EL PASO- The Eastlake Falcons were looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss last week to District 2-5A foe Del Valle. Thanks to a strong defensive effort, the Falcons (6-2, 5-1) did just that as they defeated the Clint Horizon Scorpions (2-6, 2-4) 29-7 on Thursday night at the Socorro ISD Student Activites Complex.
“We start nine seniors on defense and our two safeties played with experience,” Eastlake head coach J.J. Calderon said following the game, “They did a good job. The defense as a whole stepped up tonight.”
The Falcons held Horizon to 182 yards of total offense on the night and were the catalysts for a team that struggled out of the gate in the first half.
After holding Horizon to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, Eastlake quarterback Justin White was intercepted by cornerback Marco Alvarado while trying to throw a deep pass over the middle to Ivan Avina.
But as was the case for much of the night, the Scorpions had a difficult time navigating the speed of the Falcons defense and was held to just 95 yards of total offense in the first half.
El Paso Eastlake running back Ezekiel Jones ran for his 10th touchdown of the year on Thursday night in a win over Clint Horizon. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
It appeared that the Falcons were going to break through in the second quarter as Horizon quarterback Alex Loya was intercepted by junior safety Devon Pinero. The Falcons were turned away as running back Ezekiel Jones fumbled inside the 10-yard line to give Horizon the ball.
After turning away the Scorpions on offense yet again, the Falcons broke the deadlock with a one-yard touchdown run by Jones to make it 7-0 heading into halftime. The Eastlake defense forced four punts in the first half but the offense was only able to manage 112 yards of their own at the break.
“If Justin hits a couple of deep balls, the score is completely different,” Calderon said, “We were just a little off tonight but we’ll work on that.”
The Eastlake offense would start to pick it up in the second half, relying on the running game of Jones and Avina. After a second Pinero interception, quarterback Justin White led the offense down the field on a six-play drive capped off by a 13-yard strike to receiver Emilio Rios to give the Falcons a two-touchdown lead.
El Paso Eastlake safety Devon Pinero had two interceptions in the win over Clint Horizon. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball.com)
The Falcons defense would continue to rise up when called upon after stopping Horizon twice on each of their ensuing possessions. The offense would pick up the rest, as Avina ran for a 29-yard touchdown and add a 70-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Avina would finish with 151 yards rushing on the night.
Alvarado would add a one-yard rushing touchdown late in the game for Horizon, but the Eastlake defense had done its job in order to help the Falcons bounce back.
“I think we’ve been playing great defense the last two weeks,” Pinero said, “Last week, Del Valle just made one more play than we did but coming back and having a strong defensive game like this will definitely help us in the future.”
“Coming off an intense game last week, our guys lacked a little focus,” Calderon said, “But it’s good to know that we can still win by over 20 points and not play our best. We definitely have some things to clean up and we’re looking to get better and get some momentum heading into the playoffs.”
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