EL PASO- After struggling the first three weeks of the season, the Coronado Thunderbirds got some help Friday night from an unexpected source: special teams. An early punt return for a touchdown and a strong defensive effort helped spur Coronado to a 36-15 win over El Paso Americas on a breezy Friday night at the SAC.
“I thought it was a great team effort tonight,” said Coronado head coach Bob Anderson, “Everyone has a job on special teams and they did a great job of focusing on that. Defensively, they’re getting better every week and I thought they executed our game plan really well.”
Coronado started off with a bang as they successfully recovered an onside kick to open the game but were unable to do much on offense, going three-and-out. After forcing an Americas three-and-out, that’s when the fireworks started. Coronado receiver Jose Luis Herrera fielded a punt near midfield and cut his way back towards the T-Bird sideline, running 53 yards for a touchdown.
“I was actually kind of nervous on that punt return because of the wind,” Herrera said, “Once I saw it come down, I had some great blocking and saw a hole and was able to take it back.”
After another Juan Pablo Moreno punt pinned the Trailblazers back inside the five, disaster struck as Americas quarterback Frank Melendez fumbled the ball in the end zone and recovered it for a safety to make it 9-0 T-Birds. The defense would step up again, intercepting a Melendez pass and striking back methodically with a 7-play drive capped off by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Herrera to Dominique Valera, a linebacker who came into the game as a tight end.
The Blazers ground attack had also been stifled most of the night, but caught a break after Coronado running back Garrett Slaughter fumbled inside his own 30 yard line on the final play of the first quarter. Melendez would strike quickly, throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Acosta and then cashing in on the two-point conversion to make it 16-8. Coronado would respond right back, with a 5-yard pass from quarterback Ethan Arroyo to receiver and former signal caller Angelo Donatelli to make it 23-8 heading into the break.
El Paso Coronado head coach Bob Anderson speaks with his team after the Thunderbirds defeated El Paso Americas 36-15 (Tony Venegas/TexasHSFootball.com)
The Coronado defense continued to squeeze the Blazers offense, limiting their production on the ground and forcing Americas to air it out. They held a strong run-first team in Americas to just 34 yards rushing, including holding leading rusher Tremaine Henderson to just 19 yards on 10 carries on the night.
“We just played really well together tonight,” said Coronado cornerback Andrew Abarca, “He (Henderson) is a good running back and we were able to shut him down and it was a total team defensive effort.”
Coronado also got a welcome addition back in their running game on Friday night in Julian Madrid. Madrid was one of the leading rushers for the T-Birds last season and had missed the first three games of the season due to injury. In a limited role, he made his presence felt, running for two touchdowns in the second half to put the game away. The Blazers would add a late touchdown run from Jeremy Loya to cap off the scoring.
Anderson knows that this is only the beginning in a long battle for District 1-6A, but is hopeful that the Thunderbirds may have found a winning formula as the T-Birds host an undefeated Pebble Hills squad next Friday.
“I hope that this game can at least show we’ve turned a corner,” Anderson said, “This was one game but I told the team that this was going to be a fight every week. Anybody can beat anyone in this district and we have to play at our best every week.”
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