The Eastwood Troopers got their first win in district play when they beat the Montwood Rams 33-27 Thursday night at the Socorro Athletic Complex.
Coming into the game, the Troopers had lost three games in a row and were in a desperate need of a win. The Rams were coming into the game after shutting out Socorro the week before.
This game was gonna feature two high powered offenses so it was gonna be up to the defenses to decide the outcome of this game.
Both defenses started the game good as they forced two three and outs for both teams. But with five minutes left in the first quarter, Montwood got on the board first when Kevin Melendez ran for a 5 yard touchdown giving them a 7-0 lead.
Eastwood would respond two minutes later when Jake Chenausky would score on a 5 yard Run. That tied the game at 7-7 and it would also be the score when the quarter ended.
To start the second quarter, the Troopers used their fast paced offense to drive down the field and once again Chenausky would score another running touchdown this time from the 2 yard line. The extra point was missed so the score was 13-7 at the 11:02 mark of the quarter.
The Rams would respond by having a good drive of their own but they had to settle for a field goal.
Eastwood then added another touchdown with three minutes left in the half when running back Sam Lopez scored from 5 yards out. This made the score at Halftime 20-10
Montwood would start the third quarter by having an impressive drive that was capped off by a 14 yard TD run by QB Kevin Melendez but the extra point was no good so the score was 20-16.
Eastwood would answer right back with a score of their own when QB Andrew Martinez ran for a 43 yard TD run. Montwood would add a field goal making the score at the end of the third quarter 27-19 in favor of the Troopers.
In the fourth quarter the Rams would tie the game at 27-27 when running back Izayuh Claudio scored on a 8 yard TD run then the 2 point conversion was good after Melendez connected with Kyle Ortega.
With five minutes left in the game, Eastwood would retake the lead after RB Sam Lopez scored on a 10 yard run, but the extra point attempt was no good so that meant that with a touchdown and the extra point Montwood could take the lead.
But the Troopers defense would have non of that. They were able to buckle down and stop the Rams on the two possessions they would have to end the game giving Eastwood the 33-27 win over Montwood and their first win in district play.
Next week Eastwood will take on Eastlake and Montwood will play against Americas.
Mando Medina, Tony Grijalva, Ace Acosta, Henry Reyna reporting