es
got back to doing what they do best — run the football.The Loboes, who had lost three consecutive games, trailed Pecos at halftime before scoring 41 unanswered points to pick up a 47-17 District 1-3A victory at Rotary Field.
“We stuck to the running game and in the second half we lit it up,” quarterback Steven Valles said. “We still had our motor running (in the first half). We just had to pull together and get over that hump.”
The Loboes (2-3 overall, 1-0 district) did just that in the third quarter, holding the Eagles (0-5, 0-2) to just 36 yards and two first downs.
Monahans, meanwhile, racked up 147 yards of offense and three touchdowns in the same time period to blow open the game.
“We were either going to pull together or pull apart,” Monahans senior Clay Anthony said. “We pulled together and it paid off.”
On the second possession of the second half for Monahans, Valles hooked up with Sean Britton on a 50-yard touchdown pass and Quincy Titus scored a two-point conversion to put Monahans ahead for good at 20-17.
After a quick three-and-out for Pecos, the Loboes scored again as Titus went 34 yards on a keeper.
The Loboes used their quarterback platoon to perfection as Titus ran in two touchdowns and Valles threw two touchdowns.
The Monahans defense forced another three-and-out and four plays later Stephen Neel punched it in from 7 yards out.
“The first half I felt like we just came out sluggish,” Anthony said. “At halftime we talked about waking up. (In the third quarter) our line started blocking really good and we just ran hard the whole second half.”
The Eagles played their best half of the season as they made a little history.
Pecos showed a completely different look from the get-go, throwing the ball nearly every down. The Eagles threw the ball 43 times, the most passes in a Pecos game since at least 1960 and the most head coach Chris Henson had ever had a team throw.
“They are bigger up front than we are and we saw on film the thing that had hurt them was passing,” Henson said. “Paul (Zubeldia) did a great job of reading the hot routes in the first half, but in the second half we couldn’t contain them from both sides.”
Zubeldia finished the game 21-of-43 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles trailed 6-0 before Luis Morales kicked a 23-yard field goal and Zubeldia hooked up with Andy Ocon for a 7-yard touchdown pass and a 10-6 lead with 11:50 left in the second quarter.
The Loboes then turned the ball over and Hector Ramirez scored on a 4-yard run to put the Eagles up 17-6 with 5:37 left.
Pecos was thinking upset at that point, but Titus scored on a 5-yard plunge with less than a minute left in the half.
“We’ve got our swagger back,” Valles said. “We are ready to keep this going.”
Valles finished 8-for-10 for 160 yards and the two touchdowns. Titus rushed 10 times for 61 yards and the two scores and Neel finished with 62 yards rushing on 13 carries.