Speed is what La Vega is known for, and the Pirates came scorching out of the gates.
Using a 21-point first quarter, the third-ranked Pirates jumped on rival China Spring and never looked back, beating the Cougars 49-17 in a pivotal District 5-4A DI matchup Friday night at Willie Williams Stadium.
It took La Vega (7-1, 2-0) a whopping 11 plays to throw up 21 on the scoreboard and when that happens, the team on across the sidelines is usually left with their heads spinning.
“We try to score every time we get the ball,” Pirates coach Don Hyde said. “Offensively, early, we did a great job.”
With China Spring sophomore quarterback Brayden Faulkner sidelined but for a few plays the entire first half, KJ Peoples manned the offense with a mixture of shotgun and Wildcat formation. It was a rough start for the senior and his offense, as the Cougars (3-6, 1-2) gained just 18 yards on their first two possessions.
China Spring’s K.J. Peoples scores a touchdown as La Vega’s Ara Rauls III looks on during the first half. Staff photo — Jose Yau
La Vega’s Landry Kinne hurls the ball downfield during the first half against China Spring. Staff photo — Jose Yau
That was plenty of time for the Pirates to pounce.
Wrangling a high snap, La Vega quarterback Landry Kinne darted 46 yards untouched to put the Pirates up a score. Elisha Cummings answered the first of two straight turnovers on down with an 18-yard score, followed by a four-yard gallop off a pitch by Kinne.
But the Cougars scored the final 10 points of the half, a 39-yard field goal by Karson Coe and an 11-yard score by Peoples.
“I was a little disappointed in the defense at the end of the half,” Hyde said. “I thought defensively we jumped out to a 21-0 lead and we relaxed. The first three or four times they had the job we did a fabulous job.”
As if the Cougars needed more trouble, the Pirates put some tempo in their offensive machine to start the second half, scoring twice in three drives. The first in typical Pirate fashion — an Elisha Cummings 13-yard scamper. The other — not so typical. Cougar punter Brayden Faulkner legged a low punt off one of his own players, causing the ball to pop up in the air. Jordan Rogers was patiently waiting for the catch and score — technically a punt return — from 20 yards to put the Pirates up 35-10.
“That was just one of the breaks that happen in the middle of the game,” Hyde said. “As soon as I saw Jordan standing there I said, that’s a touchdown.”
Jar’Quae Walton picks up yardage during the first half against China Spring. Staff photo — Jose Yau
Jar’Quae Walton and Demicco Chambliss capped off the scoring for La Vega. In the end, the Pirates saw seven different rushers go for 387 yards.
The Pirates had five scoring drives of under a minute, including first-quarter drives of 27 and 50 seconds, respectively.
With Peoples at quarterback, the Cougar passing game was nonexistent. In fact, the only pass of any worth anything was a fake punt in which usual starting QB Faulkner found a streaking receiver down the sideline for 42 yards. Faulkner scored three plays later on a keeper.
Peoples finished the night 2-of-9 for just 12 yards. The Cougars rushed for 182 yards on 54 carries, averaging just 3.4 per carry.
The Pirates punted just once in the game.
— WACOTRIB
