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The Elgin High School varsity football team jumped on Pflugerville High School early and often Oct. 20 during the Wildcats’ dominant 44-17 victory over the Panthers on senior night.
On the opening kickoff, the Wildcats got on the board immediately when sophomore running back Gary Jefferson Jr. took the opening kickoff 96 yards along the Elgin sideline to the house for a touchdown. Elgin would then later in the first quarter add a 30-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Nathen Lewis and the Wildcats quickly had a 16-0 lead over the Panthers.
Although Pflugerville got a touchdown run near the end of the first quarter and a field goal early in the second quarter to get within 16-10, that would be as close as the Panthers got as the Wildcats’ offense would really take off.
Lewis struck again, this time with his arm and he rolled out to his right and threw a perfectly thrown ball to junior wide receiver Jonathan Richard for a 27-yard touchdown. Another touchdown pass from Lewis in the quarter, a score to Jefferson Jr. from seven yards out, had the Wildcats rolling 30-10.
Elgin put an exclamation point on the first half as senior running back Curtis McFarlin took a handoff from Lewis and went untouched for a 61yard score on the ground as Elgin took a huge 37-10 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats would get one more score on the night, an eight-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to junior wide receiver Zaire Nuells, to put this game completely out of reach in the third quarter with a 44-10 lead over the visiting Panthers.
Elgin’s defense really rose to the occasion on Friday night as the Wildcats forced two fumbles and an interception by the Pflugerville offense. The Wildcats’ defense turned away a Panther scoring opportunity when junior defensive back Tyvarion Wright intercepted a pass at Elgin’s 1-yard line.
Senior linebacker Derrius Holiday and senior defensive lineman Rogelio Huitron were both all over the field with 11 tackles apiece, senior defensive back Anthony Alvarez recovered a fumble and returned it 29 yards and sophomore defensive lineman Jeffery Love had four tackles and one sack. Senior kicker Paden Maass was perfect on his four extra-point attempts.
After the Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak with a resounding win over Pflugerville, Elgin (4-5 overall, 2-3 district) has a bye this week and will travel Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. to take on Leander Rouse High School at Bible Memorial Stadium. In order for Elgin to make the playoffs under head coach Heath Clawson, the Wildcats must beat the Raiders and Killeen Chaparral High School must lose its home game Oct. 27 against Belton High School.
