Saginaw’s magical, record-setting season ends with an area-round loss to Amarillo Tascosa

For the Saginaw football team, the magic has finally run out.

Amarillo Tascosa’s triple-option ground attack was too much for the Rough Riders as the Rebels came away with a 35-13 win on Nov. 22 in a Class 5A Division 1 area-round game at Wichita Falls Memorial Stadium.

Tascosa (7-5) advances to the regional round of the playoffs and will get top-ranked Aledo (11-1) after the Bearcats blasted Abilene 59-14. The game will be played at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, in Snyder.

It was the best season, by far, for Saginaw (11-1) in its 19 years of playing varsity football. The Rough Riders had an incredible turnaround after winning only three games in the past four seasons, going 3-36, and recording 1-9 marks the past three seasons.

“I thought we could get it turned at some point, but these guys have really bought in,” said Saginaw head coach Mike Peters who was an assistant in 2005 when the program started and was head coach from 2010-2015 before taking a six-year hiatus. “When we got back here they were sophomores, this senior class, and they really stuck through the hard stuff man and when we were terrible they just kept coming to practice and play.

“For our program and for the culture of our school to see what you can do if you just stick with something, work hard and have a good mindset and attitude. Our whole campus has changed, and our community has changed, and it’s been a really, really good thing.”

It looked like the magic that the Rough Riders had in comeback wins against the likes of Fort Worth Paschal and Azle might be showing up again late in the third quarter against Tascosa.

Trailing 21-13, Saginaw was getting pounded by the Tascosa running game as the Rebels marched from their own 27 to the Saginaw seven.

Tascosa backup quarterback Charlie McKinney was looking to score on a keeper around right end when Saginaw’s Sean Brown grabbed the ball away from him and raced 96 yards for what looked like a Rough Rider touchdown.

But the play was called back on a facemask penalty and Tascosa was able to finish the 14-play drive, all on the ground, with a five-yard scoring run by Taurean Johnson to up the Rebels lead to 28-13 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.

“The way the game was swaying, I thought that we had to catch a break, and I thought we had caught one,” said Peters. “I thought that would get us back in it. We had a two-point play dialed up to try to tie it, but when they called it back, I really felt the wind come out of our sails.”

Saginaw started quickly. Tascosa was forced to punt on its first series and the kick was blocked by Saginaw’s Andrew Diaz, giving the ball to the Rough Riders at midfield.

Saginaw quarterback Roman Morales got the Rough Riders on the board with a 16-yard scoring pass to Boaz Kaloso for a 7-0 lead at the 5:09 mark of the first quarter.

Tascosa and starting quarterback Coltyn Fulton answered right back, however. After a 39-yard kickoff return by speedy T.J. Tillman out to the Saginaw 48, Fulton guided the Rebels on an eight-play drive and ran it in himself from 11 yards out to tie the game at seven.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brett Whatley’s hard hit on a Saginaw return man jolted the ball loose at the Rough Rider’s 32 where Shepherd Stapp pounced on it for Tascosa. Four plays later the Rebels took a 14-7 lead when Za’Cory Fisher ran it in from 10 yards out with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.

Saginaw struggled with Tascosa’s triple-option offense all night as the Rebels picked up 472 rushing yards on 68 tries, despite losing Fulton to a right knee injury with 2:27 left in the second quarter. Fulton, a junior, left the game with 110 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Johnson had 103 yards rushing for the Rebels on just six carries, including a 61-yard touchdown on an option pitch around left end that gave Tascosa a 21-7 lead with 5:25 left before the intermission.

Morales had consecutive completions of 22, 27, and 19 yards to start the ensuing series to help Saginaw cut the lead to 21-13 just before halftime. Corey Baker made a terrific shoe-string catch of a pass in the right flat from Morales and carried it in from six yards out.

“I just think that they wanted it more tonight,” said Morales, who competed 11 of 21 passes for 124 yards and led Saginaw with 57 rushing yards on 15 carries. “They were aggressive and physical and I don’t think that we answered well.”

McKinney came on in relief of Fulton, and the Rebels didn’t miss a beat. The senior led Tascosa on two long scoring drives in the second half to give Tascosa a 35-13 lead. Saginaw’s final two drives ended with interceptions, one by E.J. Scott and the other by Whatley.

Whatley’s interception in the end zone came at the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter. Saginaw never got the ball back as Tascosa took over and was able to run the clock out by getting four first downs.

“This has meant the world to me because the past few years have been really tough and it just means a lot to be able to come here now and change the dynamic here in Saginaw,” said Morales, one of 29 seniors on the team. “I’m so proud of my teammates and my coaches. I just hope that the generations after us just keep the winning dynamic up.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 11:50 PM.