High school football: Big plays, defense propel Taft past Hebbronville

TAFT — There was a fireworks display before each half on Friday at Greyhound Stadium.

JJ Acosta, Joshua Suarez and the Greyhounds made sure the fireworks never stopped in the District 16-3A Division II showdown with Hebbronville.

Taft rolled up 466 yards including 353 yards passing from Acosta in earning a 48-13 win against the Longhorns.

The win keeps the Greyhounds atop the district with a 6-2, 4-0 mark. Hebbronville clinched a spot in the playoffs despite falling to 3-5, 3-1 in district.

Key moments

Hebbronville punter Samuel Cadena pinned Taft at the 3-yard line with a spectacular 54-yard punt in a tie game late in the first quarter.

But Acosta found Suarez for a 96-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter and the Taft offense was energized.

The Greyhounds scored twice more in the first half to stake a 28-7 advantage in the battle of first place squads.

The game broke open on a play that started out looking like a big moment for the Hebbronville defense.

Acosta's first option was closed off by the Longhorns and multiple defenders were closing on in the Taft QB when he flipped forward a pass to Suarez, who had open space near the sideline.

With open space, Suarez turned on the jets, breaking free for a 75-yard touchdown. The resulting 35-7 score was a big blow to any comeback efforts.

Key players

Acosta finished 18 of 23 for 353 yards and four touchdowns, adding 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Suarez was the big playmaker, tallying 10 catches for 225 yards and two scores, adding a rushing touchdown.

Steven Rivera and Enrique Rodriguez had the other two receiving touchdowns for the Greyhounds and Rodriguez added a 70-yard scoop and score on a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.

Eden Perez was the game's leading rusher, totaling 210 yards on 23 carries and two scores for Hebbronville.

What the coaches said

Hebbronville coach RJ Montalvo on the loss: "Hats off to Taft. They were more physical than us tonight. We have an important game for playoff seeding next week and we are going to learn from our mistakes and try to correct those mistakes and get better. I thought we ran the ball OK, but we have a lot of stuff we need to fix. We played a tough pre-district schedule and set it up that way. Our running game and our ability to stop the run has been key as far as our turnaround."

Taft coach JR Castellano on what has been working on defense for the Greyhounds: "We settled on some things. We were overthinking things. We went to a more base defense and are allowing our kids to be athletes. The hardest thing about playing Hebbronville is simulating their offense during the week. We didn't see the speed during the week. We didn't make a whole lot of adjustments, but we got used to the speed of it."

What the players said

Taft's Joshua Suarez on what leads to the Greyhounds big play capability: "It is the chemistry we have on and off the field. We run plays, have our chemistry down and just play. I like to set the tone early, take the lead and then on defense stop them, make them punt and come back and scoring again."

Taft's Enrique Rodriguez on his fumble return touchdown: "That was awesome. I was so gassed at the end. I thought he was going to pull me out of bounds, but I got free and was able to score and make the play for my team."

Up next

Santa Rosa at Hebbronville, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28; Taft at Banquete, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: High school football: Big plays propel Taft past Hebbronville