The Whiteface Antelopes football team took down Borden County, 58-46, to win the district title at home and earn a top playoff seed.
The win marks their sixth straight and moves them to 8-2 overall as they’ll finish district play at a perfect 4-0.
The Whiteface Antelopes football program is no stranger to success, but when considering Head Coach Brandon Flores is in his first season and the roster turnover they had this year, the district championship is quite impressive.
“It’s special. I think a lot of people counted us out this year with the talent that we lost. I don’t know a whole lot of people who thought we’d be in the position that we’re in,” Coach Flores said. “We knew what we had returning and we just told our guys to go out and play and take care of business, to do all the little things right and the winning will come. That’s what we’re seeing. I tried to tell people I really wasn’t that nervous Friday, but to be honest I was nervous and scared to death. Just all the pressure, and for it to come in our favor, it was awesome.”
The high stakes matchup lived up to the hype as the game went down to the last seconds before Whiteface finally put it to bed with two scores in a row to end the game.
Coach Flores can rest easy now after securing the district title, and a big reason why was the performance of junior quarterback Isaak Soliz.
Soliz had 10 completions for 222 passing yards and four touchdowns on 14 pass attempts, while sophomores Jose Flores and Luke Gresham also joined in on the aerial assault and threw a touchdown a piece.
The Antelopes had four different receivers catch touchdown passes including junior Cesar Chavez who had four receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns, Luke Gresham who had two receptions for 77 yards and two touchdowns, junior Ryland Jones who had three receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown and junior Jaxon Hodge who had two receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Gresham and Hodge also added rushing touchdowns as well. Gresham was Whiteface’s leading rusher with 116 yards on 13 carries, followed by Hodge with 85 yards on 19 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, leading tacklers included Isaak Soliz with seven, Jaxson Hodge with six and Jose Flores with five.
They led a bend but don’t break defensive effort that ultimately led to the Antelopes prevailing.
It was a huge win for the program, but now they have their eyes set on the first round of the playoffs. The Antelopes are set to face the Garden City Bearkats on Friday at 7 p.m. at Klondike.
Garden City is 6-4 overall and they went 3-1 in their district to finish second in it. They enter the game ranked 18th in six-man 1 A-1 and on a three-game win streak.
Coach Flores noted that he has a lot of respect for their team and some explosive players they have, and that he thinks they’ll attempt to spread his team out and make them play in space.
After an elite performance to secure a district championship, the Antelopes will look to bring that same intensity into this matchup and secure a first round playoff win.