David Lewis After being crowned homecoming king, David Lewis rushed for 223 yards and scored three touchdowns while leading the H.M. King Brahmas to a 28-14 win over a feisty Laredo Nixon team at Javelina Stadium this past Friday.

Lewis ran for 43 yards on the first play of H.M. King’s opening drive and punched it into the end zone from oneyard out three plays later to give the Brahmas a 7-0 lead after Luke Waddingham’s successful extra point.

Joey Lee then killed a Mustang drive with an interception.

Nixon’s defense, however, tied the score when one of their players recovered a Lewis fumble in the backfield and ran it into the end zone at 5:18 of the first quarter.

Making up for it, Lewis regained the lead 14-7 for the Brahmas on a 25-yard run at 2:48 of the first period.

Nixon’s following drive was halted when B.J. Ripoyla recovered a fumble caused by a gang of Brahma defensive men who chased and ripped the ball away from a Mustang running back during a long scamper.

Joey Lee Then the music stopped, literally.

Officials called a time out on the very first play of the second quarter and asked H.M. King Head Coach Andrew Hrncir to request the Mighty Brahma Marching Band to turn the volume down.

The Mustangs (whose own marching band did not attend the game) had the ball right in front of the Brahma band’s bleachers - at their own 21-yard line - when the referees paused the contest.

H.M. King’s next offensive march reached the Mustang-7 but a high snap on a 24-yard field goal attempt prevented them from scoring. Waddingham, though, caught the ball and advanced it to the five where it went over on downs.

Bo Polhemus sacked the Mustang’s quarterback after the signal caller acquired a pair of first downs on runs of 17 and 12 yards.

Bo Polhemus Jordan Boone intercepted a Nixon pass and wove through the Mustang offense for over 70 yards and reached the end zone but offsetting penalties annulled the score with 43 seconds left in the first half.

Nixon’s first drive of the third quarter went backwards after Fabian Gonzales and Lee Trinh combined on a sack and Polhemus again captured Nixon’s quarterback for a big loss on the very next play.

The Mustangs, however, again tied the score at 10:53 of the fourth quarter on a 17- yard run. Lewis scored his third touchdown - near the middle of the final quarter - on a 10-yard run in which he ran down the left sideline and dodged a tackler. With 1:37 left in the game Vando Gonzalez bounced off of two tacklers, spun and dove far enough - with a defender holding onto his foot - to place the ball inside the end zone to give the Brahmas their eventual winning margin of 28-14.

Vando Gonzalez “Those Laredo kids always play hard, they came down and it was a fight to the end,” Hrncir said afterwards. “We dominated the running game but just could not put it in the end zone at times.”

The decision to use Lewis as a battering ram against Nixon proved to be a wise one.

“David ran the ball hard and that is why we went with him this week,” Hrncir said. “We are still week to week at the quarterback position and will use whomever we think will put us in positions to win football games. We knew we were going to run it tonight so we put David at quarterback.”

Hrncir also took the time to defend and praise the Brahma Band.

“Their (referees’) compliant was that our band was too loud but I tell you this, they did a great job tonight and we are proud of what the band does for us every week,” Hrncir said. “They have absolutely never gotten in our way and any dispute we have ever had has been settled quickly and amicably.”

Jordan Boone Head Band Director Rolando Molina - who has been at H.M. King for approximately 40 years - said the officials’ request for his ensemble to decrease their playing annoyed him.

“Somebody waved at us that we were playing too loud and it came from the referee,” Molina said. “That does bother me because I do not think there is a rule against us playing during the football game.”
B.J. Ripoyla shushed