DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — On 4th-and-17 from Pioneer’s 30-yard line with 5:02 left in the second quarter, Friday’s District 31-5A showdown took a turn Laredo Nixon’s way.
The Mustangs, trailing by 7, were going to kick a field goal. But a bad formation and unexpected Pioneer timeout awarded a change in the game-plan, and instead quarterback Danny Ledesma found Gabriel Sanchez for a touchdown and tie game.
From there, Nixon took over. The Mustangs scored the final 21 points of the game to earn a methodical 24-10 win over Pioneer at Thompson Stadium.
“We had soft coverage, but our cornerback got turned behind a bit and just couldn’t find the ball. It just hung there in the wind,” Pioneer coach Jason Wheeler said of Nixon’s fourth-down score. “It was a big play. It gave them momentum, and we had played them pretty tough.”
The Mustangs improved to 5-0, 3-0 in District 31-5A. The overall win total ties last season’s total. The Diamondbacks dropped to 2-2, 1-1.
Up until that fourth-down play, two of Ledesma’s three pass attempts had fallen into Pioneer hands.
“It was huge. Huge,” Nixon coach Tommy Ramirez said. “We were going to kick a field goal, but I wanted to line up (in a “swinging gate” formation), and we didn’t line up right. But then they called a timeout, and we talked about it and the kids thought we could get it.
“As a head coach, those are the decisions that define us at the end of the night, but it’s really about the boys having our back in those types of decisions.”
A 10-3 Pioneer lead late in the second quarter turned into a 17-10 Nixon advantage at halftime. In the second half, the Mustangs dominated time of possession, thanks to a persistent slot-T offense and several ballcarriers that wore down Pioneer’s defense and kept the chains moving.
Nixon used seven ballcarriers. Emil Oliva Guerra had 93 yards on 21 carries. Eric Ybarra had 89 yards on 19 carries. Esteban Guerra had 69 yards on eight totes.
In the second half, Ramirez introduced two more running backs into the backfield rotation. All were effective.
Pioneer had just four offensive series in the second half, one fewer than the first.
“We got tired,” Wheeler said. “Their offense will wear you down. We got gassed.”
The Diamondbacks weren’t really out of it until sophomore quarterback Jacob Rosales threw an interception, his first of the season, from Nixon’s 28-yard line with the seconds winding down in the third quarter and Pioneer trailing 17-10.
Less than four minutes later, Branden Gutierrez rumbled in from 2 yards out to put Nixon up by two touchdowns.
“We moved the ball well, but we had a bad throw, a missed read,” Wheeler said. “Our young quarterback gets his first interception of the year on a big play that limited our control of the ball in the second half.”
In their two offensive series of the fourth quarter, the Diamondbacks punted and fumbled a nice fake punt pass reception from Alec Garcia that could have put them in the end zone, if not near the goal line.
“Holding that team to just 10 points is incredible,” Ramirez said.
The Mustangs now have big district wins over Roma and Laredo Nixon.
“We didn’t expect this, but we are very pleased,” Ramirez said. “At the start of this season, we wanted to pick up where we left off last year in the bi-district playoff game against Victoria West (a 56-10 loss). We played them in the Alamodome and that was a signature game for us.
“We wanted to take it from there and try and get better this season, and so far I feel it’s worked out pretty well for us.”
The Diamondbacks won the turnover battle, held the Mustangs below their season average of 298 rushing yards per game (280) and committed fewer penalties than Nixon.
But Nixon’s defense was the real deal. Pioneer, averaging 36.7 points on 404.7 yards per game coming in, compiled just 312 total yards, 148 in the second half.
“We can still accomplish our goals,” Wheeler said. “The kids fought. I like the effort. It’s football. We weren’t going to put all our marbles in this game, even if it was big for us as far as getting respect. It’s not a deal-breaker.
“It’s too early for that. We have to keep grinding.”