Memorial survives Economedes
EDINBURG — Running back Gabe Phillips placed the exclamation mark on a thrilling game-winning drive for McAllen Memorial, taking the handoff and punching it in from one-yard out to give the Mustangs a 33-28 victory over Edinburg Economedes here Friday night at Cats Stadium.
The Mustangs gave up a 6-point lead early in the fourth, and needed to mount a second comeback of the night when Phillips assured Memorial (1-0) the victory.
“I think what stuck out more than anything was their character,” Littleton said, referring to overcoming 14- and 1-point deficits in the first half. “These kids really stuck together. I think we might have folded when I first got here.”
Opening night for both teams was showcased by explosive offenses that saw passing yards well over the 100-yard mark, and passing touchdown plays by both teams of 55-yards or greater.
After the Jaguars (0-1) took a slim 1-point lead, Memorial engineered a 21-play — that’s right, a 21-play — 79-yard drive which nickel-and-dimed the Economedes defense, and the game clock. Memorial picked up bits and pieces to control the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the final quarter.
The penultimate play on that drive kept the Mustang drive alive when quarterback Matthew Kaufmann hit running back Aaron Garcia for a 16-yard gain to the Economedes 1-yard line on a third-and-14 from the 17. On the next play Kaufman bulled his way into the end zone for the winning score.
“It was real exciting,” Memorial coach Bill Littleton said. “It was a great ballgame.”
The Memorial defense held on a fourth-and-5 with 16.5 seconds left to play to seal the win.
The late-game heroics were triggered when the Jaguars took a 28-27 lead at the 10:49 mark. Quarterback Rudy Villarreal plunged in from 5-yards out to tie the game at 27. Kicker Rogelio Ramirez connected on the point-after-attempt to give the Jags a narrow lead. But the Mustangs mounted that epic offensive drive of the night that gave them their first win of 2009.
