Last Thursday, JV drove to Lorenzo to take on the Hornets. Due to some complications on Lorenzo’s side, the Wolverines faced their varsity football team. The Wolverines played with the Hornets throughout the entire game, but fell short 37-42. They will travel to Whitharral tonight to get revenge on the Panthers. 

Sophomores Slade Beerwinkle, Gavin Gonzales, Braden Bradley, Kysen Hall and Alejandro Gonzales, and Freshman Tyler Tanaro and Timothy Tovar and Nehemiah Castillo worked extremely hard in this match up. It was a team effort to keep up with a varsity level team. 

“I was a little bit worried about playing a varsity team,” Tanaro said. “But we still went into the game confident.” 

The Hornets scored the first touchdown and 2 extra points with 5:20 left in the 1st quarter. The kickoff was returned by Tovar. The Wolverines had trouble moving up the field and the ball went over on downs. 

“Our boys didn’t play with the intensity that I have seen them play with in other games,” mother and spectator Crystal Mosqueda said. “With that being said, there were several great plays made by our boys.” 

Lorenzo scored another touchdown with 1:37 to go in the 1st, but Beerwinkle picked up an 18-yard run and 10 more yards the next play. Freshman Nehemiah Castillo pitched the football back to Beewinkle and he made a pass to G. Gonzales for a Wolverine touchdown. The Wolverines also ran it in to gain the extra point. The 1st quarter score ended at 7-16. 

“My mindset was that since this is a varsity level game that there is no room for error,” sophomore and kicker Xayver Mosqueda said. “I feel like the team I saw was not playing to the potential that I’ve seen them play before.”

Lorenzo adds six more points to the board at the start of the 2nd quarter, 7-22. Wolverines had the ball and Beerwinkle moved it up the field, gaining a first down. Beerwinkle made a good block for G. Gonzales, that helped him gain about six yards. Tovar also helped during this play. Tanaro then dropped in a touchdown, and the Wolverines got the two extra points, which brings the score to 13-22 with 4:41 left in the first half. 

“Slade stood out to me because it seemed as though he was the energizer bunny out there on the field,” C. Mosqueda said. “He just kept going and going.”

With 2:18 left in the 2nd quarter, G. Gonzales scores for the Wolverines and X. Mosqueda kicks for two extra points. Senior Simon Ibarra got in the game and kicked for Lorenzo to return. The Hornets ran it back, and got the extra point. The score was 23-29 when the buzzer rang at the half. 

“Timothy Tovar had a lot of good catches on the receiving end,” Tanaro said. “Me and Braden went out there and helped a lot.”  

The Hornets jumped on the Wolverines at the start of the 3rd quarter, opening the second half with a score of 23-36. 4:57 on the clock, sophomore Alejandro Gonzales gained a first down. Beerwinkle lost control of the ball, but it was recovered by A. Gonzales for a Wolverine touchdown. X. Mosqueda also added two extra points, 31-36. Some fumbling here and there, but the Wolverines started to catch up with 3:04 left in the 3rd.  

“I think I did pretty good,” A. Gonzales said. “I think I ran the ball pretty good.”

X. Mosqueda also saw good things come from himself.

“I think I was well composed especially with the fumbled snap,” X. Mosqueda said. “Even though the play was reset, I made the field goal anyway.” 

Lorenzo answered quickly, scoring a touchdown, but the extra points were blocked by Beerwinkle. Score was 31-42 with 2:50 left. After a few incomplete passes, Beerwinkle gained a first down. With 49 seconds left, G. Gonzales was able to get in the end zone, which brought the score closer, 37-42. Tanaro takes down the Hornet quarterback before the quarter ends. 

“I did alright, I missed a tackle on defense that led to a touchdown,” Tanaro said. “Offensive wise, their nose guard wasn’t very hard to block so that was easy.” 

To start the final quarter, the Hornets opened up with a holding penalty. The Wolverines didn’t let the Hornets gain any yards, bringing up 4th down. Lorenzo punted the football and it was caught by Beerwinkle. Castillo did his job by pitching it to G. Gonzales, gaining some yards. Beerwinkle took tackle after tackled, which brought up 4th down, 4:15 left in the ball game. 

“Slade always stands out to me,” X. Mosqueda said. “Because of the level of intensity and focus he brings to the table.” 

3:05 to go, G. Gonzales brought the Hornet quarterback to the ground. It was the 4th down, Wolverines needed to get the ball back and score to win the game. Beerwinkle blocked the pass to the Lorenzo receiver, but a flag is called, it was still 4th down. 

“Slade never stopped playing hard,” C. Mosqueda said. “I told his mom ‘that boy deserves a steak dinner for the way he played that game’.” 

Beerwinkle picks the ball up after the Hornet fumble 1:54 left in the final quarter. Beerwinkle was poked in the eye and was unable to see G. Gonzales down field, but a flag was called. The Wolverines call a timeout with 43 seconds left in the game. Beerwinkle sadly lost control and the ball goes over to Lorenzo, making the final score, 37-42. 

“We’ve played against way better teams than Lorenzo,” Tanaro said. “We should’ve won.”

Thursday, the Wolverines will travel to Whitharral to face the Panthers for the second time this season.

“To beat Whitharral, all we have to do is stay composed,” X. Mosqueda said. “We have to get them from the first snap.”