When a football team’s defense is out of alignment, it creates the opportunity for big plays.
That’s what happened to Odessa High against Keller High on Thursday.
In the wrong spot and half a step behind through much of the first half, the Bronchos spotted the visiting Indians an insurmountable lead as Keller ran away to a 50-21 victory in nondistrict play at Ratliff Stadium.
It is the first loss of the season for the Bronchos (2-1), while Keller High improved to 3-0.
Running backs Cameron Rayford and Jayden Hart led the Indians on the ground, while Amarion Henry was the top target in the passing game.
Rayford finished with 18 carries for 144 yards and three touchdowns, while Hart added 120 yards rushing on 10 carries with one touchdown.
Henry caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
Keller High had scoring plays of 42 yards (Hart run) and 63 yards (Henry reception) in the first quarter.
The Indians amassed 327 yards of offense in the first half (200 rushing, 127 passing).
“We just couldn’t get lined up right,” Odessa High head coach Dusty Ortiz said. “They went even faster than we do and we weren’t getting in the right spot.
“Keller is a good team and that’s why you play teams like that, to learn and get better. That’s what we’ll do; we’ll look at the video and see what needs to be corrected and work on that.”
Bronchos quarterback Jaylien Jones was 20-of-32 passing for 262 yards and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Ivan Carreon again was the top target with nine receptions for 188 yards and the touchdown.
He also had two rushing touchdowns as the Bronchos are finding different ways to get him the football.
Carreron now has 22 receptions for 574 yards through three games and needs one more catch to become the first Bronchos’ receiver with 100 career catches.
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Keller High 50, Odessa High 21
Score by Quarters
Keller – 15—14—14—7—50
Odessa High – 7—0—0—14—21
FIRST QUARTER
Keller High: Jayden Hart 47 run (Matthew Anderson run), 10;29
Keller High: Amarion Henry 63 pass from Tre Guerra (Garrett Martin kick), 6:09.
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 3 run (Jacob Pornan kick), 2:06.
SECOND QUARTER
Keller High: Cameron Rayford 5 run (Garrett Martin kick), 9:25.
Keller High: Cameron Rayford 5 run (Garrett Martin kick), :54
THIRD QUARTER
Keller High: Cameron Rayford 14 run (Garrett Martin kick), 8:27.
Keller High: Amarion Henry 61 pass from Tre Guerra (Garrett Martin kick), 4:15.
FOURTH QUARTER
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 5 run (Jacob Pornan kick), 11:25.
Keller High: Donnie Wilkes 2 run (Garrett Martin kick), 8:03.
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 52 pass from Jaylien Jones (Jacob Pornan kick), 6:58.
Team Statistics
| Keller High | Odessa High | |
| First Downs | 26 | 20 |
| Total Yards | 573 | 375 |
| Rushing (Att-Yards) | 43-338 | 33-113 |
| Passing Yards | 235 | 262 |
| Passing (Att-Comp-Int) | 13-17-0 | 20-32-0 |
| Return Yardage | N/A | N/A |
| Sacks-Yds Lost | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Fumbles-Fumbles Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 0-0.0 | 2-29.0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 9-80 | 8-90 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Keller High: Cameron Rayford 18-144, Jayden Hart 10-120, Donnie Wilkes 11-57, Tre Guerra 3-24.
Odessa High: Jaylien Jones 11-39, Jorge Valdez 10-31, Carlos Sanchez 3-26, Ivan Carreon 5-10, Marcos Marichalar 4-7.
Passing
Keller High: Tre Guerra 12-15-0—214, Matthew Anderson 1-2-0—21.
Odessa High: Jaylien Jones 20-32-0—262.
Receiving
Keller High: Amarion Henry 5-132, Tre’ Griffiths 4-62, Drew Roberts 3-25, Cameron Rayford 1-15
Odessa High: Ivan Carreon 9-188, Jalen Warren 1-18, Carlos Sanchez 1-17, Kielan Green 4-16, Andrew Rodriguez 1-12, Blane Mendoza 2-8, Jorge Valdez 1-4, Marcos Marichalar 1-0.
Interceptions
Keller High: None
Odessa High: None
