The Whiteface Antelopes, ranked fourth among all six-man high school football teams in Texas by sixmanfootball.com, hammered the visiting No. 13 Klondike Cougars 74-28 last Friday in UIL Class 1A action.
The game was called with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter due to the 45-point mercy rule.
The rule states that whenever one team is up by 45 points or more at or after half-time, the game is called and the team in the lead is considered the winner.
Whiteface moved up to third while Klondike dropped to 19 th in the overall poll on Sunday.
The Antelopes got the ball first, starting on their own 33yard line. They opened with a 19yard pass from Isaak Soliz to Jeremiah Rendon, then gave the ball to Rendon and Ethan Kauffman until Kauffman crossed the goal line on first down and goal to go from the Klondike fouryard line. Damian Castaneda’s twopoint kick missed but the Antelopes were up 6-0.
Klondike took over after the kickoff on their own 39-yard line, engineering a 41-yard drive that culminated in a five-yard touchdown run from Cannon McGee.
The Cougars’ Israel Rodriguez made his two-point kick to give Klondike their only lead of the night, 8-6.
Whiteface ended up with good field position after a 15-yard kick return from Castaneda put the Antelopes on the Klondike 30-yard line.
Two plays later, Kauffman crossed the goal line, Castaneda’s kick was good and the Antelopes led 14-8 with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
At that point, it looked as though the teams might trade goals for a while. Then Victor Borunda recovered the Antelopes’ onside kick for a first down and 15 yards to go on the Cougars’ 36yard line.
The Klondike defense stiffened, with the help of a holding penalty against Whiteface, and the Antelopes found themselves on the Klondike 16-yard line facing third down and 16 yards to go.
That’s when Rendon found Soliz open for 16 yards and a touchdown. Castaneda’s kick made it through the uprights for a 22-8 Whiteface lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter.
Klondike wasn’t done. Taking over on their own 39-yard line, the Cougars engineered a three- play drive that cut the lead to 22-14 after a failed two-point kick with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
The Antelopes took over for most of the first half after that, scoring four touchdowns and a safety before Klondike scored again with 1:46 left in the half.
Penalties gave the Cougars two additional chances after the half-time buzzer, but they were unsuccessful and the first half ended with Whiteface up 52-20.
The Cougars came out in the third quarter with some adjustments, scoring on the second play from scrimmage when Aaron Smith found Slay Bowley open for a 41-yard touchdown, cutting the Whiteface lead to 52-28 just 30 seconds into the third quarter.
Klondike’s defense was also stronger than it had been in the first half, but it was not enough and the Antelope defense was able to keep the Cougars at bay.
Whiteface scored on a run from Kauffman with 4:58 left in the third quarter after Auscar Gandara recovered a Klondike fumble on the Cougars’ four-yard line.
Kauffman scored again on a 44-yard run with 1:24 left in the third quarter.
The final score came on third down and six yards to go at the Klondike 21 and Kauffman did the honors again.
The Antelopes racked up 461 yards with 385 being on the ground. The Whiteface defense held Klondike to 220 yards with 199 yards passing.
Kauffman was the leading rusher with 24 carries for 234 yards and seven touchdowns. Rendon had nine carries for 132 yards and a touchdown.
Gandara had two carries for 19 yards.
Isaak Soliz went 3-for-6 passing for 44 yards and a touchdown with an interception. Rendon went 2-for-2 for 32 yards and a touchdown.
Kauffman caught two passes for 16 yards. Cesar Chavez, Rendon and Soliz each caught one.
Chavez had 25 yards and a touchdown. Rendon had 19 yards and Soliz had 16 yards and a touchdown.
Soliz had eight tackles and three assists. Kauffman had eight tackles, an assist and a sack.
Rendon had five tackles. Axel Rivera had two tackles and an assist. Gandara had a tackle. Luke Gresham had an assist and a sack.
The Antelopes will have homecoming on Friday night, hosting the New Mexico state ranked no. 8 Elida, N.M. Tigers at 7:30 p.m.