The Americas Trailblazers had been stuck in neutral for the first half as the Frenship Tigers dominated time of possession. Thanks to five forced turnovers by the defense, the Blazers were able to jump start the offense in the second half en route to a 30-16 win over Frenship.
“Honestly, it felt like we were on the field forever,” said Americas cornerback and receiver Jacob Monarez, “but we did our job and we made the fundamental plays when we needed to.”
The Blazers needed every one of those plays early as Frenship was able to take control early. Sophomore running back Garrison Johnson was the focal point of a 65-yard opening drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead. Johnson had missed the last two games because of injury.
After the Blazers stalled out on their opening drive, Frenship methodically ran the ball down the field again into Americas territory. But the Blazers took advantage of a poor Chandler Brand throw as Isaac Lerma picked it off and returned it 64 yards to tie the game 7-7.
Johnson continued to be the workhorse in the first half, marching Frenship down the field again and finishing it with his second score of the night, a 13-yard run to make it 14-7. Johnson finished with 23 carries for 106 yards and those two scores with the majority of his touches coming in the first half. Americas would respond on its next drive with a 44-yard field goal by Saul Cervantes to make it 14-10.
It looked like Americas would have a chance to take a halftime lead after a Jacob Monarez interception, but Monarez was picked off the very next play by Dakota Champagne. That 14-10 lead would stand at the break. Frenship’s ability to control the clock made it tough for the Blazers offense.
“Frenship came out and did some things we weren’t ready for and we definitely needed to adjust,” said head coach Patrick Melton, “They definitely were trying to keep our offense off the field so we tried to force long yardage downs to give our offense a chance.”
The adjustments worked wonders for Americas and the offense came out firing in the second half, thanks to Josh Field. Fields would carry the ball six times on the Blazers opening possession, which culminated with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Cristian Estorga to Monarez.
“They couldn’t handle the faster tempo very well,” Melton said, “We saw that when Eastwood played them last year in the playoffs and we felt like that we could use that idea to help us.”
Fields would be the center of attention again, finishing the Blazers next drive it with a 17-yard score that put the Blazers up 24-14 late in the third quarter. After just six carries in the first half, Fields would finish with 155 yards on the night.
“We didn’t get the ball that much in the first half and it was tough to get in rhythm,” Fields said, “but the offensive line did a great job creating holes for me to run and get our offense back in a good tempo.”
The Tigers looked to get back in the game, but a fumble on a reverse was picked up cornerback Xavier Brooks for the Blazers second defensive touchdown on the night. The extra point was blocked and taken back for 2 points to make it 30-16 Americas. In the end, the Blazers defense came up big, forcing another fumble on the ensuing drive and Monarez coming up with a leaping interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“Winning another bi-district title feels great,” Melton said, “It means our program and the city of El Paso are starting to turn a new leaf. Nobody’s scared of a first round playoff game anymore.”
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