that point, it was our job to keep the momentum the rest of the game."
Hall ran for 132 yards after halftime.
Burnett: "(Hall) shows heart every time. He's a gritty player. We go as Ike goes, everybody knows that. We want to run the ball. They started adjusting to Ike, which allowed us to run the ball the other direction. When they start putting 11 (defenders) on him, all of a sudden we got what we wanted the other way."
DISTRICT 2-4A DIVISION I
Brownwood 35, Estacado 14
Brownwood 7 7 14 7 — 35
Estacado 0 14 0 0 — 14
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
BRO — Ike Hall 9 run (Junior Martinez kick), 2:13
Second quarter
BRO — Jaylan Brown 1 run (Martinez kick), 6:56
EST — James Bozeman 2 run (Luis Gomez kick), 6:42
EST — Cedric Ross 15 run (Gomez kick), 1:21
Third quarter
BRO — Hall 5 run (Martinez kick), 10:05
BRO — Hall 6 run (Martinez kick), 6:37
Fourth quarter
BRO — Hall 2 run (conversion safety), 10:00
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: (B) 17; (E) 3
Rushes-Yards: (B) 53-286; (E) 16-57
Passing: (B) 32; (E) 7
Comp-Att-Int: (B) 5-8-1; (E) 3-10-0
Punts-Avg: (B) 2-40; (E) 6-38.8
Fumbles-Lost: (B) 1-0; (E) 1-1
Penalties-Yards: (B) 4-20; (E) 10-84
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Brownwood, Ike Hall 28-176, Levi Pearson 20-92, Jaylan Brown 5-18. Estacado, Cedric Ross 5-55, James Bozeman 4-12, Bobby Ross 2-3, D.J. Johnson 4-(-5), Team 1-(-8).
PASSING: Brownwood, Hall 5-8-1—32. Estacado, Johnson 3-10-0—7.
RECEIVING: Brownwood, Aaron Edmonds 4-24, Stone Ratliff 1-8. Estacado, C. Ross 1-6, Devoryea Boyd 1-5, Bozeman 1-(-4).
RECORDS: Brownwood 8-1, 3-0; Estacado 6-2, 1-1.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ike Hall runs for 4 TDs as Brownwood football downs Lubbock Estacado
