Mesa’s 5 TDs lead the Longhorns to a rout over Colby

Courtesy of Kirk Hutchinson.
Colby, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Holcomb’s do-everything star Damon Mesa rushed for four touchdowns against Colby Friday night and added a defensive touchdown, as the Longhorns stampeded the Eagles 39-12.

Mesa rushed for a season-low 116 yards and is now averaging 149.8 yards per game on the ground. Through five games, Damon has wracked up 1059 total offensive yards, with 749 yards rushing, 238 yards passing and 72 yards receiving. He’s rushed for 11 TDs, thrown for 5 TDs and caught 1 touchdown pass. Friday night he added a defensive TD when he ripped the ball away from an Eagle running back and raced 65 yards to the end zone.

Holcomb opened the game on defense and forced a three-and-out. A 14-yard punt gave the Longhorns the ball at the Eagle 35. Five plays later Manny Reyes ran in from 13 yards out and Holcomb led 6-0.

On the next series Tristan Ortner recovered an Eagle fumble and Holcomb took over again at the Colby 35. Six plays later Mesa scored his first TD of the night on a 14-yard run. Chris Palacios, filling in for the injured Mann Anguiano, connected on the extra point and Holcomb led 13-0.

The Longhorn ‘D’ got a tackle for loss on a 4^th-and-1 play and the offense took over on Colby’s 36. Then Holcomb faced its own 4^th down play when Mesa hit Ortner for 15 yards and a 1^st down. On the next play, Mesa raced 20 yards to paydirt and Palacios added the PAT for a 20-0 lead, still in the 1^st quarter.

Colby would strike early in the 2^nd quarter with a 58-yard touchdown run from quarterback Hunter Vaughn to make the score 20-6.

Holcomb answered with an 11-play, 54-yard drive, capped by Mesa’s 1-yard plunge to go back up by 20, 26-6. Then, after Colby drove to the Holcomb 30, Mesa picked Tucker Wark’s pocket in the backfield and took it to the house from 65 yards out and kill any momentum the Eagles had started to build. After the Palacios PAT, Holcomb led 33-6 at halftime.

Holcomb opened the 2^nd half with a 4-play, 47-yard drive, as Mesa finished it off with a 5-yard TD run. On the Longhorns’ next series, Mesa would make his only offensive mistake of the night as he got picked off by Colby’s Breon Barton. That sparked an Eagle drive inside the 10, but the Longhorns got the stop on 4^th down and took over at their own six.

Colby would finish off the scoring in the 4^th quarter with a 10-yard Vaughn touchdown run making the final score 39-12.

The Longhorns finished with 285 yards total offense, 264 on the ground. Manny Reyes carried the ball 14 times for 95 yards and a TD. Korbin Johnson led the Horns on defense with 16 tackles. Holcomb forced two turnovers and for the season has a positive turnover margin of 9 to 2.

The Longhorns are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in district play, with a big showdown coming up Friday against Scott City, now 4-1 on the season. The game will be played at Garden City Community College.