Red Devils smoke Gruver 49-12

September 8, 2012

Texhoma’s Bryson Beattie is tackled by Gruver’s Victor Guereca (33) as a penalty flag is thrown, Friday night in Texhoma. Staff photo/Shawn Yorks

TEXHOMA — The hallmark of the 4th-ranked Texhoma Red Devils football team is its speed. And that speed was on display for all to see Friday night at Wheatbowl Stadium, as the Red Devils whipped Gruver 49-12 in Texhoma’s season-opener.
Just how proficient was Texhoma’s offense?
Quarterback Jack Powers took a keeper on Texhoma’s second offensive play and raced 65 yards for a touchdown. Powers followed the right side of the offensive line, bounced off a would-be Gruver tackler and raced untouched down the sideline for the score and a quick 6-0 advantage at the 4:27 mark of the first quarter.
But it wasn’t just Powers. Or Bryson Beattie. Or Coulter Sheets, Brandon Gipe and Chance Meyer on offense. It was those same kids and many more on defense. It was a defense that held Gruver in check until two late touchdowns.
Gruver’s a dang good team,” said Texhoma head coach Aaron Witten. “We watched them last week and they beat up on a good WT team. They’re really good, they have more starters back than we did.
“We stepped up and played well.”
After Texhoma’s defense held the Greyhounds (1-1) on their next possession, the Red Devils put together a sustained drive. Sustained only because of penalties. Starting from their own 46, the Red Devils (1-0) were penalized to the 36. Bryson Beattie carried to the Gruver 35, only to have another penalty back Texhoma up to its own 42.
Another big Beattie run was negated by a penalty to the Red Devil 28, and another flag set Texhoma back to the 23.
“We were in our first game,” Witten said of the excessive penalties. “This is what we should have gone through last week.”
But for an offense like Texhoma’s, no worries.
Chance Meyer carried to the 37. Then after a timeout, Texhoma attempted its first pass of the game — and it was a biggie — as Powers avoided the pass rush, spun to his left and found Beattie along the left sideline. Beattie cut all the way across the field and found the end zone for a 63-yard touchdown. Meyer’s extra point made it 13-0.
Texhoma’s defense then showed its muscle, as Powers intercepted Gruver quarterback Korbin Irwin at the Texhoma 42.
“This is one of the fastest defenses I’ve ever been around,” Witten said. We’re not big but we’re fast.”
Seven plays after the interception, Meyer found the end zone on a 16-yard run for a 19-0 advantage at the 5:49 mark of the second quarter.
“It took us a little bit to get going,” Witten said. “They moved the ball well because they’re a good team. But (our defense) stepped up, caused a couple of turnovers and set our offense up well.”
Gruver’s ensuing possession was kept alive by a roughing the kicker penalty on Texhoma. But even so, the Greyhounds were forced to punt.
After yet another penalty put Texhoma on its own 13, the Red Devils went to work on another scoring drive to end the first half. A Beattie run and a Gruver penalty put the ball on the 34 before Powers found Beattie to the Gruver 23. A couple of short runs and a penalty back Texhoma to the 31 before Powers tossed 31 yards to Meyer for the touchdown. Meyer added the extra point and the teams went into the locker room with a 26-0 lead for the Red Devils.
It didn’t take long for Texhoma to put the nail in the Gruver coffin in the second half — 25 seconds to be exact — as Powers took a keeper around the right side and raced down the sideline for an 85-yard scoring run and a 33-0 lead after Meyer’s extra point.
On Texhoma’s next possession, the Devils were flagged three more times, but still managed to advance to the Gruver 10. The Devils were eventually forced to try a field goal, and Meyer nailed it from 36 yards away and Texhoma led 36-0 with 6:25 to go in the third.
A Nathan Knitig interception on Gruver’s ensuing drive led to Texhoma’s next score, on a drive that lasted one play — a 30-yard Beattie scoring run and a 43-0 Red Devil lead.
Gruver managed its two scores in the fourth — an 8-yard run by Victor Serrano at 11:07 — and a 45-yard run by Dax Haight after the Red Devils were forced into a rare punting situation.
Texhoma ended the game with a nearly 7-minute drive that ended with a 1-yard plunge by Ramy Anderson with 35 seconds left in the game. The drive took 10 plays and featured runs by Coulter Sheets, Tyler Ferguson and Anderson.
After the game, Witten told his team to head to Amarillo and buy some Homecoming dresses, because the Red Devils are the Homecoming opponent for the White Deer Bucks, next week in White Deer, Texas.
“They looked at the schedule and said, ‘Texhoma, that’s our Homecoming,’” Witten told his team. “That’s a shot to you.”
That game will be at 7:30 p.m. next Friday in White Deer.