EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Del Valle High School football team keeps finding ways to win this season.
The Conquistadores broke open a close game at halftime and beat Chapin 35-13 Friday night, Oct. 4 in a District 1-5A Division II showdown at Austin High.
Chapin trailed just 21-13 at the half after Del Valle took a 21-0 lead with about two minutes left in the opening half.
The Conquistadores, however, were dominant in the second half, shutting down Chapin and scoring two second-half touchdowns of their own to earn the win.
“We played through some adversity today,” Del Valle coach Rudy Contreras said. “Our guys responded and I am really proud of that. We put two good quarters together in the second half.”
Heralded Del Valle quarterback Jake Fette hit Dylan Gonzalez on a 19-yard touchdown pass for a 28-13 lead with 8:43 left in the third quarter. The Conquistadores added another score on a 43-yard touchdown run by Fette with 5:28 left in the third.
That was all the scoring for the game and Del Valle’s defense took over to shut down Chapin for the win. Del Valle’s final touchdown was set up by an interception by Johnathan Estrada, who has seemed to come up with big defensive plays almost every week.
“They (our defense) played lights out,” Contreras said.
In the first half, Del Valle took a 21-0 lead on a 31-yard TD run by Fette, a 56-yard punt return for a score by Ezra Rocha and a 14-yard scoring strike from Fette to Gonzalez.
With less than a minute left in the half, Chapin finally got on the scoreboard when Carey Wade hit Brent Hallman Jr. for a 26-yard scoring pass.
Del Valle fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Chapin capitalized when Evan Rivera hit Wade for an 8-yard touchdown pass.
That made the score 21-13 at half but that was as close as Chapin could get.
“We knew they (Chapin) has some dudes, so we knew they would make some plays,” Fette said. “In a big game like this, it is a game of runs. Our team played well playing through adversity.”
Del Valle also showed that it can run out the clock with a late lead.
“Our line has been playing big all year and those guys deserve more credit,” Contreras said.
Del Valle improved to 4-0 in district and 5-0 overall. Chapin fell to 3-1 in district and 3-3 overall.
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