Juarez-Lincoln uses three overtimes to top pesky Roma
ROMA — The first two touchdowns were a breeze. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln needed to work overtime for the second two. And it was just enough to hold off Roma 29-27 in triple overtime.
Jose Bocanegra ran over a couple of Gladiators for a 13-yard scoring run in the third overtime to help secure the contest. Huskies quarterback Jessie Rodriguez scored on a keeper for the 2-point conversion that made the score 29-21.
Roma answered with a 2-yard TD run by Nestor Garcia, but the conversion pass fell incomplete.
“It says a lot about our guys to come here on the road and get a win like this,” Huskies coach Aaron Garcia said after Friday’s District 32-4A win. “We found a way to win, and that’s all that matters.”
Bocanegra finished with 217 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries.
The Huskies denied the Gladiators a chance to go 4-0 for the first time in the program’s history.
The game was tied at 14 following the fourth quarter. Roma (0-1 in district) tied the game at 14 when Oscar Pompa hauled in an 80-yard TD pass on a fly pattern down the right sideline with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Each team had a chance to win it in the fourth quarter, but lost fumbles deep in their opponents’ territories. The Huskies lost a fumble on Roma’s 13 and then lost another on its own 33 with 2:09 in the fourth. Roma then gave it back up at the 10-yard line with 57 seconds left in the fourth.
“Bottom line is we gave up too many turnovers in crucial situations,” Gladiators coach Max Habecker said.
The Gladiators lost two fumbles and the Huskies four.
After a scoreless first overtime, Juarez-Lincoln (3-1, 1-0) took a 21-14 lead on a 1-yard run by Joel Garcia. Roma came back with a 5-yard TD run from Garcia.
Bocanegra put the Huskies on top 14-0 with a pair of first-half touchdown rushes. The first came on a 7-yard run that capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive on Juarez-Lincoln’s initial possession. Bocanegra broke loose for a 43-yard score at the 7:12 mark of the second quarter.
The Gladiators cut the score in half on the next possession. Receiver Isaac Martinez scooped up a lateral from quarterback Exiquio Gonzalez on one hop and Pompa all alone in the end zone from 20 yards away with 2:04 in the second quarter. Pompa finished with 208 yards on seven catches.
