Bryson overtakes Pirate ship

BRYSON – Desperation can be a powerful motivator.

After leading visiting Perrin by 12 points late in the first half, the Pirates turned things around and took a 32-26 lead midway through the third quarter. With a Perrin win just about clinching the Cowboys’ potential playoff fate, Bryson decided to turn things around.

Over the game’s last 14 minutes and change, the Cowboys outscored the Pirates 34-8. By taking advantage of a pair of onside kick recoveries, Bryson managed to stay alive in the district playoff race with a 60-40 win.

Both teams are now 1-2 in district with Bryson holding the tiebreaker with the head-to-head win. Bryson still needs to beat Savoy next week, which Perrin did while Perrin needs to beat Saint Jo, which defeated Bryson 27-24.

Perrin Coach Ben Staggs said the onside kick recoveries were huge.

“Losing those two onside kicks were huge,” Staggs said.

Bryson Coach Jason Briles said he’s still waiting for his squad to play a full four quarters.

“We came out of the locker room flat,” Briles offered. “We’ve dug ourselves some hols this year which were too big to overcome and tonight we decided enough was enough.”

Anthony Pacheco’s two-yard run and a Rafael Alvarado two-point kick put Perrin up 32-26 and was the end of an 18-point comeback. Alvarado’s 30-yard field goal and a Sammy Hernandez 26-yard TD strike to Chance Tessman brought Perrin back ... but not for long.

Less than a minute later, Bryson sophomore TJ Imotichey broke four different sets of tackles to find paydirt on a 14-yard run. The kick failed but the Cowboys had new life in a 32-all deadlock with 4:07 left in the third.

After a Perrin turnover on downs, Bryson was looking at fourth and 14 from its 36, Drake Huffman found himself under a Tristan Stephens pass and took it 44 yards to paydirt with 52 seconds left in the frame. Imotichey’s kick was true for a 40-32 lead.

Another Bryson defensive stop on fourth down, this one by Tyce Reeves, set up a three-play 36-yard scoring drive with Marcos Espinoza scoring from three yards out after setting up the score with a long run to give Bryson a 46-32 lead with 5:54 to go.

Harley Hammond’s fumble recovery on the first play of the ensuing drive set up a three-yard scoring toss from Stephens to Hammond just 31 seconds after the previous score and put the Cowboys back in the saddle with a 54-32 lead.

Another fumble recovery on a kick set up Huffman’s 20-yard scoring reception to end the Bryson scoring. Hernandez and Tessman combined on a 10-yard scoring strike with less than a minute to go but it was too little too late.