District 3A Edna champs move on

    The Edna Cowboys ended their regular district season with a huge win after traveling to Hempstead to take on the Bobcats, 38-31. This win assured the Cowboys as District 3A-1 Region IV District 14 champs.
    Offensive Line Coach Josh Lovelady said he believes Edna faced a good team. “They (Hempstead) were district champs last year. It was a lot of their kid’s last game and they came out fighting. We only put up 38 points, but we had over 600 yards of offense,” he said. “Our defense gave up a couple of big plays, but they started off with bad field positions most of the night. We played well, but could have played better.”
    Senior defensive back #7 Andrew Mathis said, “I feel great about our performance against Hempstead.” Mathis added, “We still need to improve on defense and special teams.”
    The Cowboys won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick-off. On Edna's first offensive play, junior quarterback #18 Landon O'Connor connected with senior wide receiver #6 Marquis Bates with just 18 ticks off the clock for the first touchdown of the game. Senior #60 Aaron Padilla tacked on the PAT, making the score Cowboys 7, Bobcats 0.
    Hempstead didn’t waste any time and responded with a touchdown of their own with 10:20 left in the first quarter. After a good extra point, the score was tied 7-7.
    Cowboy defense recovered a Bobcat fumble with 6:01 left in the first. Edna capitalized on the turnover when senior running back #4 Jordan Norman ran in the Cowboy touchdown with 5:19 left in the first quarter of play. #60 Padilla with a good extra point increased Edna’s lead 14-7.
    The Bobcats answered back with a touchdown with 4:18 left in the first. Extra point was good and score was tied once again 14-14.      Edna’s offense took over and responded with a field goal with just 1:09 left in the first quarter making the score Edna 17, Bobcats 14.
    Hempstead responded with a touchdown only 30 seconds into the second quarter. The Cowboy defense came up huge with a blocked extra point try, but the Bobcats took their first lead of the game, 20-17. The lead change didn't last long because #4 Norman ran in for his second touchdown of the night with 9:27 left in the first half. #60 Padilla added an extra point and the Cowboys regained the lead 24-20.
    The Bobcat offense answered back with a field goal making the halftime score 24-23 in favor of the Cowboys.
    Hempstead received the second half kick-off, but Edna’s defense took charge and stood their ground. Cowboy’s #4 Norman found good running room and scored his third touchdown of the night with 3:30 left in the third. #60 Padilla was good with an extra point and the score was now Edna, 31, Hempstead 23.
    The Bobcats found the end zone with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. A two-point conversion try was good and the score was tied for the third time of the game, 31-31.
    Even though the fourth quarter started off to be a defensive battle, it belonged solely to the Edna Cowboys. Edna’s senior running back #9 Braveon Terrell sealed the deal with a touchdown run with 9:51 left in the game. #60 Padilla tacked on the last point of the game and the final score was Edna Cowboys 38, Hemstead Bobcats 31.
    The Cowboys are undefeated in district and have earned their first outright district championship since 1991.  Edna will travel to Beeville this Friday, Nov. 13 to take on the Randolph Ro-Hawks for the Bi-District playoff game, kickoff set for 7:30.
    Coach Lovelady added, “To prepare for Randolph we need to just focus on the small things in practice this week and come out looking like the dominating football machine we can be.”
    Junior offensive/defensive lineman #61 Cade Williams said, “I feel that our team came prepared for anything Hempstead would throw at us. We made mistakes, but nothing that can’t be fixed. I feel that we played as a team.” Williams added, “I think that our team needs to come out this coming week focused and determined to get the win against Randolph because that will be one step closer to the state game.”