The Aztecs elected to receive the ball to kick-off the second edition of the Torres Bowl, where Ruben Torres would lead his 6-3 Aztecs into battle against his brother, Mark Torres, who would command his 8-1 Spartans. Pebble Hills is fresh off their first loss of the season and wanted to bounce back before the start of the playoffs.

Despite recovering an onside kick on the very first play of the game, the Spartans were unable to capitalize offensively and were forced to punt. From that point on, the Aztecs dominated the entirety of the first half of play, only allowing the Spartans a single touchdown run by Caleb Gerber.

Cedarious Barfield obtained over 200 combined yards, with three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns by the time halftime commenced. This not only gave the Aztecs an extremely comfortable 35-7 lead, which was the largest deficit for the Spartans this season.

It seemed as if the way the game was shaping out was very reminiscent of the way the Spartans lost to the Rams, the defensive secondary unable to stop the air attack and the opposing quarterbacks ability to outrun the entire defense.

However, something magical happened in the locker room for the Spartans, as they came out as a new team.

Orlando Puig aired a long ball to Haredt Gonzalez for a 62-yard touchdown on the first offensive drive of the second half, making it 35-13. The Spartan defense appeared ignited as well when they made their first stop of the night, allowing the offense to get back on the field. Pebble Hills struck again, this time it was an 18-yard pass to Cameron Seabrook.

Despite Barfield running in another solo touchdown afterwards, Cameron Seabrook once again answered with an 80-yard kick return to bring the score to 42-27. The Spartans kept this positive momentum moving forward as they were able to recover another onside kick.

Unable to convert, Pebble Hills remained hungry, and on the very next play forced and recovered a fumble. The Aztecs kept up with the pace as they were trying to prevent a comeback.

A few plays after the fumble, Barfield intercepted the ball from Puig on an attempted pass to Kevin Averette, however he was unable to accomplish much on the other side of the ball, being stopped short on a 4th-and-1.

Possession of the ball changed once again when Puig threw an interception to corner-back Tyler Jones.

It was a back-and-forth tug of war, both offenses failing to do their job while both defenses continued making blockbuster plays, the third quarter would continue this pattern almost until the last minute.

It seemed almost scripted when the Aztecs failed to convert on a 4th-and-5, giving possession back to their rivals.

Finally, the Spartan offense was able to make a big play when Kevin Averette extended the ball mere centimeters past the first down marker on a 4th-and-10, afterwards allowing Puig to connect on an easy slant route to Gonzalez to make it 42-34.

For the third time of the night, Javier Lopez placed an onside kick which the Spartans recovered, soon after scoring a field goal to make it a one-possession game at 42-37.

The terror of night for the Spartans, Aztec quarterback Barfield then ran in a heartbreaking 66-yard touchdown, making it 49-34.

On the following offensive drive for the Spartans, Haredt Gonzalez would come in clutch with multiple catches, eventually scoring a 9-yard touchdown to make it 49-44, allowing him to earn overall player of the game.

“I have to thank our coaches for trusting Orlando, and Orlando for trusting that the plays would work,” Gonzales said.

Late in the 4th quarter, the Spartan defense needed a big stop. It was 3rd-and-10 when Barfield would attempt a pass that was tipped and caught by a Spartan corner, however, the lack of clarity of who caught the ball allowed the favor to go to the Aztecs, but they still needed a first down to keep possession, which they were unable to achieve, giving the Spartans one last chance at victory.

The Spartans had one timeout remaining and kept the ball moving forward with passes to Gonzalez and runs by Gerber. On a 3rd and very long with the clock running, Puig backtracked to avoid a heavy rush and ended up getting sacked bringing it to a 4th and 51.

With a little over a minute on the clock, a Hail Mary was the only option remaining for the Spartans, the only chance they had at beating their rivals and finishing their season victorious. The play was on as Spartan fans crossed their fingers, but Puig did not have enough time to get the ball off, and the pass fell short after getting tackled by an Aztec linebacker.

The Aztecs then proceeded to kneel the ball and claim victory, in almost identical fashion as the Montwood Rams did against the Spartans less than a week ago.

“Overall, our performance wasn’t all that,” Gonzales said. “But I think we’ll be good moving forward for next week.”

Even though his team fought and came back 37 points, Mark Torres was unhappy with the overall execution.

“We came out scared, intimidated, that’s the bottom line,” Torres said. “We didn’t deserve to win coming out playing like that. You can only hear your kids have heart so often. At some point, it’s got to be a result.”

The Aztecs were for the most able to part pick apart the defense and stop the Spartan offense enough times to limit their opportunities of winning the infamous Torres Bowl. A win from El Dorado against Pebble Hills and a loss from Montwood against Eastwood means that the Rams and the Aztecs will share the district championship trophy for the second year in a row, both losing only a single district game.

The Spartans, who were two wins away from perfection, barely secured the final playoff spot and will face a top ranked team in the state of Texas.

“Just as proud as I was of how we finished, I’m more ashamed of how we started,” Torres explained. “We’ve got a very big upcoming challenge in San Angelo Central which will without question be the best team we have played all year, and so we’ve got to get our stuff together, and that starts with me.”

The Spartans will be on the road to play their first playoff game against San Angelo on Friday afternoon.