Tascosa Wins 29-26 Thriller Over Hereford

Wow! If you were not at Dick Bivins Stadium on Thursday, September 2nd to watch the Tascosa Rebels take on the Hereford Whitefaces, you missed out on one great football game. From big hits, turnovers, and big plays, this was truly the game of the week.

Tascosa received the opening kickoff on the south end of the field. With a strong north wind, the kickoff sailed into the end zone to give the Rebs the ball on the 20 yard line. Tascosa punted with 11:08 in the 1st quarter.

Hereford fumbled on their first two possessions, but Tascosa was not able to capitalize on the turnovers. Instead, it was the Whitefaces who would score the first points of the game when QB Ryan Martinez ran it in for six points. The PAT was true to make it 7-0 in favor of Hereford.

Martinez scored again for the Whitefaces with :18 seconds to go in the first quarter, and the PAT made it Hereford 14, Tascosa 0.

The Rebels got on the board at the 3:17 mark in the second quarter when senior QB Parker Rittenberry hit fellow senior Logan Ortega from 37 yards out. The PAT was good. Tascosa 7, Hereford 14.

The Rittenberry-Ortega express struck again with :48 seconds left in the first half. The extra point made it a 14-14 ballgame going into halftime.

The first points of the second half came by way of the Hostile Herd’s Ryan Martinez on a quaterback keeper from 40 yards out at 10:05 in the 3rd quarter. The extra point failed. Hereford 20, Tascosa 14.

Rebel running back Junior Doerue ignited the stadium when he took a hand-off from Rittenberry and hit top speed on his way to a long sprint into the end zone. The PAT was good to give Tascosa their first lead of the game with 8:42 left in the 4th quarter.

With just 3:11 remaining in the game, the Whitefaces scored from 1-yard out to regain the lead. On a crucial two-point conversion, Hereford failed when the pass went in and out of the hands of the targeted receiver. Hereford 26, Tascosa 21.

This is where the game got even better.

With their backs to the wall, the 2010 Tascosa football Rebels were fixing to find out what they were made of. All of the hard work during the hot summer months was about to pay off. With only :45 seconds left in the game and Tascosa facing a 4th & 19 yards to go, Rittenberry rolled to his right looking for an open receiver but couldn’t find one. Parker stepped up on the biggest stage of the year thus far and came out looking like a star when he tucked the ball under his arm and refused to go down until he crossed the first down marker. As the clocked ticked down to :21 seconds, Rittenberry’s pass into the end zone found it’s way into the hands of Rebel receiver #5, Stevan Jurado. Rebel Coach Ken Plunk made the call to go for two points, and it paid off. Tascosa took a 29-26 lead over the Whitefaces.

The game came down to the wire with Hereford looking for their second straight win on the road against 5A opponents, but Tascosa defender Rashondric Speppard ended their hopes when he sacked QB Ryan Martinez with no time left on the clock.

Final score: Tascosa 29, Hereford 26.

Congratulations Rebels for a great victory over a great Hereford team.

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