Sonora high school football team runs to victory with 57-12 win over Reagan County

SONORA — The Sonora football team and running back Edgar DeLuna put together another dominant performance rushing the ball in a 57-12 win over Reagan County at Bronco Stadium on Friday.

The Broncos (7-0, 2-0), led by more than 200 yards and four touchdowns rushing from DeLuna, avenged last season's 24-21 loss to the Owls (4-3, 0-2) on the road.

After tonight's performance, DeLuna passed 2,000 yards rushing and sits at 26 overall touchdowns on the season. With three games remaining in the regular season — and a potential playoff run — DeLuna has a chance to break the single-season rushing and total touchdowns school season records. To pass the rushing record, DeLuna needs to surpass 2,600 yards this season. And to surpass the 40 total touchdown record — which stood for nearly 70 years — he needs to collect 15 more touchdowns.

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For the Owls, they have a chance to bounce back at home against Ozona next week after two losses to start their district schedule. Despite the loss, quarterback Kason Brown and wide receiver Nick Franklin hooked up for some explosive passes against a stingy Broncos defense.

How it happened

The Broncos got on the board first with a 20-yard touchdown run from DeLuna who was stacked up on a rush up the middle and bounced it outside for the score.

After stalled drives from Sonora and Reagan County, the Broncos hit paydirt on a screen pass from quarterback Jaime Buitron to DeLuna who took it 28 yards for a touchdown. Buitron converted the two-point try on a quarterback keeper to put the Broncos up 14-0. After the Owls did not convert a fourth down try in their territory, DeLuna got his second touchdown run a few plays later to go up 21-0. After a holding call put the Broncos in a 4th and 20 situation, Buitron rolled right and hit tight end Owen Jones on a leak play for a touchdown with a Reagan County defender hanging on him to go up 28-0 at the half.

The Broncos received the ball to start the second half but were forced to punt. On the ensuing Owls drive, Sonora defensive lineman Elijah Samaniego sacked Brown to force a punt that landed at the 50-yard line. After a few DeLuna runs, he punched it in from the 1-yard line for his third touchdown run of the night that put the Broncos up 35-0 in the third quarter. On Sonora's next possession, DeLuna hit his biggest run of the night for a 50-yard touchdown to take a 42-0 lead.

Brown and Franklin hit on a couple of explosive pass plays and then connected again for a 4-yard touchdown on fourth down for Reagan County's first points. On the Bronco's next possession, wide receiver Jorge Leija scored on a 5-yard jet sweep. On the extra point try, a bad snap landed in offensive lineman Aaron Martinez's hands who then passed it to tight end Carson Boggs for two points to take the 50-6 lead. On the next drive, Franklin got behind the Broncos' defense and Brown hit him in stride for a 90-yard touchdown pass to cut into the Sonora lead 50-12. After a failed onside kick attempt from Reagan County, Sonora put together another drive that ended in a 10-yard jet sweep to Leija. With less than a minute remaining, Brown tried to fit a pass into tight coverage, but Sonora defensive back Robert Rodriguez picked off the pass to end the game with a final score of 57-12.

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They said it

Sonora coach Blake Weston on Buitron's performance: "He came to me after last week after the game (because) we kind of held him back a little bit or played it safe with him. We talked and he said 'Coach, When I made this decision to come back, I'm back, so turn me loose.' And from there on (we did) and he's a dog, he's playing without an ACL, and that's no secret to anybody anymore."

Edgar DeLuna on how the Broncos played and their goals this season: "We were flying to the ball. I mean, we did awesome. The line was blocking really well and we put in some run inserts and we ran them really well...All year we've been saying state champs because that's our goal. Hawley was a really good team last year, and we're looking to get past them this year.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: High school football: Sonora runs to 57-12 victory over Reagan County