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Zeyire Franklin's pair of long TDs boosts Big Spring football past Lubbock High

Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
·4 min read

A pair of long touchdown catches by Zeyire Franklin made the difference as Big Spring topped Lubbock High 32-21 on Thursday at Lowrey Field. The Westerners (1-1) played the second half without starting quarterback Dallas Trevino, who went down with an upper-body injury with 2:54 before halftime.

Highlights

Franklin opened the scoring on a 72-yard grab late in the first quarter. His second TD, a 64-yarder, put the Steers (1-1) up 26-14 with 5:43 remaining.

LHS responded on the next play from scrimmage, with 5-foot-6 receiver Trini Tijerina taking a jet sweep 56 yards for a score. But Big Spring put together a 10-play drive that culminated in a 35-yard TD pass from Gavin Padron to Jacob Cantu. The pair also connected for a 10-yard play on fourth-and-7 after offsetting penalties gave the Steers another chance after what would have been an incomplete pass.

MORE: South Plains high school football stat leaders

Thursday's stars

Franklin was the big-play machine, totaling six catches for 196 yards. He had three plays of at least 33 yards. Padron, playing in his first game this season, was 23 of 36 passing for 395 yards, four TDs and one interception.

LHS defensive end Taj'E Whitfield made life difficult on Big Spring with two sacks.

Big Spring's Zeyire Franklin gestures after running with the ball against Lubbock High, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, at Lowrey Field in PlainsCapital Park.
Big Spring's Zeyire Franklin gestures after running with the ball against Lubbock High, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, at Lowrey Field in PlainsCapital Park.

Notes and quotes

Big Spring coach Cannon McWilliams: "Hats off to Lubbock High, Coach (Juan) Rodriguez and his staff. To me, from just one year to the next, they've gotten so much better. And they played their tails off and it was a good, competitive game. … A win is a win, and every week is a battle."

McWilliams on Franklin: "Zeyire was able to get inside leverage (on both TDs), and then there's nobody over the top because that safety's still sitting there. He was able to get behind them. Luckily we were able to get him some good balls. He does a good job of getting underneath it and making good catches."

LHS coach Juan Rodriguez: "We're not the same program anymore, and people need to understand that. We're still young, and we're still making a lot of youthful mistakes, but I'm extremely proud of these kids. … They didn't fold tonight. … They continued to fight. They continued to stay in it."

Rodriguez on Trevino exiting with injury: "Everybody saw the type of athlete Dallas is and what he brings to the table. … Definitely not having him changes our game plan."

PREDICTIONS: Picks for every Week 2 high school football game in Lubbock, South Plains

NON-DISTRICT

Big Spring 32, Lubbock High 21

Big Spring 6 8 6 12 — 32

Lubbock High 0 14 0 7 — 21

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

BS — Zeyire Franklin 72 pass from Gavin Padron (run failed), 3:05

Second quarter

LUB — Dallas Trevino 7 run (Yael Ontiveros kick), 11:54

LUB — Da'Zuan Jones 18 run (Ontiveros kick), 7:45

BS — Kavien Ford 10 pass from Padron (Franklin pass from Padron), 5:45

Third quarter

BS — A.J. Yanez 1 run (pass failed), 4:10

Fourth quarter

BS — Franklin 64 pass from Padron (pass failed), 5:43

LUB — Trini Tijerina 56 run (Ontiveros kick), 5:23

BS — Jacob Cantu 35 pass from Padron (run failed), 0:15

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (BS) 18; (L) 17

Rushes-Yards: (BS) 28-59; (L) 38-189

Passing: (BS) 395; (L) 71

Comp-Att-Int: (BS) 23-36-1; (L) 10-19-1

Punts-Avg: (BS) 4-29.3; (L) 4-32.5

Fumbles-Lost: (BS) 0-0; (L) 1-0

Penalties-Yards: (BS) 11-100; (L) 7-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Big Spring, Kavien Ford 23-87, Jacob Cantu 1-3, A.J. Yanez 1-1, Gavin Padron 3-(-32). Lubbock High, Trini Tijerina 6-84, Da'Zuan Jones 15-54, Dallas Trevino 6-34, Zach Reyna 4-16, Derek Torrez 1-9, Tyrik Cook 4-0, Jeremiah Johnson 1-(-3), Joshua Coleman 1-(-5).

PASSING: Big Spring, Padron 23-36-1—395. Lubbock High, Trevino 7-11-0—61, Reyna 3-8-1—10.

RECEIVING: Big Spring, Jose Munoz 8-49, Zeyire Franklin 6-196, Cantu 4-55, Ford 3-38, Keyshaun Woodruff 2-57. Lubbock High, Tijerina 2-22, Jay Avery 2-16, Jones 2-12, Torrez 2-12, Ethan Torrez 2-9.

RECORDS: Big Spring 1-1; Lubbock High 1-1.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Zeyire Franklin's TDs boost Big Spring football past Lubbock High