EL PASO-El Paso El Dorado head coach Ruben Torres calls his senior quarterback Cedarious Barfield one of the best players in the city. His final regular season game showed why and the Aztecs needed every bit of it in their 49-44 win over the Pebble Hills Spartans on Thursday night at the Socorro ISD Student Activities Complex.
“He’s special,” Torres said after Thursday night’s win, “I don’t think the city of El Paso has seen a player like him. His ability to throw and run and make plays on defense is incredible. How can you not root for a kid like that?”
El Paso El Dorado quarterback Cedarious Barfield accounted for nearly 500 yards and seven touchdowns in the win over Pebble Hills. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
While the San Diego State commit shined, it was Pebble Hills who made a statement early recovering an onside kick on the opening kickoff. The Spartans were unable to do much with it, punting it away and that’s when Barfield went to work.
On the Aztecs opening possession, Barfield finished it off with a 43-yard touchdown run to get the night going. He would add a 34-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession to make it 14-0. Pebble Hills would respond quickly however with a 54-yard touchdown run by Caleb Gerber. The junior running back finished with 84 yards on 22 carries on the night.
Barfield would take over from late in the first quarter heading into halftime, throwing two 50-plus yard touchdown passes to Cameron Hill and Corey McCoy. Wedged in between those throws was a 67-yard touchdown run late by Barfield as the Aztecs took control with a 35-7 lead into the locker room with Barfield accounting for 319 yards and five scores in the first half.
Cedarious Barfield has 319 total yards and five total touchdowns. The man is a walking video game. pic.twitter.com/7HEMegnh4A
— Adrian Broaddus (@AdrianBroaddus) November 10, 2017
319 yards of total offense in the first half for Cedarious Barfield. Pebble Hills total offense: 157
— Tony Venegas (@OA_TVenegas) November 10, 2017
“I feel that we’ve come a long way this season,” Barfield said, “We had a chip on our shoulder after the Montwood game and we wanted to show people what we could do with how we played tonight.”
However, as they’ve done all season, Pebble Hills would not go away. Quarterback Orlando Puig found Haredt Gonzalez down the sideline for 62 yards and a score to make it 35-13. Puig would find Cameron Seabrook for a 24-yard score to make it 35-20 and there was hope on the Spartan sideline.
Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball
Barfield would temporarily squash those hopes, adding a 70-yard touchdown run to his already stellar night. He even added an interception to his night as well. Pebble Hills would not go away as Seabrook responded with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Add in another Puig touchdown pass to Gonzalez and it was a 42-34 Aztec lead going into the final quarter. The senior quarterback would finish 294 yards passing and four touchdowns.
“Pebble Hills did a great job tonight,” Torres said of the Spartans second half rally, “They recovered three onside kicks and forced a fumble. They just kept fighting and I’m just proud of my brother (Mark) and his staff and what they’ve done over there. It speaks volumes about them.”
The Spartans would cut the lead to five and then Barfield worked his magic one more time, scooting up the sideline for his fifth rushing touchdown of the night. Barfield finished the night with 297 yards rushing and 200 yards passing on the night.
El Paso El Dorado running back Seth Davis (25) is pushed out of bounds by a Pebble Hills defender. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
Pebble Hills would try to rally again, adding another Haredt Gonzalez touchdown and having a possession to win the game. But as they had done in the second half, the Aztec defense stepped up in the second half when needed, stopping the Spartans on fourth down with 1:30 left to seal the game. The defense forced two interceptions and two fourth down stops in the final 24 minutes.
“Our team came together and we’ve been clicking really well over these last few weeks,” Barfield said, “We wanted to show people that we’re El Dorado and that we came to play.”
El Dorado finishes the season 7-3 and will host the loser of Odessa Permian-Midland Lee next week. Pebble Hills finishes 8-2 and will travel to San Angelo Central for their first-ever playoff game next Friday night.
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