Abilene High mauls Lubbock Monterey in District 2-5A Division I football opener

A Twitter List by gofridaynight

Abilene High’s defense has played well much of the season, and it did again in the District 2-5A Division I opener, suffocating Lubbock Monterey at times.

The big surprise Friday night was the offense finally coming alive.

Together, it made for one of the Eagles’ best games this season when it mattered most.

Dylan Slack threw two touchdown passes and Kevion Williams returned an interception 75 yards for another score as AHS blasted Monterey 37-7 at Shotwell Stadium.

“I’m just proud of our kids and our coaches,” AHS coach Mike Fullen said. “It’s hard to win here, and it’s hard to win in this district. It’s hard to win at this level. So, any game you that you can win, they’re hard to come by. We’re going to celebrate it."

Slack, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 167 yards, threw TDs of 63 and 6 yards to Brelon Badon and Tim Outlaw, respectively, in the first half.

Tristen Hall also booted a 40-yard field goal, and Williams ended the half with his pick six, as the Eagles (2-3) rolled to a 23-0 lead at the break.

The Eagles defense held Monterey to 42 total yards and three first downs in the half while getting two turnovers. The defense's play allowed AHS to overcome three turnovers.

Antoine Rashaw ran for TDs of 24 and 2 yards in the fourth quarter for a 37-0 lead − just seven points shy of the Eagles' points for the previous four games combined.

Monterey (0-5) avoided the shutout when Luke Arrington threw a 71-yard TD pass to Jacobie Johnson with 1:32 left in the game.

Still, the Eagles gave up only 176 total yards and 10 first downs −71 yards coming one play. They sacked Monterey quarterbacks five times.

“Obviously, defense played lights out,” Fullen said. (Our defensive staff) does an outstanding job. They get those guys to play hard and give us opportunities.”

Monterey coach Judd Thrash was impressed with AHS’ defense.

“We played against a very talented Abilene defense,” Thrash said. “We knew that coming into the game. Offensively, they’re not as talented as they are defensively. You can tell their coach is a defensive guy. They played awesome on defense.”

Badon, who began the season as AHS’ starting quarterback, caught five passes for 118 yards – both game highs. His 63-yard reception came on the offense’s third play of the night – on third-and-16 no less.

“That kind of set the tone, and we had chances there to really snowball the thing and missed some opportunities offensively,” Fullen said. “But our defense just stayed steady and did their job and did it well.”

On the Plainsmen’s next possession, they turned the ball over at their own 20-yard line after Zak Davila pounced on a bad snap on a punt attempt.

Two plays later, AHS fumbled the ball back to Monterey.

AHS also drove to the Monterey 24 only to have Kash Lewis pick off a pass.

Hall missed a 33-yard field goal early in the second quarter, before Slack threw his second TD, a 6-yarder to Outlaw, on the next possession for a 14-0 lead with 7:24 left in the half.

Trailing 17-0, Monterey had its best chance to score in the half, when Ja’Marcus Smith picked off a Slack pass to give his team the ball at the Eagles’ 43. They would get to the 33, before Bryce Neves got a sack for a 10-yard loss, and two plays later Williams came up with the interception return for the TD to send the Eagles into the locker room on a rousing play.

Breaking it down

∎ Turning point: Monterey put together a 15-play, 69-yard drive to the AHS’ 2-yard on its first possession of the second half. But on fourth-and-goal, AHS sacked Christian Williams, who had taken the snap out of the Wildcat formation. The Eagles then drove 90 yards on nine plays to put the game away with Rashaw’s first TD, a 24-yard run with 9:57 left in the game. Rashaw capped a 10-play, 52-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run his team’s next possession.

“I love to run the ball and play good defense,” Fullen said. “We did that. I couldn’t be happier. I’m not good with a lot of things, but I can hire good people and I can get kids to play hard. We did that in the second half, and the defense did that the whole game.”

∎ Players of the game: Abilene High’s defense – The Eagles were outstanding on defense, limiting the Plainsmen to 176 total yards and 10 first downs on the night; Brelon Badon, receiver, Abilene High – The junior, who began the year as the starting quarterback, caught five passes for 118 yards, including a 63-yarder for a TD. He also had a 28-yard catch to set up AHS' second TD.

∎ Key stat: AHS held Monterey to 42 total yards and three first downs in building a 23-0 halftime lead.

∎ Coach Fullen said: “I’m proud of our coaches and our kids. We put a lot of time in, and we’ve been through a lot in non-district, just with the schedule and things that we’ve changed and stuff. But it was all for this – for district and to go 1-0.”

∎ Coach Thrash said: “We played well in the second half. We’re a second-half team. We’re getting better. This district is wide open because everybody is good.”

∎ Impact: AHS, playing in the UIL’s second-largest class for the first time in program history after always being in the largest, wins its first game in its new league. Monterey remains winless.

∎ Up next: AHS plays Amarillo Tascosa at 7 p.m. Friday in Amarillo. Tascosa (4-1), ranked No. 10 in the state, beat Amarillo High 45-10 in its district opener Friday. Monterey has a bye before playing Tascosa in Lubbock.

DISTRICT 2-5A DIVISION I

Abilene High 37, Lubbock Monterey 7

FIRST QUARTER

AHS − Brelon Badon 63 pass from Dylan Slack (Tristen Hall kick), 9:25

SECOND QUARTER

AHS − Tim Outlaw 6 pass from Slack (Hall kick), 7:24

AHS − Hall 40 FG, 3:39

AHS − Kevion Williams 75 interception return (kick failed), 00:00

FOURTH QUARTER

AHS − Antoine Rashaw 24 run (Hall kick), 9:57

AHS − Rashaw 2 run (Hall kick),2:34

MON − Jacobie Johnson 71 pass from Luke Arrington (Giovanni Cardenas kick), 1:32

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Monterey, Jayden Hibbler 20-78, Will Collier 3-16, Dezmond Williams 3-3, Christian Williams 1-(minus 6), TEAM 1-(minus 26), Luke Arrington 6-(minus 28). Abilene, Antoine Rashaw 15-60, Chad Lara 7-17, De'Zhon Magee 3-4, TEAM 1-(minus 10).

PASSING: Monterey, Arrington 13-25-1−139, Collier 0-2-0−0. Abilene, Dylan Slack 13-22-2−167.

RECEIVING: Monterey, Jacobie Johnson 2-71, Bryce Alexander 3-30, Hebrew Hunter 4-21, D. Williams 1-13, Hibbler 2-5, C. Williams 1-(minus 1). Abilene, Brelon Badon 5-118, Austin Wood 3-28, Tim Outlaw 3-11, Jackson Howley 1-8, Lara 1-3.

RECORDS: Lubbock Monterey 0-5, 0-1; Abilene High 2-3, 1-0.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High rips Lubbock Monterey in District 2-5A DI football opener