The Odessa High football team had been punched in the mouth during the first quarter of its season opener against Lubbock Monterey on Aug. 26 in Lubbock.
The Bronchos were slow to respond that night, allowing the Plainsmen to build a 20-point, first-quarter lead, which was too large a deficit for Odessa High to overcome in the less-than-a-touchdown loss.
The Bronchos faced a similar challenge Thursday when Lubbock Coronado walked onto the Ratliff Stadium turf, the Mustangs taking advantage of a turnover and penalties to race out to a two-touchdown lead with 3:31 to play in the first quarter.
This time the Bronchos punched back — hard.
Quarterback Diego Cervantes directed a scoring drive that cut the margin in half less than a minute after the Mustangs’ score and that quick turnaround helped the Bronchos race away to a 52-35 victory.
“I just excited after the win,” Cervantes said after Odessa High improved to 1-1 with its first home victory since September, 2019. “We just had to come back; I knew we could.
“It was a great comeback; I love this team, I love the effort, I love how they fight. The coaches told us we’ve been here before, we know what we can do, we know we can come back and score points and that’s what we did.”
Cervantes was the field general for the Bronchos, completing 19 of 33 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions. He also rushed for 86 yards and four touchdowns.
Running back Javonte Delce finished with 103 yards rushing and one score, a 34-yard scamper around the right end that saw him outrun a tired Mustangs’ defense to the end zone with 5:53 to play in the game to cap the Bronchos’ scoring.
Wide receivers Ivan Carreon (10 catches, 142 yards, one score) and Terrance Samuel (5-92-1) were the main targets, but Cervantes got everyone involved in the victory.
“Diego did a great job tonight,” offensive coordinator Reed Creighton said. “We know there are going to be times when teams take away Ivan or Ivan and Terrance and we are going to need our other receivers to step up and make plays.”
Linebacker Elias Minjarez and defensive back Zeke Garcia stepped up defensively, with Minjarez finishing with 17 tackles on the night and Garcia adding two interceptions to the Bronchos’ growing takeaway total.
Odessa High forced five turnovers for the second straight game.
Things didn’t look good, though, in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
After forcing the Mustangs to punt on their first possession, the Bronchos quickly found themselves back on defense after Cervantes was intercepted on a third-down play.
Lubbock Coronado (0-3) drove 41 yards in seven plays for the first score of the night when quarterback Jett Carrol found wide receiver Trevor Stephens all alone for a 2-yard score with 7:36 to play in the first quarter.
Odessa High saw its next drive stall near midfield and then was penalized for interfering with the punt returner. That moved the ball from inside the 10 to the Mustangs’ 26 and they quickly moved into OHS territory with a 47-yard pass from Carrol to Jikiri McGrew.
Moments later, Carrol connected with Stephens for their second score of the game and it was 140 with 3:31 to play.
Just 58 second later, momentum was racing toward the Bronchos’ sideline, the same one that Samuel sprinted past on his way to the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown to cut the deficit in half.
Odessa High would tie the game less than four minutes into the second quarter, watch Lubbock Coronado regain the lead on a touchdown run by Antonio Malone and then retie the game on Cervantes’ first touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run with 1:27 to play in the first half.
When the Mustangs fumbled the ball on the first play of the ensuing drive, Odessa High took control of the contest.
Moving the ball 21 yards to the 15, kicker Camilo Nicholas connected on a 32-yard field goal that gave the Bronchos a 24-21 lead entering halftime.
They never looked back.
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
Odessa High 52,
Lubbock Coronado 35
Lub. Coronado…….. 14…. 7 0 14 — 35
Odessa High…………. 7.. 17 14 14 — 52
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
Coronado: Trevor Stepehns 2 pass from Jett Carroll (Carson Shields kick), 7:36. Drive: 7 plays, 41 yards, 1:58.
Coronado: Trevor Stephens 7 pass from Jett Carroll (Carson Shields kick), 3:32. Drive: 4 plays, 84 yards, 3:31.
Odessa High: Terrance Samuel 69 pass from Diego Cervantes (Camilo Nicolas kick), 2:33. Drive: 3 plays, 76 yards, :58)
Second Quarter
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 38 pass from Diego Cervantes (Camilo Nicolas kick), 8:47. Drive: 3 plays, 42 yards, :55.
Coronado: Antonio Malone 9 run (Carson Shields kick), 3:20. Drive: 8 plays, 61 yards, 3:42.
Odessa High: Diego Cervantes 7 run (Camilo Nicolas kick), 1:27. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 1:53..
Odessa High: FG Camilo Nicolas 32, :35. Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards, :38..
Third Quarter
Odessa High: Diego Cervantes 1 run (Camilo Nicolas kick), 9:42. Drive: 7 plays, 63 yards, 2:12..
Odessa High: Diego Cervantes 11 run (Camilo Nicolas kick), 6:44. Drive: 6 plays, 32 yards, 2:31.
Fourth Quarter
Odessa High: Diego Cervantes 1 run (Camilo Nicolas kick), 10:36. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3:05.
Coronado: Jay’Kel McCutcheon 48 pass from Jett Carrol (pass failed), 8:48. Drive: 6 plays, 72 yards, 1:47..
Odessa High: Javonte Delce 34 run (Ethan Alvarado kick), 5:53. Drive: 7 plays, 55 yards, 2:55.
Coronado: Jett Carrol 2 run (Antonio Malone run), 3:36. Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 2:15.
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TEAM STATISTICS
Coronado Odessa High
First Downs…………………… 20……………….. 23
Total Yards…………………. 365……………… 522
Rushes-Yards………….. 29-74…………. 40-209
Passing……………………… 291……………… 313
Comp-Att-Int…………. 19-28-3……….. 20-36-2
Fumbles-Lost………………. 3-2………………. 0-0
Punts-Avg……………….. 3-35.0………….. 3-27.7
Penalties-Yards…………. 6-45…………….. 9-71
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Coronado: Antonio Malone 19-92, Jordan Kelley 1-8, Bricion Griffin 1-(-2), Jett Carrol 8-(-24).
Odessa High: Javonte Delce 15-103, Diego Cervantes 16-86, James Fogle 5-12, Jesus Gomez 2-7, Ivan Carreon 1-1.
Passing
Coronado: Jett Carrol 19-28-3—291.
Odessa High: Diego Cervantes 19-33-2—273, Ivan Carreon 1-2-0—40.
Receiving
Coronado: Jay’Kel McCutcheon 5-88, Trevor Stephens 5-50, Jikiri McGrew 3-97, Jordan Kelley 2-31, Surrell Garrett 2-17, Antonio Malone 2-8
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 10-142, Terance Samuel 5-92, Dreshone Douglas 3-71, Ethan Alvarado 1-8, Blane Mendoza 1-0.
Interceptions
Coronado: Kaleb Pillow 1-5; John Curry 1-0.
Odessa High: Zeke Garcia 2-35; Jayven Gonzales 1-0.
