The Monahans Loboes and Clint Lions opened up their 2021 campaign on a beautiful Friday evening but the visiting Loboes spoiled the home opener for the Lions as they easily won 49-17
The Loboes opened up their first drive of the season with an impressive touchdown pass from senior Cheno Navarrete as he completed a 56yd TD pass to fellow senior Leonard Davis.
That opening drive pretty much set the tempo for the first half. Clint turned the ball over on the ensuing play of the next possesion. Monahans capitalized on that fumble by Navarrete completing an 11yd pass to Trey Gomez.
Luck would be on Monahans side once again as a botched kickoff catch by the Lions gave the ball right back to the Loboes. With a 1:23 left to go in the first 1qt, Monahans added to their lead with a 11yd TD run by Tanner Jones.
With the Lions not being able to do much on their next possession, the Loboes continued to execute their offensive playbook with an impressive 65yd touchdown pass from Navarrete to Jaylen Smith to expand their lead to 28-0.
Once again the Lions couldn’t get much done in their next possession and turned the ball over on downs to Monahans who had no trouble at all getting points off their next opportunity. Navarrete kept the ball himself and ran it in for a 46 yd touchdown which gave them a 35 point lead with 8:27 left in the 2nd qt.
Clint would finally get on the board with 4:32 left in the half with a 30yd touchdown run by quarterback Isaiah Gonzalez. The Loboes were quick to put out any signs of life left in the Lions by scoring on the very next play from scrimmage with a 25yd run by Navarrete who pitched the ball backwards to Leonard Davis who finished with a 50yd dash to the end zone putting Monahans up 42-10 at the half.
The Lions showed a bit more promise in the second half with offensive drives that lead them to one more touchdown by Kaii Mora. At the end, this Loboes offensive was firing on all cylinders and there was little the Lions could do to slow them down. Monahans wins decisively 49-17.
Clint looks to bounce back against El Paso next week while Monahans looks to continue their winning ways against Andrews.