Last week sophomore quarterback Chris Castaneda started the game with beginner’s nerves and had to come back from a strong Midland Christian team, who beat them out 41-31.
This week, however, Castaneda showed a new face with more calm and poise. He totaled 308 yards of passing and seven total touchdowns while commanding the Eastwood Troopers to a fierce 67-21 victory over the Bel Air Highlanders in The Battle of the Helmet annual rivalry game.
But it wasn’t a pretty win.
Both teams combined for a dozen unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and each team had a player ejected from the game. Eastwood finished the game with 180 yards in penalties.
“It was very tense out there,” Eastwood running back Freddy Contreras said. “We were playing for family, for friends and for alumni. This rivalry has been around forever.”
Head coach Julio Lopez was frustrated with the penalties, but ultimately reflected on the strong outing.
“There was a lot of penalties—not happy about that. We have to definitely clean that up next week,” Lopez said. “Our tempo just wears them out. We got them through the air and then (running backs) Noah Rios and Contreras are the two-headed monsters. We have weapons galore here.”
From the get-go, both teams traded punts before Bel Air’s quarterback Isaac Ybarra connected with Rudy Quesada on a 73-yard touchdown pass. Highlanders struck first in their home stadium and the atmosphere was alive.
After shrugging off the score, Castaneda orchestrated a four play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a 54-yard shot to wideout Pete Cadena.
Then they had back-to-back touchdowns on the ground from Castaneda and Noah Rios, which set up a decent 21-7 lead.
The Highlanders responded with a worthy eight play, 81-yard drive that ended in a 18-yard pass from Ybarra to wideout John Soto.
But it wasn’t enough for Eastwood, as the Troopers scored back-to-back touchdowns and led 34-21 at the half. They outgained the Highlanders 356-195 in total offense.
Castaneda finished the half completing 14-of-19 passes with three touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. He immediately knew going in that his confidence was at a strong high.
“I felt more confident for sure,” he said. “At the beginning the nerves got out. It was tense but I looked to my guys to calm me down. I think people need to watch out for Eastwood.”
Coming out of the half, the Troopers were tasked to finish the game with a win, while the Highlanders were pressed to come back.
Bel Air received the ball first and couldn’t do anything offensively.
On the very next play, Castaneda found Robert Minjarez for a 33-yard shot in the end zone. They were starting to break away and secure the game.
While Ybarra was able to complete passes in the first half and execute offensively, Eastwood shut him down in the second half.
Then Castaneda arranged two back-to-back touchdown drives to solidify the win for the Troopers.
They had scored 10 consecutive times on the Highlanders.
“(Castaneda) threw for a mile,” Lopez said. “He played some lights-out football. He’s a born leader and he’s so calm for a sophomore. I feel the quarterback position is solidified.”
Contreras reflects on the game being held in such a great environment.
“It was such a great atmosphere,” Contreras said. “A lot of great plays and a lot of guys flying around.”
Next week the Highlanders (0-2) will travel to Canutillo to try and get their first win, while Eastwood plays host to Odessa Permian, who defeated El Paso Franklin 42-14 on Friday.
Lopez feels optimistic playing host to the team who uses the triple-option to their upmost advantage.
“We know we’re facing a great team,” he said. “We have to come out and execute.”
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