Look: Eagle Pass beats Laredo LBJ 49-7, continues historically hot start
LAREDO, Texas —Eagle Pass has entered uncharted territory.
No Eagles' football team has won eight consecutive games in the history of the program until Thursday night.
Eagle Pass continued its historically hot start by taking down Laredo LBJ in a 49-7 road win Thursday at the Bill Johnson Student Activity Center to stay perfect on the season and in sole possession of first place in District 30-6A.
The Eagles' added onto their longest winning streak in program history, which now Stans at eight games after the team started 6-0 in 2018. With the victory, Eagle Pass also secured one of the District 30-6A's four playoff berths with two games left in the regular season.
Backup quarterback Andres Garcia scored three rushing touchdowns, while senior wide receiver Kyle Gloria hauled in two touchdown catches. TJ Mares and Jose Hernandez rounded out the scoring for Eagle Pass with a touchdown run each.
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The game also saw the return of starting Eagle Pass quarterback Isaac Stanwick, who had been out for two weeks nursing an injury. Stanwick played the majority of the first half and threw two early touchdown passes before handing the reins of the Eagles offense over to Garcia, who played the entire second half, before halftime.
Stanwick made the most of his time on the field and got the Eagles rolling during the opening quarter. He connected with his favorite target, Gloria, who teamed up for Eagle Pass’ first two scores.
Stanwick found Gloria for a 20-yard touchdown reception at the 4:42 mark of the first quarter, as the Eagles took a 7-0 lead after the extra point was booted in by Oliver Velez.
On the Eagles' ensuing possession, Stanwick hit Hernandez, who had a stellar night offensively, on the first play of the drive for a 45-yard reception to push the ball down to the LBJ 16-yard line.
Stanwick capped off that drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Gloria to open the second quarter, giving the Eagles a 14-0 edge over Laredo LBJ.
The Eagles added another score on a 4-yard touchdown run by Mares that gave Eagle Pass a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
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Laredo LBJ found a bright spot during the second quarter that started with a punt fumble recovery. The Wolves Jerry Mendoza pounced on a loose ball for the Wolves after a fumble by the Eagle Pass punt returner.
That gave LBJ's offense great starting field position with the ball spotted at the Eagle Pass 16-yard line. Four plays later, Mendoza hauled down a touchdown reception from Guillermo Trejo that put the Wolves on the scoreboard and trimmed the Eagles' first-half lead to 21-7 after the extra point was booted in.
That proved to be the only points Laredo LBJ could muster, tough, as the Eagle Pass 'Landsharks' defense did not give the Wolves much to work with or room to operate on the field. The Eagles' defense consistently pressured Trejo, who could not get into any rhythm in the pocket, and prevented LBJ's offense from breaking off any big plays on the ground.
On their next drive, Eagle Pass responded to Laredo LBJ's first score of the night when Hernandez made a 60-yard touchdown reception, the longest play of the night for either team, as Eagle Pass extended its lead to 28-7 during the late stages of the second quarter.
Laredo LBJ had an opportunity to put seven more points on the scoreboard before halftime, but the Eagles' defense held its ground during crunch time. The Wolves managed to push the ball down to the Eagle Pass 4-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half.
The Eagle Pass defense, however, mounted a goal-line stand backed up deep into its own red zone and forced Laredo LBJ to turn the ball over on downs after Wolves opted to forgo a field-goal attempt and went for it on a fourth-and-goal scenario with second remaining in the half.
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The entire second half belonged to Garcia, who took over QB duties for Stanwick right before halftime. He ran for three second-half touchdowns, as Eagle Pass started to run away with the game.
The Eagle Pass defense also pulled in a pair of interceptions by Robert De La Garza and Sebastian Diaz during the second half to seal a blowout road win for the Eagles.
Eagle Pass (8-0, 3-0) will look to move one step closer toward capturing the District 30-6A championship when the Eagles return to action next week against Laredo United South (2-5, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Cozel Foster Veterans Memorial Stadium in Eagle Pass.
Laredo LBJ (4-4, 0-3), meanwhile, will look to bounce back and stay in the 30-6A playoff hunt when the Wolves take on Laredo United (2-5, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at the Bill Johnson Student Activity Center in Laredo.
Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:
PHOTO GALLERY — EAGLE PASS 49, LAREDO LBJ 7
All photos by Clara Sandoval
