Stepp's No. 10 Game of 2024: El Paso Eastwood vs. El Paso Coronado
Matt Stepp's No. 10 game he saw in during the 2024 Texas high school football season was between the El Pas Eastwood Troopers and the El Paso Coronado Thunderbirds.
Adding to the intrigue was Eastwood would be led by sophomore QB Kingston Jeffries, who was fresh up from JV making his first varsity start with the Troopers season on the line.
After getting a pair of first downs and being forced to punt, Coronado would have disaster strike on special teams as the Thunderbirds punter muffed the snap and his knee hit the ground picking the ball up giving EHS the ball on the Coronado 30-yard line. The Troopers would take a 7-0 lead with 6:47 left in the first quarter as Jayden Martinez capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
Coronado would answer on the ensuing drive as WR Cason Golding would make a big play with a reception from QB Ben Wilson to get the Thunderbirds into Eastwood territory, Golding would cap the drive off with a leaping eleven-yard touchdown catch from Wilson to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:47 left in the first quarter.
The Coronado defense would force a big play on the first play of the second quarter as DB Robert Serrano fell on a fumble to give CHS the ball deep in Eastwood territory. Eastwood’s defense would step up on the ensuing drive forcing a Coronado turnover on downs at the Eastwood 22 leaving game tied 7-7 with 7:18 left in the second quarter. Eastwood would go on an impressive 78-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead with just over five minutes left in the second quarter as Jayden Martinez scored on a 35-yard touchdown run.
Cason Golding on the next drive would make a huge catch and he appeared to be headed for monster gain to give the Thunderbirds the ball inside the EHS ten-yard line, but a hustling Eastwood DB Andres Blanco would punch the ball out, after a mad scramble for the ball involving four players, Blanco would fall on the loose ball at the Eastwood one-yard line in what may have ended up being the biggest play of the game.
Eastwood would capitalize on the massive break, marching 99-yards in 3:28 with Jude Walker hauling in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kingston Jeffries to give Eastwood a 21-7 lead with just seven seconds left in the first half and that score would hold heading into the halftime break.
Eastwood would open the third with a three and out and Coronado would answer as the Thunderbirds would cut into the lead with a two-yard touchdown run from Norman Montion making it 21-14 with 6:29 left in the third quarter. Eastwood on the next series would fumble and Coronado would seize the moment and tie the game up at 21-21 on a 24-yard touchdown run from Norman Montion with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
After forcing an Eastwood three and out, Coronado would continue to ride the wave of momentum as the Thunderbirds would take a 28-21 lead with 11:55 remaining in the game as Ben Wilson connected with Jaiden Gonzalez for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
Eastwood just sixteen seconds later would have their own answer as on the first play of the next series, head coach Julio Lopez dialed up a trick play as WR Jude Walker caught a backwards pass from Kingston Jeffries and he connected with WR Caleb Flores for a 70-yard touchdown pass tying the game up 28-28.
Coronado went on a march to try and take the lead moving to the Eastwood 35-yard line approaching nine minutes left in the game, but Eastwood DB Jayden Deal made a monster play with a big hit on a Coronado WR forcing a fumble and giving EHS the ball with 8:54 left in the game.
Eastwood, typically a fast paced spread offense, went into a bit of a ball control mode as the drive started with a massive 3rd and 17 conversion to get the drive going. The Troopers would convert two additional third downs as Eastwood would bleed out the clock to 1:04 left where Derek Messer would drill a 25-yard field goal to give the Troopers a 31-28 lead.
Coronado would make one last gasp attempt, but Eastwood DB Miguel Solis would pick off QB Ben Wilson to seal the victory for the Troopers, keeping their playoff hopes alive headed into their season finale in Week 10 against El Paso Montwood. Eastwood would fall to Montwood and they saw their season end without a playoff appearance, finishing 4-6. Coronado would wrap the season up with a 5-4 overall record, the Thunderbirds were a tough-luck 5-4 with two-three point losses in district play being the difference in the season.
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