Coming into Friday nights matchup in northeast El Paso, both the Eagles and Matadors were looking to recover from loses last week and back in the win column. Both teams would be closing out their non district portion of their respective schedules.
The visiting Eagles made their move on their second possession early in the first quarter. Parklands short punt gave their opponent a short field to work with and that’s exactly what they did. They would score on a 28yd run giving them the lead. After the point after the Eagles led 7-0. After a quick three and out the Parkland defense held Canutillo out of the end zone to wrap up the first quarter.
Canutillo picked up where they left off in the opening quarter with a 1yd touchdown run by Matthew Gasca. Canutillo would lead 14-0 after the extra point. The Parkland offense struggled to get going but their defense stepped up to keep the Eagles offense out of their end zone in the second quarter. But Canutillo would find the end zone again on a 42yd pass from Gasca to David Alvarado. That pass would open the Eagles lead to 21-0 after the point after kick. In the closing moments of the first half they would go on to extend the gap 24-0 on a 21yd field goal by Fernando López. The Matadors would trail by 24 at the half.
The Parkland defense would hold off the Eagles until midway thru the third when Jeremiah Knox found the end zone on a 12yd run. They would lead 31-0 after the extra point kick. Canutillo would score their first all points of the game in the closing minutes of the third quarter on a 69yd touchdown run by Shai Alva. Parkland would avoid the shutout in the fourth quarter on a touchdown reception by Fabian Cervantes. The final score would be 37-7 in favor of Canutillo.
The Matadors travel to Ysleta to open up district play while the Eagles visit the Mustangs for their district opener.
Story by Henry Reyna