A historic night for junior running back Caleb Gerber, who scored a school record seven touchdowns, and a defense that continued to dominate and force turnovers helps Pebble Hills undefeated season continue.

The game kicked off at 7 p.m. at Eastwood October 28th and the visiting team wasted no time in striking first; scoring on the third play of their first offensive drive via a 15-yard touchdown run by Gerber. Head coach Mark Torres then made a confident yet risky move by calling for an onside kick, however, luck was on his side as the Spartans recovered the ball.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, the Troopers were able to prevent giving up more points on the scoreboard by forcing a fumble in their own territory. However, their offense was immediately shut down by the Spartans defense, forcing an Eastwood punt. The Spartans quickly took charge once again as quarterback Orlando Puig connected with Caleb Gerber on a 45-yard touchdown pass making it 13-0.

Once again, the Eastwood offense was unable to break through the guard of the Spartans, allowing them to score a field goal, raising their lead 16-0.

The Troopers were finally able to score late in the first quarter via an 8-yard pass, however afterwards missing a two-point conversion, making the score, 16-6.

But the Spartan offense were not done.  Running back Kevin Averette broke through the defensive line and scored a 5-yard touchdown run, making it 23-6.

Senior kicker Javier Lopez was then able to perfectly place a squib kick, allowing the Spartans yet another chance on offense, which Gerber capitalized on via a 10-yard touchdown run, making it 30-6.

It was apparent that the Spartans wanted to stay on the offensive side of the ball and do as much damage as possible.

“It put us in a scoring position, and I’m just helping the team just like everyone else,” Javier said. “Everybody’s just doing their part.”

The game was far from recovery, but that didn’t break the Trooper morale. Quarterback Seth Ochoa scored via a 3-yard qb sneak, making the score, 51-26.

Despite the cold weather, Pebble Hills offense was on fire. Gerber was unstoppable throughout the game, scoring once again on a run giving the Spartans a very comfortable 30-point lead. Gerber ended up scoring 5 touchdowns before half; leading the Spartans to a season high 51 points in the first half.

“The problem we had in the second quarter was that we scored so fast because they (Eastwood) don’t play defense that their offense was able to stay into a rhythm as if they were playing well on offense, that wasn’t the case,” Torres said.

At the start of the second half, the Spartan defense proved they were not letting up or getting sloppy as safety Jacob Hernandez intercepted the ball on the first offensive drive for the Troopers. Gerber then scored again with a 22-yard touchdown run, making it 58-26.

Another turnover on downs, and Gerber scored again, this time with a 62-yard touchdown run making it 65-26 for his 7th touchdown of the night.

Jonas Christmas continued to have his way going against the opposition. On one offensive possession, Christmas managed to collect two sacks and rush the quarterback to make mistakes. Kevin Esquivel, who finished the game with 14 solo tackles and 1 sack, made his highlight when he intercepted a pass and ran it all the way back a for a 56-yard touchdown making it 71-26.

The long and one-sided game was finally over; making Pebble Hills  8-0 record.

“Our kids do a great job of preparing,” Torres said. “We won this game on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday, so this was merely our guys showing what they prepared for and what they earned coming into this game.”

Gerber wanted to share his night with his entire team.

“I got to give credit to my o-line, my coaches, and the play calls were amazing, I mean we’re competing with great effort and determination and we’re not going to stop,” Gerber said.

Next up for the Spartans; (8-0, 5-0 in district) a home game against the undefeated Montwood Rams. The showdown featuring the last two unbeaten  teams in El Paso, who are battling for the No. 1 spot in the city, square up at the Socorro Independent School District Student Activities Complex November 3rd at 7:00 p.m. The Rams are fresh off a 42-3 victory against Americas.