The Chaparral Cowboys played their first game of the season at home against the 1-1 Bonanza Bengals. After jumping out to an early lead, the Cowboys overcame a halftime deficit to pull out a win.
A back and forth defensive battle in the first quarter would be broken when punter Dennis Perez would pin the Bengals deep. Cornerback Yousef Butler would take advantage picking off an errant pass off the left side giving the Cowboys the ball at the 7-yard line. A few plays later Iopu Tauil’ili would punch it in with a 1-yard quarterback sneak to give Chaparral a 0-7 lead late in the first quarter.
That would be followed by a Tauil’ili to Jesus Casamayor 33-yard catch and run early in the second quarter that would push Chaparral ahead 0-13.
The Bonanza Bengals would get a boost at a good return along with a personal foul call against the Cowboys. A defensive alignment mix up would open the door for a Cevion Gurka 16-yard run off of a jet sweep around the right side as Bonanza closed the gap 7-13 with less than a minute and a half off the clock.
The Bengals would eventually take the lead with 17-seconds left in the half on a 2-yard Kyle Allison sneak as Bonanza had full momentum up 14-13.
Chaparral opened the second half with the football but an interception by Shamarion Bellegarde with a return to the 1-yard line would put Bonanza in business. Another sneak by Allison would place the Bengals ahead 21-13 at the 9:21 mark of the third quarter.
From there, the Cowboys appeared to settle down. Having a big legged kicker, that Cowboys would add a 33-yard field goal by Perez move closer down 21-16 with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Opening the third quarter position for another field goal, two off-sides penalties against the Bengals would allow the Cowboys to get in position for a first down before tough running by Sheik Fofanah would place them in position for a Tauil’ili two yard draw with the lead pushing the score to 21-24 with 11:16 left in the contest.
The Cowboy defense would take the bigger role from there. After a Perez punt pinned the Bengals deep, the defense forced an intentional grounding in the end zone to move the team ahead 21-26 with just 4:30 left in the game.
An Alsamir Ceasar interception at the 9-yard line with 1:39 left would seem to seal the game but a fumble into the end zone at the 1:23 mark would give the Bengals another life. They would take advantage of a big pass and personal foul to move into Cowboys territory in a hurry. That when a Steve Torres interception off a tipped pass would end the final threat with 19-second left in the contest at Chaparral walked away 1-0 while the Bengals fell to 1-2 early in the season.
