Odessa- San Angelo traveled to Odessa only to loose 14-13 because of turnovers and penalties. This win, assures that Odessa High will be in the play-offs for the first time since 1990. At the same time, They are undefeated in District and tied with Abilene Cooper for the District lead.
October 17, 1997
Abilene- Odessa High traveled to Abilene but had to reload and travel to another stadium since P.E. Shotwell's stadium engineers could not get the lights to work. This, along with the 2nd quarter ejection of the Bronchos main running back Freddie Espinoza's for brawling,was not enough to help the Eagles as Odessa High won 21-14.
October 10, 1997
Odessa- The Broncs Make It 5 In A Row As They Beat Dallas Jesuett 31-21 In A Non District Match-up
October 3, 1997
Midland- Odessa High traveled to Midland Friday Night and beat up on the Midland Lee Rebels 27-7. Because of my travels, all I can tell you is that Midland enetered the lockers at half up 7-6. It must have been one hell of a second half.
September 26, 1997
Odessa- Friday Night, September 26, 1997, will go down as one of the most memorable times in my lifetime. I remember Odessa High’s numerous losses to Permian that were decided by freak plays and poor officiating. This is the way many Permian fans may feel today but they need to realize that Permian was out played in most every aspect of the game.
Over the years, I have become a big fan of Permian. They have, without a doubt, generated a lot of entertainment for the Permian Basin and God only knows how much we have needed it. My monkey was that many of my friends and family attended Permian, and even though they never really rubbed in Odessa High’s losses, I always perceived myself as a little less than whole because of this loosing streak. Well, the monkey has been put out to pasture because Odessa High finally won and no one can say this win came through luck. If you want to know the real story behind this win, don’t miss the end of this report.
I cannot stress enough that Odessa High out performed the Panthers so here are the stats and you can decide for yourself. First Downs- PHS 9 vs. 17 for OHS; Rushing Yards- PHS 89 vs 171 for OHS; Passing Yards- PHS 97 vs. 143 for OHS; Passing- PHS 4-12-2 vs. 9-17-1 for OHS; Penalties- PHS 3-25 vs. 4-20 for OHS; Fumbles- PHS 1-1 vs. 2-2 for OHS; Punts- who cares
The first quarter was a defensive dogfight with Permian’s Chad Bell scoring on a 36 yard up the middle pass from QB Casey Waite. Odessa’s Jeffrey Kupper tied the game 7-7 when he recovered a fumble on Permian’s 33 yard line and returned it for a TD. Odessa High had -0- 1st downs vs. Permian’s 1 in the 1st quarter.
Permian added 3 points, in the 2nd Quarter, with a 29 yard Jimmy White field goal. Odessa High put together a long drive which ended with a 3 yard Espinoza TD run. The Broncho extra point was blocked and the 1st half ended with OHS on top of Permian 13-10. Normally, I would move on at this point but it is necessary to let you know that Odessa should have added some extra points at the end of the 1st half but a TD was called back because the referee finally noticed that Permian was asking for a time-out and blew the play dead supposedly before the it started. I saw the Permian player asking for the time out but also noticed that the referee was late calling it. Never the less, the play was brought back. Odessa ran it again to the opposite side but the pass was just out of the receiver’s reach and they settled for a field goal attempt that was wide right.
The second half started with Permian receiving the kick-off. The Broncho defense held them and Permian’s Jimmy White made a tremendous punt that was bobbled and then fumbled by the Broncho receiver. Permian recovered it and shortly there after was able to get a TD with John Johnson receiving a 9 yard pass from QB Waite. Odessa showed me that they were able to come back when they put together a long drive with RB Espinoza pushing it in from the 3 yard line. This would turn out to be the last score of the game with Odessa High on top 20-17.
The 4th Quarter had its tense moments but Odessa High’s defense held the Panthers, when necessary, while their offense chewed up valuable time. The Panther fans could say that Permian would have won if a TD pass would not have been intercepted by the Broncho defense, in the end zone, but you could also say that Odessa High could have increased their lead if they would not have fumbled on the Permian 1 yard line. Anyway you look at it, it still ended with a victory for “all” of Odessa.
Now before you think Odessa High’s victory has gone to my head, let me give you something to think about. True high school football fans know that many Dallas and San Antonio schools have consolidated their Juniors and Seniors into what I call super schools. It is hard to compete with a school that compiles their team from 2000 upper classmen and the same amount of Juniors. This could never be possible in Odessa, even though it makes a lot of sense, because the town is divided over their school’s football teams. The only way to get the town to support building a single consolidated high school, made up of the town’s Juniors and Seniors, is to bring the town together. This is why I believe Coach Quisenberry and his staff was given the job at Odessa High. It was the easiest way to ensure an eventual Odessa High victory over Permian and the end of the streak. Consolidation makes good financial sense to overcrowding. I said last year that this would occur only after the streak ended because the town was split. It looks like the ECISD can now move onto phase two. My only questions are how soon will they build that new super high school out by Ratliff, what will it be called and how can they merge the tradition of the existing schools. Let me know what you think by signing the guest book.
Next week has Midland High coming to Ratliff to play Permian while Odessa travels to play Midland Lee. Best of luck to both teams.
September 12, 1997
LUBBOCK- Coach Quisenberry, the Odessa High fans, the student body and their friends all believe that the Bronchos have a great chance of achieving this year's goal to make the play-offs. It seemed that the only doubts were coming from the players themselves but it looks like their mind set may have changed as they beat Lubbock Coronado 17-10 Saturday afternoon.
Scotty Pence started the Broncho scoring with a 67 yard pass from QB Rick Leach. After Jason Ramirez kicked the PAT, Odessa found themselves up 7-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. Coronado came back and kicked a field goal and scored a TD from 4-yard line to complete the 1st half and their scoring for the afternoon.
Like I mentioned last week, the Bronchos are able to come back when they are down and this was the case as the 2nd half began with Coronado leading 10-7.
Odessa High held Coronado scoreless while adding a TD on a 12-yard Freddy Espinoza run and a 4th quarter Jason Ramirez field goal. That was pretty much how it happened but check this out.
Odessa High met or exceeded the favored Lubbock Coronado in all statistics. Yes Coronado had a few more penalties and 4 additional turnovers (hehe) but these were caused by the strong Broncho defense.
The Broncho team must realize that they can play with any team now. Coronado outlasted Permian in last year's play-offs to win the game and this year's Coronado team is supposed to be much improved. This must help the Broncho players recognize that they are for real and can advance well into the play-offs. I believe their underdog performance Saturday afternoon was the beginning of what could be considered the Bronchos return to the lime light. They have a solid and balanced team that can play with the best teams and should continue to surprise some people. Then again, this is pre-season and I am a graduate of Odessa.
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September 5, 1997
Odessa- Odessa High had numerous opportunities to take control of the game, with Killeen turning the ball over 5 times, but both the offense and defense failed to play as a team in the 27-23 Friday night loss.
Chris Lynce is a name to remember. The Killeen QB had 3 Tds in the game but also had 5 fumbles. If this young man ever learns how to hold onto the ball, we will see him again playing college ball.
One bright spot for the Bronchos was Chad Webster's performance. This OLB/TE caught two TDs and stopped Killeen with an interception. Webster was also in on numerous tackles but the Broncs Head Coach, Randy Quisenberry, gave him only a few opportunities on the receiving end. Could this be one of Odessa's secret weapons?
The game's statistics had Killeen with 14 first downs compared to Odessa's 8. Killeen had 314 total offensive yards vs. 163 for the Broncs.
I believe Odessa High showed me one thing I have not seen in a while. That was their ability to stay in the game after their opponent's made a big play. This is a large plus with all the dynamic offenses in District 4-5A. I truly believe they will begin to gel over the next few weeks and be in contention for a play-off appearance when November roles around. Then again, my feelings my be somewhat biased since I am a Odessa High alumni.
I remember being in my bosses office one Thursday night in early November, 20 years ago. Mr. Dudley was struggling with his decision on which employees would be allowed to take off on Friday to attend the Odessa/Permian game. When he made that decision, I relive my feelings of being told that I was the only one he could count on tending to business, in the Garden Center, while everyone else went to the game. You see, in 1977 the Odessa High Bronchos had a great defense and most likely the top offense in the state. This was the year that everyone new Permian would fall to Odessa High.
Being a positive person, I knew that me attending Odessa High had nothing to do with it even though all the guys from Permian were going. Besides, Saturdays were always busy at the Strike-It-Rich store and Mr. Dudley gave me the day off because of my loyalty.
About 2:00 on Friday afternoon, the weirdest thing happened. It began to snow and snow and snow. At game time, I was sitting at the refreshment counter drinking a cup of hot chocolate because the store was vacant. Who wanted to shop with 5” of snow on the ground? Another odd thing happened that night, the #1 game of the year was postponed until Saturday afternoon and I was going.
It had continued to snow through out most of the night so on Saturday morning I went to Strike-It-Rich to buy a set of coveralls and gloves. No one spoke to me as I made my purchase but I did not care. This was my senior year and Permian was going to fall hard.
Upon arriving at the game, I noticed the field was solid white. For some unknown reason, the school district could not get the snow up. The bronco defense played a great game but their explosive offense could not move because of the snow. The game ended with Permian taking a safety and beating Odessa High by a few points.
Even though my team did not win, what I learned on that weekend will stay with me the rest of my life. I learned that being the boss ensures you the ability to do the things you enjoy in life. You see, Mr. Dudley was unable to work that Saturday because of all the snow but he was at the game cheering his team to victory.
The 1997 Edition of the Odessa Broncos could surprise a lot of people. Coach Randy Quisenberry has 27 lettermen and 8 starters returning from last year’s 4-6 team.
Leading the Bronchos offensively is OT Jordan Hill (6-6, 240, 5.2 speed). Hill will be opening the holes for what is expected to be Odessa High’s finest running attack in 20 years. In 1996, RBs Kyle Willey and Nick Graves joined forces for 1,276 and 10 touchdowns. The QB position is a toss up between J. R. Alford and Rick Leach. The Broncho defense is deep with experience. Returning starters include LB Jason Waters, LB Chad Webster, DB Jaime Juarez and DT Greg Zavala.
Coach Quisenberry is beginning his second year with Odessa High. He knows how to get these men pumped and is expected to do just that. With the loss of 21 lettermen, Coach Quisenberry will be challenged but he has help from his returning starters . This team is predicted to finish 5th in the district by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine but I am going to predict that we will see them make the play-offs. Also, there are some teams out there that should be praying for snow as they take the field against the Bronchos this year.
Best Of Luck Odessa High
