Repeat Bi-District celebration for the Mighty Eagles in Staton last Friday.
Photo by Macyn Morriss, CCAISD
Contributed by Adrian J. Norman, CCAISD
The Van Horn Eagles traveled to Stanton last Friday to take on the Miles Bulldogs in the Bi-District round of the playoffs. The Eagles made big plays on all sides of the ball and when the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles won 27-14. They advance to the Area round of the playoffs, and will square off against the Muenster Hornets.
Wide receiver Jose Baeza, Senior, recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff, and then the explosive offense marched downfield for a score. The Eagles scored once more in the first quarter, and never looked back as they amassed 328 yards of total offense. Quarterback Rafael Rodriguez, Senior, ended the night passing 13/24, 202 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Wide receiver Luis Escajeda, Senior, had an impressive game and had 5 catches for 115 yards, and scored 2 touchdowns.
The relentless defense played a solid game and only allowed a touchdown in each half. Isaac Baeza, Junior, anchored the defensive line that made lots of key stops, and managed to control the Miles offense.
Coach Brian Gibson said, “Anytime you can add some hardware to the trophy case, you’ve accomplished something special. The playoff path is always a tough one to maneuver and I couldn’t be more proud of the entire team that has stuck with each other through a lot of adversity this year. Miles played a very good game against us and we really never could get into any type of offensive rhythm. However, the young men persevered and found a way to gut out a win. When you’re in the playoffs and you advance to the next round, the competition obviously gets tougher and Muenster is a tough opponent, but at the same time, we are a tough opponent and Muenster will have to bring their “A” game to beat us on Thursday.“
The Eagles will make the 582-mile round trip this today to Sweetwater with kick-off slated for 7:00 p.m. Fans certainly make a difference. Please come out and support the team. If you cannot make it to the game, you can listen to Thursday’s game by downloading the KGAF App in the App Store or Google Play Store. You can also listen on n-txsports.com, or the Tune In Radio App, just search for 1580 KGAF. It’s a great day to be an Eagle, see you at the game.
