West Plains defeats Palo Duro for first win in program history
Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.
Prior to this week, the West Plains Wolves had never experienced a win and had not necessarily gotten close to one either. During their inaugural season under coach Adam Cummings, the Wolves had struggled to gain consistency on offense and were being outscored 107-30 through the first three games.
There was no sign of those Wolves against Palo Duro at Dick Bivins Stadium on Thursday night.
The West Plains defense forced three turnovers and the offense found success in its balanced attack led by junior running back Jordi Hernandez and freshman quarterback Reid Macon en route to a 28-26 win over the Dons.
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"I'm so proud of this team," Cummings said. "Our coaches, our players, our fans, our band, our cheerleaders – everybody just kept believing. This is the first of many."
Hernandez was a lethal threat for the Wolves' offense all-night as he rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown while adding three receptions for 64 yards and another score. He serves as Macon's security blanket in the passing game and showed off both his speed and power between the tackles when putting his talents to use on the ground.
"I'm so proud of him," Cummings said about Hernandez. "He's a leader on and off the field and he's such a hard worker. Early in the season, he struggled and was taking a lot of hits in the backfield. Not once did her ever waver. He's one of the best I've ever coached in terms of leadership and in terms of play on the field. I'm so excited for what he's going to do for this team."
The Wolves fell behind 6-0 midway through the first quarter and took their first trip to the end zone when Hernandez slipped out of the backfield and caught a five-yard pass to put West Plains on the board.
They added to their lead just over one minute later following the first turnover of the game by Palo Duro. Following a strip sack, Macon found former Palo Duro wideout King Tallant on a screen pass left that the junior receiver took 20 yards for a score.
West Plains held a 21-12 lead at the halftime break and would need to keep the pressure on Palo Duro through the last two quarters in order to close out their first win.
The Dons proceeded to open the second half with a 10-play drive that concluded when senior running back Tre'sean Monroe (165 yards) scored his first of two touchdowns. However, the Wolves responded with the mental toughness of an experienced team and marched down the field on their own 14-play drive that ended with a one-yard Hernandez touchdown run.
"We came out here and played hard throughout the game and did what we could to win," Hernandez said. "I couldn't have done it without my team and they all played great tonight and allowed me to have the game that I did."
Palo Duro found the end zone once more but was unable to make up the two missed extra points that followed its first two scores.
"We didn't play well in all three phases of the game," Palo Duro coach Eric Mims said. "We had some special teams blunders, we had some offensive mistakes and we had some defensive mistakes. Those mistakes kept us from winning the game tonight. We have to play more consistently on both sides of the ball and on special teams so that we can be successful in the future."
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After a challenging start to the season with three losses to three tough opponents in Bushland, Midland Greenwood and Canyon, the Wolves took a crucial next step as a high school football program by entering into the win column. While the journey to get to this point took plenty of hard work and determination from everyone throughout the team, there is plenty to build on from Thursday's game and a collective confidence surrounding the Wolves that this is just the beginning.
"We have a lot of good kids on this team that believe in each other, they believe in their coaches and they believe in what we're trying to build," Cummings said. "It's not always easy. If it was easy, everybody would do it. Our kids show up every day with an attitude and a chip on their shoulder ready to go to work and do whatever it takes to make this program the best."
Up next: The Wolves (1-3) will host Lubbock Estacado next Thursday night at Happy State Bank Stadium while Palo Duro (1-3) will face-off against Randall in Canyon next Friday night.
WEST PLAINS 28, PALO DURO 26
West Plains 14 7 7 0 -- 28
Palo Duro 12 0 14 0 -- 26
Scoring summary
First Quarter
PD – Kameron Brown 8 rush (Jacob Jimennez kick no good); 6:59
WP – Reid Macon 5 pass to Jordi Hernandez (Joseph Estrada kick); 1:56
WP – Reid Macon 20 pass to King Tallant (Joseph Estrada kick); 0:18
PD – Jayden Garza 71 rush (PAT no good); 0:00
Second Quarter
WP – Breland Franklin 2 rush (Joseph Estrada kick); 11:08
Third Quarter
PD – Tre'sean Monroe 16 rush (Jacob Jimennez kick); 7:46
WP – Jordi Hernandez 1 rush (Joseph Estrada kick); 2:07
PD – Tre'sean Monroe 2 rush (Jacob Jimennez kick); 1:24
Individual Statistics
Rushing – West Plains: Jordi Hernandez 26-95, Reid Macon 6-(-46), Breland Franklin 2-3. Palo Duro: Tre'sean Monroe 20-165, Kameron Brown 5-59, Jayden Garza 3-78, Kumien Williams 2-17, Avery Randle 2-9.
Passing – West Plains: Reid Macon 19-33-1-270. Palo Duro: Avery Randle 3-6-0-25, Jayden Garza 1-10-1-2.
Receiving – West Plains: King Tallant 4-55, Jordi Hernandez 3-64, Jedd Phillips 3-46, Trae Ferril 3-29, Jensen Phillips 2-28, Boston Ladd 2-27, Crockett Henry 1-13, Gabriel Alvarado 1-8. Palo Duro: Charlie Love Jr. 2-26, Kameron Brown 1-5, Tre'sean Monroe 1-(-4).
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: West Plains defeats Palo Duro for first win in program history
