Slaton stampeded by Mustangs in District, 45-2
By Nolan Alexander
Slatonite Intern
The Slaton Tigers completed their three game road trip and bye week at Mustang Stadium, playing Denver City on Friday (Oct. 15), losing 45-2 and falling to 2-5 on the season and 1-1 in District.
The scoring was one-sided in favor of Denver City throughout the entire game.
The first quarter only had one touchdown from the Mustangs, a 56-yard rushing touchdown and extra point.
The second quarter opened up with some hope for Slaton, as Tate Miller was able to tackle the ball carrier for the Mustangs in the end zone for a safety.
The points earned by the Tigers were only returned with a one-yard rushing touchdown for Denver City.
The Mustangs found the end zone one more time before the first half ended, with the score being a two-yard rushing touchdown.
Denver City also snuck in a last minute 33-yard field goal to make the score at the end of the first half 2-24.
The Tigers were looking to come out of halftime with energy to get back into the game, but Denver City’s defense would not allow them to make a comeback.
The Mustangs opened the third quarter with a 10-yard rushing touchdown followed by another long drive ending in a five-yard rushing touchdown, increasing their lead to 2-38 by the end of the third.
The final quarter was under way and this was the Tigers last chance to get stops on defense and start moving the ball on offense to get back into the game.
Instead, Denver City was able to score one last time in the fourth quarter, with a five-yard rushing touchdown, finishing their scoring and ending the game 45-2.
Head Football Coach Lawrence Johnson was very specific on why the offense did not score any points.
“Our slow momentum of the offense was due to our lack of execution and us not being physical,” he said.
Johnson said that after hard losses like this it is important to bounce back by preparing throughout the week in practice for this Friday’s game.
“We have to do a better job of focusing and putting good practices together,” he said.
Rushers for the Tigers include CJ Anzley with 10 carries for eight yards; Xzavion Whaley with six carries for one yard; Zamian Davila with two carries for three yards; and Tomas Geronimo with five carries for 10 yards.
Quarterbacks Eli Perez and Ayden Ramirez combined for a total of 32 yards on 17 percent pass completion and one interception.
The lone receiver for the Tigers was Andre Trotty with two catches for 32 yards.
The Tigers next game will be home against Brownfield at 7 p.m. Friday (Oct. 22) and Johnson thinks of this as the classic rivalry game, so preparing is the utmost importance.
“Brownfield is 50 percent run and 50 percent pass so we will have to prepare for both aspects,” he said. “This is a rivalry game of sort with some intense games over the past few years, so our Tigers will be up for this game.”
Game is as of press time.
