Beat goes on for AHS

LUBBOCK - Even with a 10-point deficit, Lubbock High looked as if it might hang with the Amarillo High Sandies.

The Westerners defense showed some backbone in the first quarter, and the offense had its best drive of the night under way in the second quarter.

Then James Castleman got in the way of everything.

The Sandies' mobile defensive tackle intercepted a tunnel screen pass, returned it 44 yards for a touchdown, and the rout was on as AHS went on to beat the Westerners for the 36th consecutive time, 52-7, on Thursday night at Lowrey Field, sending AHS into the playoffs with six victories in their past seven games.

Heath Herrington rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns for AHS (8-2, 7-2 in District 2-5A), which will play El Paso Montwood in bidistrict. After the game, Montwood won a coin flip with AHS for home-field advantage. The Sandies and Montwood will meet Nov. 14 in El Paso.

Lubbock High (2-8, 2-7), hoping to finish the season on a high note, still hasn't beaten Amarillo High since 1973.

Down 10-0 after one quarter, the Westerners moved the ball from their own 22-yard line across midfield with three first downs. On the 11th play of the possession, Westerners quarterback Angel Armendariz tried to find big-play receiver Nathan Slaughter on a tunnel screen, but the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Castleman sniffed it out, batted the pass to himself and took off.

"He (Castleman) just made a great athletic play,'' AHS coach Brad Thiessen said.

Seeing a promising drive turn into a touchdown for the other team seemed to deflate the Westerners, whose defense had given them a lift late in the first quarter. Up 7-0, AHS reached the Lubbock High 14, but linebackers Anthony Kinney and Aaron Rivera made stops behind the line on back-to-back plays, forcing a field goal.

Then Jason Wilkes blocked Aaron Sasser's 31-yard attempt. On the next series, Slaughter muffed a pitch, and Castleman recovered at the Lubbock High 10. But the Westerners limited the damage to a 35-yard Sasser field goal to stay within 10-0 after a quarter.

After Castleman's defensive touchdown, though, the Westerners went three-and-out. AHS took over after a punt and drove 47 yards to score, with Herrington capping the seven-play drive by taking a pitch 2 yards around left end.

Amarillo 10 14 14 14 - 52

Lubbock High 0 0 0 7 - 7

AMA-Heath Herrington 4 run (Austin Sasser kick); 10:38

AMA-FG Sasser 35; 2:05

AMA-James Castleman 44 interception return (Sasser kick); 9:28

AMA-Herrington 2 run (Sasser kick); 5:55

AMA-Herrington 9 run (Sasser kick); 4:25

AMA-Trey Smith 16 run (Sasser kick); 0:04

AMA-Chase Wolfle recovered blocked punt in end zone (Sasser kick); 10:53

LUB-Kellen Hearn 30 pass from Angel Armendariz (Dorrae Montgomery kick); 4:45

AMA-Ashton Tillman 36 run (Sasser kick); 1:36

AMA LUB

First downs 22 11

Rushes-yards 41-261 22-85

Passing yards 70 113

Comp.-att.-int. 7-17-1 16-35-3

Punts-avg. 1-35.0 7-30.6

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 3-30 7-67

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Amarillo High, Herrington 21-135, Tillman 7-72, Smith 6-58, Johnny-Angel Hernandez 2-4, Derek Dzik 2-0, J.C. Casas 3-(-8); Lubbock High, Montgomery 9-60, Isaiah Garza 3-23, Aaron Paulhill 7-6, Angel Armendariz 1-1, Nathan Slaughter 1-(-2), Garrett Forbes 1-(-3).

PASSING: Amarillo High, Casas 7-14-1-70, Herrington 0-1-0-0, Hernandez 0-2-0-0; Lubbock High, Armendariz 15-34-3-101, Forbes 1-1-0-12.

RECEIVING: Amarillo High, Nolan David 2-16, Herrington 2-5, Haeden Henderson 1-38, Will Bryant 1-12, Dalton Koller 1-(-1); Lubbock High, Hearn 6-57, Donnie Bryant 3-18, Slaughter 2-7, Montgomery 2-1, Paulhill 1-18, Cody Miranda 1-12, John Bradshaw 1-0.