Demons top 'Horns, 35-7

The wacky world of District 3-4A now includes Dumas in the playoff race.

Sparked by an Aaron Cortez 75-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter, the Dumas Demons moved into a four-way tie for second place in district with a convincing 35-7 victory against the Caprock Longhorns on Friday night in Dick Bivins Stadium.

Dumas was impressive throughout, leading 21-0 at halftime and extending the margin to 28-0 in the third on quarterback Aaron Thomas' second TD run, and added the icing to the road win when Dillon Johnson returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the final quarter.

Dumas evened its district mark at 1-1, dropped Caprock to 0-2, and now rides a wave of momentum.

Right, Dumas senior guard Jace Delgado?

"We came out knowing we needed to win," Delgado said. "We came out knowing we control our own destiny from here on out and we have a goal we want to achieve. That goal is to play to Thanksgiving and then go into December. This right here proved it. "That first interception changed the whole momentum of the game for us."

Dumas's defense came up with a trio of interceptions and never let Caprock's offense find a comfortable groove. The Longhorns had pumped out 42 points the week before, but Dumas refused to give up yardage in large chunks and allowed Caprock star running back Jamar Johnson one run over 10 yards through three quarters.

Dumas outgained Caprock, 316-232, in total yards and put a smile on the face of their head coach, Mike Burt.

"To finally have our kids come out and click in all three phases of the game was nice to see," Burt said.

"We have been inconsistent all year. But like we told the kids all week, the next four weeks (of district) will be a dogfight. For us to be in the hunt we have to click on all cylinders.

"Every time Jamar Johnson touches the ball it's instant points for the their team. If I could have put 14 people on the field and they let me I would have done it. So I was proud of the way our kids responded to the challenge."

Johnson finished with 98 yards rushing.

Dumas quarterback Thomas stole the running show as he ran 73 yards for a touchdown in the first half, then pretty much put the game away with a zig-zag 15-yard keeper for a touchdown with 5:32 to play in the third quarter for a 27-0 lead.

Thomas finished with a game-high 137 yards rushing on 14 carries and threw for 42 yards.

"He's a nifty littler operator for us," Burt said.

Caprock avoided the shutout late in the third quarter when quarterback Gerardo Ruiz threw a 35-yard pass to Jimmy Maldonado.

"After the loss to Canyon we knew we had to come out and fight," Delgado said. "We don't want to depend on anybody else the next four weeks."

Dumas 7 14 7 7 - 35

Caprock 0 0 7 0 - 7

D - Aaron Cortez 75 interception return (Armando Lopez kick)

D-Aaron Thomas 73 run (Lopez kick)

D - Alexio Phothisene 7 run (Lopez kick)

D-Thomas 15 run (Lopez kick)

C-Jimmy Maldonado 35 pass from Gerardo Ruiz (Addison McCaulie kick)

D-Dillon Johnson 35 interception return (Lopez kick)

Caprock Dumas

First Downs 14 17

Yards Rushing 94 274

Yards Passing 138 42

Total Yards Gained 232 316

Comp-Att-Int 15-34-3 4-13-0

Punts-Avg. 2-22.5 3-30.6

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 6-65 7-48

Individual Statistics

RUSHING - Dumas: Alexio Phothisene 14-50, Aaron Cortez 2-0, Aaron Thomas 14-37, Dillon Johnson 6-37, Edward Holguin 4-25, Andres Baskin 1-25.

Caprock: Jamar Johnson 18-98, Gerardo Ruiz 1-(-)7, Tobias Milton 2-3.

PASSING - Dumas: Aaron Thomas 4-9-0-42;

Caprock: Gerardo Ruiz 16-34-3-138.

RECEIVING - Dumas: Derrick Jones 3-35, Dillon Johnson 1-7.

Caprock: Jimmy Maldonado 1-35, Oscar Najera 2-2, Tobias Milton 1-(-)7, Gerardo Arevalo 7-75, Jamar Johnson 1-1, Darrian Sommers 3-14.