The Pampa Harvesters (1-0) battled penalties, injuries and an efficient first half from the Big Spring Steers (0-1) to earn 35-25 win and open the season 1-0 on Friday night at Harvester Stadium.
“That’s Harvester football. We are trying to develop some toughness and some grit,” Head Coach Cody Robinson said. “I was telling them before the game and yesterday that it’s the first game of the year, it’s not going to be perfect and we are going to have some mistakes. What matters the most is that you find a way to win one game. It’s just a little adversity. If we can just develop that mindset, and keep getting better, it’s one week at a time.”
The offense wasted little time getting the ball rolling on their opening drive. Senior quarterback Brant Hill connected with junior wide receiver Bryce Lynn, who took the ball 97 yards for a touchdown on their opening drive. After the extra point by sophomore Jeremiah Davis. Pampa led 7-0 with 11:36 left in the opening quarter.
Big Spring took their time driving down the field and eventually answered with a touchdown, but the Harvesters blocked the extra point, keeping their lead of 7-6 about halfway through the opening quarter.
The Harvesters set up shop at their own 37-yard line to start their second drive. Three plays into the drive, Hill found his wideout, junior Aaron Davis, for 15 yards and a fresh set of downs in Steer territory. Two plays later, the Hill found Lynn on a 38-yard touchdown to extend the Harvester lead. After the Davis extra point, Pampa led 14-6 with 5:36 left in the first quarter.
The teams traded blows on defense before the Harvesters took over near midfield at their own 48-yard line early in the second quarter. It was a lengthy drive, with several handoffs to junior running back Hunter Atwood. The Harvesters eventually capped off the drive with a 28-yard touchdown and a trifecta for the Hill to Lynn connection. The score gave Pampa the 21-12 lead with 6:52 left in the first half.
“We’ve really invested a lot in our passing game and attack people in different areas,” Robinson said. “Our offensive staff does an awesome job. Those were some things we were not able to do this time last year or really late into the season last year. People ask me all of the time who the quarterback is going to be. That was a team win. We have Brant in there, but then Jarren can come in and do some things. It’s all about the Green Team.”
The Steers took the momentum late in the half with an offensive touchdown and an interception returned for a touchdown on the ensuing Harvester drive. The Harvesters final drive of the half fell just short of the goal line and the Steers took the 25-21 lead into the half.
“Adversity makes your team,” Robinson said. “Even in this game. The kids didn’t bat an eye, and you can’t worry about that stuff (injuries), they are uncontrollable. You’ve just got to keep on playing. We will celebrate this one tonight and then tomorrow get to work on Plainview and win one more game, one more week.”
The Harvesters defense stiffened up in the second half, allowing only 86 yards while pitching a shut-out in the final two quarters. The Harvesters offense took advantage of some short fields by the Steers; starting in their second drive, taking over at the Big Spring 21-yard line after a short punt and a personal foul penalty.
The Harvesters’ sophomore quarterback Jarren Hill came into the game and moved the chains with a 14-yard quarterback keeper. Two plays later, Hill punched it in on the designed run to give Pampa the 28-25 lead. The Harvesters offense didn’t let up after the Big Spring turnover on downs as junior running back Aaron Diaz took the rock for a 15-yard run to move the chains. Two plays later B. Hill found sophomore wide receiver Jose Alonzo on a 24-yard pass to the near midfield. B. Hill later found Lynn for 10-yard pass and a fresh set of downs. Diaz took over the drive with a series of carries before B. Hill found Alonzo on the near sideline to put the Harvesters inside the red zone. Diaz capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown to extend the Harvesters lead to 35-25.
“Our receiving corp., you saw Jose Alonzo make a big catch in the game,” Robinson said. “We’ve got some guys and we can call certain things. We have some guys we can get the ball to that it wasn’t their night tonight.”
The defense stayed true and the Harvesters had one more drive to kill the clock, which they did to give Pampa the 1-0 start.
The Harvesters return to action next Friday at Plainview for their first road game of the season. Robinson said the biggest thing for the Harvesters to work on will be theirselves.
“You’re always playing yourself,” Robinsons said. “We’ve got some situations like on that return (that got called back). We’ve been working on return circuits and return plays. Last year field position was something that hurt us and today we had two penalties on kick returns, that’s not ideal but we’re blocking our tail off (which is why we got those penalties).
“That’s exciting to me. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times, but this football team has a lot of kids that played their first varsity football game tonight. Being able to do that the way they did and not worry about mistake.”
Unofficial stats
• Brant Hill went 13 of 18 for 196 yards, three touchdowns, one interception.
• Hunter Atwood had 10 carries for 80 yards; Isaiah Estrada had five carries for 13 yards; Jarren Hill had two carries for 20 yards and a touchdown; Aaron Diaz had 13 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown; Brant Hill had one carry for three yards.
• Bryce Lynn had four carries for 163 yards and three touchdowns; Isaiah Anguiano had two catches for 12 yards, Judson Hancock had a one-yard catch and Jose Alonzo had two catches for 51 yards.
• Jeremiah Davis went 5-5 on extra points.
Scores around the Panhandle
• Hereford 34-20 over Caprock
• Plainview 45-18 over Levelland
• Lubbock-Cooper 42-0 over Dumas
• Andrews 32-21 over Randall
• Denver City 19-14 over Borger
• Dalhart 33-30 over Perryton
• Bushland 47-41 over West Plains
•Canyon 43-15 over Clovis, N.M. (Thursday)
