It was a two-headed effort from twins Deondre and Deontay Begay of Newcomb High School on Friday night inside Bobcat Stadium in Ignacio, as the brothers combined for nearly 200 yards in the second half. It was enough for the Skyhawks to pull away from Ignacio, 22-6.
Ignacio High School head football coach Alfonso “Ponch” Garcia thought his team played well and said a few plays could have shifted momentum to the Bobcats’ side.
“First of all, we played an amazing squad who had two amazing kids on the other side of the ball,” Garcia said. “We’re growing; we’re getting better and that’s what it’s about for us. Our red zone offense needs to be a bit better. We had a new kicker from Spain who had two great attempts tonight, and if you work on the little things, we’re going to improve.”
Deondre, the starting quarterback, had 30 carries for 198 yards. Deontay had 22 carries for 93 yards.
The Bobcats (1-1) came out firing early. Senior quarterback Ian Weinreich led his team on a 13-play, 64-yard drive that he capped off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dylan LaBarthe. The extra point was missed, but the Bobcats had an early 6-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing Skyhawks (2-1) possession, Deondre Begay led an 8-play, 54-yard drive. He found Sean King in the back corner of the end zone for a TD pass. Newcomb converted the 2-point conversion to take an 8-6 lead with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Late in the half, Joe Garcia found his rhythm and kept moving the ball for Ignacio. He finished the half with 62 yards on 13 carries.
As he was leading the hurry-up offense with under one minute remaining, Deondre Begay he was intercepted by Ignacio’s Colten Jackson, who stepped in front of a Skyhawk wide receiver in the middle of the flat and returned it 24 yards to the Ignacio 35-yard line. Weinreich tried to lead a drive with less than 25 seconds remaining, but IHS turned the ball over on downs.
Newcomb head coach Eric Stovall thought his team was a bit out of sync in the first half.
“I thought our defense propelled us tonight,” Stovall said. “We came in at halftime and knew we could play better football, and the kids were determined. They made their minds up and said, ‘We’re going to play our football.’ They grinded it out, played good fundamental football and got the win.”
In the second half, the Skyhawks passed just once and were able to wear down the Bobcats’ defense.
Ignacio got off to a good start after it blocked Newcomb’s opening punt in the third quarter. But later in the third, Deontay Begay capped off a 14-play, 80-yard drive to capitalize on a 27-yard field goal miss from Ignacio’s kicker Alvaro Ros Ortiz, who made his American football debut. Heading into the final frame, the Skyhawks held a 14-6 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Newcomb started from its own 1-yard line and went on an 11-play, 99-yard drive that ate up 4:53 of clock, which was prolonged by a muffed punt from Jackson that was recovered by Jarvis Enrico. Later in the drive, Deondre Begay put the game to bed with a 19-yard touchdown run that made it 22-6.
“We finally got our nerves out of our system, and we all stepped up as a team. We all communicated, and we just started playing as a team, especially in that fourth quarter,” Deondre said.
Weinreich finished 6-of-13 for 77 yards and a touchdown, while he rushed for 45 yards on eight carries. Garcia finished with 69 yards on 16 carries, while LaBarthe had 44 yards on seven carries.
Ignacio will travel to Lake County in Leadville at 2 p.m. next Saturday.
bploen@durangoherald.comContinued from 1B
