Whiteface Antelopes dominate Nazareth

The Whiteface Antelopes had a little trouble in the first quarter, but got rolling in the second on their way to a 58-12 win over the visiting Nazareth Swifts in UIL Class 1A six-man football action last Friday.

Whiteface ended the game on the 45-point rule, which states that when either team is ahead by 45 points or more at or after the first half, the game is called, with a touchdown run from Noah Rendon with 8:54 left in the game.

Nazareth won the toss and elected to receive, but their offense struggled in the first drive.

The drive started with a fumble recovered by the Swifts two yards behind the line of scrimmage followed by a false start and finished with an interception by Whiteface’s Ethan Kauffman ended the drive on the Antelope 27-yard-line.

Whiteface looked to be in control on their first drive, with Kauffman and Julio Borunda running free until the Antelopes were on the Nazareth 12-yard-line with four tries to score.

But, that’s when tragedy struck Whiteface. Jeremias Chavez caught a short pass from Jeremiah Rendon, but had the ball stripped by Zane Schulte, who then ran all the way back to the Antelope two-yard-line.

The Whiteface defense held on first and goal, but Will Young punched the ball across the goal on the second attempt. The kick was no good, but Nazareth was up 6-0.

Whiteface looked to be snakebit for a while during their second possession as well.

A fumble by Kauffman was scooped up by Jeremiah Rendon, who ran into the endzone, but had the carry called back for a block in the back.

The Antelopes then worked their way down to the Nazareth five-yard-line against a stiff Swift defense. Finally, Kauffman punched the ball into the endzone from the five to put Whiteface on the scoreboard with 5:23 left in the first quarter.

After that, the Antelopes started to roll. They forced Nazareth to turnover on downs on the next possession, taking over on their own 21-yard-line with 1:31 left in the period.

Four plays later, the Antelopes put another six on the board after a 39-yard run from Kauffman to start the second quarter. Kauffman would score two more touchdowns before the night was over.

Whiteface forced the Swifts into another turnover on downs when Chavez tipped a pass from Reid Backus intended for Schulte on fourth down and goal.

The Antelopes next score took only one play as Kauffman got loose for 72 yards for his third touchdown of the night and a 206 Whiteface lead.

Nazareth, while rocked back on their heels, wasn’t done. They took over on their own 36-yardline and engineered a 10 play, back-and-forth drive that ended with a reverse pass from Schulte to Alejandro Guerrero, cutting the Whiteface lead to 20-12 with 3:18 remaining in the half.

Whiteface scored quickly on their next drive. Starting on their own 36-yard-line, the Antelopes were in the endzone on the fourth play of the drive with a 19-yard pass from Jeremiah Rendon to Dane Damron for a 26-12 Antelope lead with 1:42 left in the half.

The Antelopes forced a fumble on the onside kick, recovering the ball on the Nazareth 31-yard-line. Four plays later it was first down and goal from the Nazareth four-yard-line.

This time, Borunda got the call for the final score of the half, 32-12 with 10 second left.

Nazareth had one last chance in the first half, but it ended when Auscar Gandara got to Will Young for a sack as the buzzer sounded.

The second half was all Antelopes. Whiteface had the ball first, starting on their own 38yard-line after a good return from Jeremiah Rendon.

The Antelopes had gained only five yards in the first three plays in addition to a false start penalty that put Whiteface back on the original line of scrimmage.

It looked as though Nazareth’s half-time adjustments were working, but things went the Antelope way on fourth down.

The Swifts broke up the fourth down play, forcing Jeremiah Rendon to dump the ball to Kauffman, who broke tackles down to the Nazareth 12-yardline, then scored his fourth touchdown of the night on first down and goal.

The Antelopes led 38-12 with 7:45 left in the third quarter.

The Antelope defense turned up the pressure on the Swifts, pushing them back from the Whiteface 39-yard-line to the Nazareth 30-yard-line and forcing a punt.

Whiteface took over on their own 23-yard-line, moving down to the Nazareth 12-yard-line in two plays before Gandara punched a touchdown in on first down and goal.

Whiteface was now ahead 44-12 with 4:58 left in the third quarter.

Nazareth was forced to punt on the next possession as well, but this time the punt took an Antelope bounce, giving Whiteface the ball on their own 36-yard-line.

Four plays later, Jeremiah Rendon got the call for a 26-yard touchdown carry and a 52-12 Whiteface lead with 2:29 left in the third quarter.

The Antelopes kick gave Nazareth the ball on the Whiteface 33-yard-line, but the stingy Whiteface defense pushed Nazareth back again, forcing a turnover on downs at the Nazareth 39-yard-line. That set up the final carry from Noah Rendon to invoke the 45point rule.

Jeremiah Rendon went 8-for-12 in the air for 206 yards and two touchdowns.

Kauffman had 12 carries for 191 yards and four touchdowns. Gandara had two carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.

Jeremiah and Noah Rendon each had a single 25-yard touchdown carry.

Borunda had three carries for 22 yards. Jeremias Chavez had one 13 yard carry.

Chavez had five catches for 99 yards. Kauffman had three catches for 48 yards. Borunda had two catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Damron had a single 16 yard touchdown catch.

Kauffman had nine tackles and an interception. Gandara had seven tackles. Chavez had four.

Damian Castaneda and Noah Rendon had 1½ tackles apiece. Jeremiah Rendon and Jaxon Heflin had one each.

The Antelopes will travel to take on the Grandfalls-Royalty Cowboys at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Grandfalls-Royalty is currently 1-0 after a 57-12 win over Fort Hancock at Sul Ross State University last Friday.

Last season, the Cowboys came to Whiteface and lost 44-0.