EL PASO COUNTY - Two passing touchdowns, two rushing toucdowns, two two-point conversions (one kept, one thrown) - it certainly seemed Matthew Davidson wanted a season-opening win twice as much as the next man.
But with visiting Ignacio doggedly staying close through a quarter and a half, despite commonplace Zero Week mistakes and unexpectedly losing a lineman to a brawl 4:58 before halftime, Davidson did his most doubling damage defensively, allowing the Ellicott Thunderhawks to rapidly fly into intermission comfortably ahead - and ultimately to a 52-15 victory Friday, Aug. 26.
"It was good," Ignacio sophomore receiver/return specialist Lawrence Valdez said of the humbling. "Now we know what we need to work on. We're going to go harder in practice and try to do better next week."
"We were way better in practices," said senior Timmy Plehinger. "We weren't doing our jobs, but we tried our hardest. We played with heart."
The hosts couldn't help be surprised at how much heart showed through, particularly after the two teams almost came to blows.
After an Ellicott touchdown, IHS junior Marcus Chapman intercepted Davidson's attempted two-point toss, then Valdez took the ensuing kickoff all the way back to the Ellicott 24. Senior quarterback Zach Weinreich (unofficially 12-of-27 for 98 yards, 3 INT) was dropped for a three-yard loss on first down but flicked a 27-yard touchdown to junior Kruz Pardo on second.
Having put Ignacio's first three points up with a 24-yard field goal four seconds into the second quarter, senior Lorenzo Pena's point-after try fell short, but with 3:54 still left before the long pause and the 'Cats only trailing 18-9, the 'Hawks knew something drastic had to be done to subdue the enemy.
And as Weinreich's counterpart, Davidson knew he'd have to lead by example. "We came out and I was like, 'Look, guys,'" said junior Chiante Stewart, Davidson's other top backfield weapon, "'now we've ... got to apologize to the other team, and we've got to play ... our game, get this W!' There was a lot of emotions, a lot of stuff going on, but there was no need for that fight."
Following a decent runback of IHS' kickoff, Davidson gained nine yards on first down and Hayes 22 on second. Hayes (13-134) then blasted through on the third snap for a 28-yard TD, capping a drive which had consumed all of 25 seconds. Plehinger, however, blocked Cesar Silva's point-after kick for an instant morale boost for IHS, but that took a serious hit when Davidson picked off Weinreich's first-down throw and hustled the takeaway back to the Bobcat 10. The ball was now yards behind where the brief Ignacio possession had started.
Two Stewart carries and just 55 seconds later, Ellicott (1-0, 0-0 1A Santa Fe) went up 30-9, but Plehinger again stormed through to bat down Silva's PAT. "We - were tired of getting run over," Plehinger said. "And we just wanted to make a point that we can do it, that we can keep up with them. And that's what we did."
Three IHS plays later, however, the Thunderhawks appeared to steal momentum back when Davidson snared a Johnny-on-the-spot interception of a ball slipping out of Pardo's apparent grip. Davidson's return set EHS up at the Ignacio 13 with 1 minute left before halftime, and he found Stewart (8-50 rushing, 5-93 receiving) for a 10-yard touchdown just 18 seconds later, then ran in the conversion to boot.
The Bobcats went three-and-out on their first two series in the third quarter, but after the 'Hawks finished a three-play, 23-yard drive with an 8-yard Davidson keeper (plus a conversion throw to senior Brody Pagan), IHS went hurry-up offensively and found immediate success. Starting at his own 35, Weinreich nailed five consecutive passes and marched the 'Cats to the EHS 18 before the impressive drive stalled out on downs at the 11. Consuming the closing 2:30 of the third and opening 3:38 of the fourth quarter, Ellicott responded with a 12-play, 89-yard grinder capped by a 1-yard Stewart plunge. Fighting to the end, however, Bobcat sophomore Clay Seibel broke up the attempted two-point pass to give IHS a spark for what would be its final possession.
With soph Isiah Jacket under center, the 'Cats went on a five-play, 55-yard series finished by a 20-yard Ethan Appenzeller carry and Jacket's 21-yard scoring keeper with only 2:04 left on the clock.
Unofficially, Pardo caught three balls for 46 yards to lead Ignacio's receivers, while Jacket's 1-21, Pena's 4-16 and Appenzeller's 3-9 figures led in rushing.
"We'll definitely bounce back," said Plehinger. "We'll be back next week."
Up next in Week One, Ignacio (0-1, 0-0 1A Southern Peaks) will travel to 3A Crownpoint, N.M., for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Sept. 2. CHS will welcome the 'Cats having gained early momentum via a 46-20 defeat of 4A Fort Wingate on the road.
