Cowboys lasso a victory

    The Edna Cowboys traveled to Hitchcock to start district play against the Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 10, and was victorious with a final score of 36-22.
    Cowboys senior receiver, #10 Holton Newbern said it was a great, fantastic win. “We've been working hard and everyone came together, everybody stepped up that needed to step up,” he said.
    Hitchcock won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick-off. Cowboy defense set the tone early and forced Hitchcock to punt on their first possession of the game.
    The Cowboy offense came out strong on their first possession when running back, #4 Deontae Jones ran in for a touchdown with 7:46 left in the first quarter. #60 Aaron Padilla added an extra point which made the score 7-0 in favor of Edna.
    Hitchcock answered on their next possession and scored a touchdown on the ground with 3:11 left in the first. The extra point attempt was no good, and the first quarter ended with a score of Edna 7, Hitchcock 6.
    After a turnover by the Cowboy offense, Hitchcock wasted little time finding the end zone for the second time in the first half with 11:10 remaining in the second quarter. The two-point conversion was good and the score was 14-7 in favor of the Bulldogs.
    The Cowboy offense continued with a strong ground game when #4 Jones ran in for his second touchdown with 10:07 left in the second quarter. Extra point was good by #60 Padilla. Score was then tied at 14-14.
    Bulldogs answered once again with a touchdown on the ground and added another two-point conversion. The halftime score was Hitchcock 22, Edna 14.    Edna received the second half kick off and wasted little time scoring. Quarterback #18 Landon O'Connor connected with receiver #10 Newbern on a long touchdown pass with 10:02 left in the third quarter. O'Connor tacked on a two-point conversion and tied the score at 22-22. The Cowboy defense settled in the second half, made key adjustments and shut out the Bulldogs in the second half. Their lead was made good with offensive blocking and scored again on the ground when #4 Jones rushed in the end zone for his third touchdown of the game. #60 Padilla added a good extra point and made the score 29-22 at the end of the third quarter with Edna leading.
    The Cowboy offense found the end zone once more in the fourth quarter when #4 Jones scored his fourth touchdown on the ground with 6:00 left in the game. The extra point by #60 Padilla made the final score 36-22 in the Cowboys favor. Their defense sealed the deal late in the fourth quarter when #4 Jones came up with a huge interception. The Cowboys won their opening district game against a strong Hitchcock Bulldog team.
    Offensive Coach Josh Lovelady was asked how he felt about the team’s performance and he said, "The boys came out and had three really good practices this week. The kids had high tempo and it showed a lot out here tonight at the game, we were in better shape and more prepared than Hitchcock was.” Lovelady was also asked what the boys needed to do to prepare for their second district game against the Rice Raiders. "We just have to keep doing what we are doing, stay focused and just keep having fun."
    The Cowboys will play Rice Consolidated on Friday, Oct. 17 there, with kick-off set for 7:30 p.m.