Frenship Tiger football traveled three hours west to the Land of Enchantment to face the El Paso Andress Golden Eagles in Roswell, NM on Friday night. The Tigers came into the game fresh off a thrilling 61-53, four-overtime victory over the Lubbock-Cooper Pirates at Peoples Bank Stadium. Senior quarterback Donovan Smith was named the Lone Star Varsity Male Athlete of the Week for his performance in that victory. The nagging question on the Tiger's minds was if the good guys would suffer from an emotional hangover or would come in focused and ready to play to their potential. It took 2:27 of game time for the Tigers to answer that question.
After the Tiger defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs, the Tigers went 76 yards in four plays and: 37 off the clock for a 3-yard touchdown pass from Donovan Smith to Ty Glass. The Tigers then forced an Andress punt and went 80 yards in 55 with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Smith to senior receiver Drew Hocutt. A three-and-out by the stingy Tiger defense once again got the offense the ball back quickly and it was William Bayouth who capped off a four-play 66-yard drive with a 44-yard touchdown scamper of his own, again scoring in 55. In only 2:27 the Tigers had a 21-0 lead and they never looked back.
Donovan Smith finished the day 19/23 for 415 yards and 4 touchdowns in less than two and a half quarters of play. Drew Hocutt was one of Smith’s favorite targets on the day with 5 catches for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cooper Scott also hauled in 7 catches for 84 yards, including an impressive full-extension diving catch in the middle of the field. William Bayouth led the way rushing with 9 carries for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns. Late in the game, it was senior running back AJ Espach who ignited the Tiger sideline as he weaved through the defense for a 27-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the season.
Defensively the Tigers held the Golden Eagles to 0/13 on third downs and allowed only 6 first downs in the game and forced 4 three-and-outs. Alyjah Garcia led Frenship defenders with 4 tackles and 1 tackle for loss and Jake Gilbert with 2 tackles, 5 assists, and 1 tackle for loss. The Tigers combined for 5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks on the day. On the season, the Tiger defense has now pitched a shutout against the Amarillo High Sandies (a team averaging 33 points a game in its other three games), forced a game-winning turnover on downs to beat Lubbock-Cooper, and allowed only a field goal to previously undefeated El Paso Andress.
The Tigers (3-1) are back in action on the road Friday, September 27 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium against the Canyon Randall Raiders (1-3). The Lubbock Truck Sales Pregame Show is live on DoubleT 97.3 in Lubbock, the DoubleT 97.3 mobile app, and www.doublet973.com at 6:30 pm. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm with Keith Patrick and Chois Woodman on the call. Game footage with the radio call will be available at www.frenship.tv by noon on Saturday.