Vidor’s high powered offense started off with a bang, scoring on the first play of the game, but found yardage hard to come by the rest of the night as the Santa Fe defense stiffened and held off the Pirates on homecoming, 28-19.
Zach Dahlenburg scored on the first play from scrimmage for the Pirates on Friday night as he took the handoff around the right side of the Indians defense and raced 67 yards for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead. That would be the last time Vidor held the lead this night.
The Santa Fe offense found its groove midway through the first quarter and began using its short yardage passing attack in lieu of a running game, so to speak, to keep the Pirates defense off balance all night.
Indians quarterback Nate Kruger marched Santa Fe down the field 76 yards on its second possession and capped the drive off with a 5-yard run to even the game on the first play of the second quarter.
Despite a huge return on the ensuing kickoff by Brad Nunez, which placed the ball at the Santa Fe 30 yard line, the Pirates turned the ball over on downs four plays later.
The teams traded possessions before Kruger and receiver Austin Lamb took control of the game. Santa Fe quickly marched the ball down the field 79 yards and capped off the drive as Kruger hit Lamb on a 29 yard scoring strike to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Santa Fe received the kick to start the third quarter and was on the move once again before the Pirates defense stiffened. On fourth and 4 from the Vidor 43 yard line, Lamb was back to punt but instead rolled right and hit Bruce Erekson in the flat for a 21 yard gain and an Indians first down at the Pirates 26 yard line. Three plays later Lamb took a reverse handoff around the left side and scored from 9 yards out.
The Pirates answered on its next drive as quarterback Gage Galloway willed the Vidor offense downfield, which included a drive-sustaining 31 yard run into Santa Fe territory, before eventually stretching the ball across the end zone a few plays later on a three yard dive up the middle to narrow the score to 21-13.
Kruger commanded his team down the field once again before hitting receiver Nate Hays down the right sideline for a 38 yard touchdown pass. Kruger finished the night with 21 completions on 33 attempts and 221 yards. Lamb had 13 receptions for 123 yards and added another 26 yards on four rushes.
The Vidor offense responded on the subsequent possession as the offense moved the ball 68 yards in just over three minutes with running back Brad Nunez zipping around the right side of the Santa Fe defense for a 27 yard score. However, a bad snap on the extra point left the Pirates two scores behind with time running out.
Vidor’s defense forced a punt on the next Santa Fe possession, but the Pirates were unable to move the ball and turned the ball over on downs to end the game.
Vidor (3-3, 0-3) will travel to Barbers Hill (4-2, 2-1) next Friday, while Santa Fe (3-3, 2-1) hosts Crosby (5-1, 2-1).
Santa Fe 28
Vidor 19
Santa Fe – 0 14 7 7 28
VIDOR – 7 0 0 0 19
SCORING SUMMARY
V – Zach Dahlenburg 67 yard run, Jackson Lapray kick (11:43)
SF – Nathan Kruger 5 yard run, Noe Rico kick (11:54)
SF – Austin Lamb 29 yard pass from Kruger, Rico kick (0:47)
SF – Lamb 9 yard run, Rico kick (7:14)
V – Gage Galloway 3 yard run, kick failed (2:57)
SF – Nate Hays 38 yard pass from Kruger, Rico kick (8:54)
V – Brad Nunez 27 yard run, kick failed (5:40)
SF Vid
First downs 19 13
Rushes-yards 28-94 42-271
Passing 242 10
Total yards 336 281
Com-Att-Int 22-34-0 1-7-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 1-5 3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing- Santa Fe: Nathan Kruger 10-57, Austin Lamb 4-26, Tristan Cundiff 12-11, Mateo Flores 1-0; Vidor, Zach Dahlenberg 11-107, Brad Nunez 11-78, Gage Galloway 9-54, Kelby Odom 7-25, Cree Simmons 4-7;
Passing- Santa Fe: Nathan Kruger 21-33-0 221, Austin Lamb 1-1-0 21; Vidor, Gage Galloway 1-7-0 10;
Receiving- Santa Fe: Austin Lamb 13-123, Nate Hays 5-82, Bruce Erekson 1-21, Jacob Smircic 1-10, Landon Thompson 1-9, Tristan Cundiff 1-(-3); Vidor, Brad Nunez 1-10;
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