Safety allows Cowboys to end two-game losing streak, halt Minutemen’s win streak

A late safety enabled McCollum (3-2, 1-1) to pull off an improbable comeback victory Thursday at Harlandale Memorial Stadium.

The Cowboys scored the last 15 points to remain undefeated in the six-game series. McCollum triumphed 36-35 over Memorial (3-2, 1-1) in the District 29-4A game.

“Whenever you’re in a tight ballgame,” first-year McCollum coach Juan Hinojosa said, “little plays make the difference. Our defense needed to make a play and, fortunately, they made a play.”

Memorial, a slight favorite in the game with two-consecutive wins under its belt, appeared to have dodged a bullet with 5:38 remaining. The Cowboys had scored on a 30-yard run from sophomore back Mike Ramirez, who rushed for more than 156 yards on 25 carries, for a second-straight touchdown.

The Cowboys drove 71 yards on seven plays to get to the end zone. However, the two-point conversion run failed and the Minutemen led 35-34. Memorial had led by 14 points with 50 seconds to play in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Ramirez broke a 90-yard touchdown run that made it 35-28 and kept the Cowboys’ hopes alive.

“Any time you’re down, your key players have to want to be successful,” Hinojosa said. “I always make the comment that key players step up in big games. I think, tonight, you saw that.”

Following Ramirez’s third touchdown, including an 11-yard reception in the first half, Memorial was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt. A bad snap rolled into the end zone for a McCollum safety with 3:36 remaining.

The Minutemen didn’t get the ball again until 15 seconds remained.

They took possession on their own 30 without any remaining timeouts. As time expired, Memorial quarterback Alfred Ramos was forced to scramble when trying to set up a deep pass. He ran 17 yards to the McCollum 42, but the Cowboys had ended their two-game losing streak.

McCollum tied it 21-21 eight seconds before halftime on a six-yard run by junior quarterback Ralph Vidal (127 yards, 12 carries). Memorial regained the lead for the fourth time with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter when back Raul Rangel rambled 25 yards to the end zone with a screen pass. A fumble recovery by Manases Cano set up the touchdown.

A 23-yard reception from David Manzano (74 yards, 5 catches) led to a two-touchdown margin for Memorial. Rangel scored on an eight-yard run in the waning seconds of the third quarter.

A key to the Cowboys’ victory, though, was that they didn’t allow either Rangel (29 rushing yards) or Ramos (51 rushing yards) to have a big game on the ground. The flip side was that McCollum ran for a season- high 291 yards.

“I’ve got to give credit to Memorial,” Hinojosa said. “They did a good job of defending what we wanted to do.

“Our kids were resilient. We didn’t make a lot of adjustments. We just decided to execute. But Memorial played a heck of a game.”

Memorial grabbed the lead 51 seconds into the game. Minutemen senior receiver Ivan DeAnda made a diving catch in the end zone.

McCollum tied it with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter on Ramirez’s touchdown catch. The sophomore had two runs of 20 yards or more on the drive.

Off the kickoff, Memorial constructed a scoring drive that culminated with an eight-yard reverse to the left side by Cano.

On a drive that covered 71 yards in nine plays and spanned the first two quarters, the Cowboys scored on a one-yard run from Vidal. It tied the score 14-14.

The Minutemen inched ahead on a 36-yard march following a short McCollum punt. Cano (72 yards) scored on a 14-yard pass play from Ramos (13 of 20, 184 yards) with 1:40 until intermission.

Vidal executed the two-minute drill to forge the third tie of the half. He kept the drive alive with a 28-yard run and capped it with the first of his two rushing touchdowns.

McCollum travels to Uvalde for a 7 p.m. game next Friday at the Coyotes’ Honey Bowl.

“We know it will be a big game,” Hinojosa said. “I’ve spent a lot of time at the Honey Bowl. I coached there for seven years, so I’m real familiar with how things work down there. Hopefully, that plays to our advantage. Uvalde has a great team and I’m excited to be going down there.”

It was a setback for Memorial, but the Minutemen retain their goal of making the school’s second playoff appearance and first since 1998. They host to Floresville next Friday in a 7 p.m. 29-4A game at Frank Mata Stadium.