Cowboys play hard until the end against Brahmas

    The Edna Cowboys traveled to Hallettsville on Sept. 18 to take on the Brahmas and suffered a hard-fought, heartbreaking loss, 41-31.
    Offensive Coordinator Josh Lovelady said, “I think we did a very good job on defense and special teams. I think our guys played hard till the end. We need to clean up a couple mistakes, but we are on the right track.” He added, “For us to win and keep winning, we must stop turning the ball over. We had seven turnovers on Friday night. Almost every game is decided by who wins the turnover battle.”
    The Cowboys won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Two minutes into the game Edna's corner back, senior #4 Jordan Norman came up with a huge interception and the Cowboy offense took over. The Brahma turnover led to a field goal by senior #60, Aaron Padilla giving Edna the first points of the night with 8:52 left in the first, Edna 3, Hallettsville 0.
    The Brahmas returned to the field to try and get something going. Edna's defense stood strong and forced a Hallettsville punt. The Cowboy offense’s next passing drive led to a Brahma interception with 7:01 left in the first. Hallettsville was unable to capitalize on the turnover and the ball went over on downs. Edna's defense forced a fumble on the next Brahma offensive possession. Cowboy defensive end senior #44 AJ Garcia picked up the loose ball and ran it in for the touchdown with 2:15 left in the first quarter. #60 Padilla added the point after touchdown and the score was Edna 10, Hallettsville 0.
    Before the first quarter came to a close, Brahmas found the end zone with a touchdown run. The extra point was good, but Cowboys were still on top 10-7 at the end of the first. Four minutes into the second quarter, the Brahmas found the end zone with another touchdown run. The PAT was no good, score now Brahmas 13, Cowboys 10.
    The next Edna passing drive led to another Hallettsville interception with 7:49 left in the first half. Brahma offense failed to gain any ground and were forced to punt it back to the Cowboys with 5:16 left. The Brahmas scored once more on a touchdown run before halftime. The extra point try was good and the halftime score 20-10 in favor of the Brahmas.
    The Cowboys received the second half kick off and put together a determining drive that led to a touchdown run by quarterback junior #18 Landon O'Connor. #60 Padilla tacked on the extra point and the score was now 20-17, Brahmas still on top. Hallettsville forced a fumble and capitalized on it with a touchdown run. After another failed extra point, the Brahmas extended their lead 26-17 with 7:06 left in the third.
    Cowboy offense answered right back when running back senior #9 Braveon Terrell ran in for the touchdown with 6:30 left in the third. #60 Padilla added the extra point cutting the Brahma lead within two points, score 26-24. The fourth quarter started with back to back forced fumbles, and the Brahmas took advantage and increased their lead after another touchdown run. A two point conversion try was good, and the Brahmas extend their lead to 34-24 with 8:40 left in the game. Cowboy’s offense tried to close in the gap with another passing drive, but it led to another Brahma interception. Hallettsville capitalized off of the turnover and extended their lead to 41-24 with 5:58 left.
    Edna failed to give up showing great pride and scored once more before the end of the game when wide receiver senior #6 Marquis Bates had a long touchdown run with 4:21 left to play. #60 Padilla had another PAT and the final score was Hallettsville 41, Edna 31.
    Defensive back Zac Sample said, “We had a lot of positive things happen during the game, but we also hurt ourselves at the same time.” He added, “I feel there's always room for improvement on both sides of the ball, and we also need to come together more as a team while doing so.”
    Defensive end AJ Garcia said, “I feel we played a very good game, but we just beat ourselves with turnovers.” He added, “We need to focus more during practice and start playing more as a team and not focus on just ourselves. We need to trust in our teammates to do their job and have them trust in us to do ours.”
    The Cowboys are now 2-2 in non-district play. Edna will host the West Columbia Roughnecks this Friday, Sept. 25, kick off set for 7:30 PM.