Several decades ago, when El Paso teams would play schools from outside the county in the playoffs, it was trouble no matter how accomplished the locals were.

Those days popped back up for previously undefeated El Dorado High School , which dug a quick hole too big to overcome in a 45-14 bidistrict loss to an Amarillo team that came in 5-4 and finished fourth in District 2-5A Division II.

That ended a rough weekend for District 1-5A Division II, which lost its four games bidistrict games by a combined score of 231-23.

Quoting El Dorado coach Frank Martinez

"They have a tremendous team. We knew they had a potent offense with a lot of weapons and they showed that," El Dorado coach Frank Martinez said after the best season in school history ended at 10-1. "We had our chances, we just didn't finish.

"We shot ourselves in the foot at times, especially in the first half. We started sustaining drives in the second half but it was a little too late."

Amarillo improved to 6-4 and looked like a team seasoned by playing in a deep district.

Quoting Amarillo coach Chad Dunnam

"We've got a tough district, we really do, week-in, week-out," Amarillo coach Chad Dunnam said after his team piled up 487 yards, including 200 rushing yards from Jade Dunivin and 282 passing yards from Jett Lopez.

"Our non-district prepared us for this. Our district prepared us for this moment. Our kids handled this trip well, we showed up and we played well. I'm proud of this group."

How it happened

The game got away from El Dorado in the first quarter. The Aztecs were hamstrung when starting quarterback Elijah Issa was knocked out on a fourth-down sack that ended their second possession, but the game was tilting toward Amarillo by then and the Sandies were up 14-0 before backup sophomore Brycen Booth came in (and played well).

Amarillo went 54 yards in three plays on its first drive, 55 yards in one play on its second possession and 91 yards on three plays the fourth time it had the ball for a 21-0 lead that wasn't threatened.

El Dorado eventually got tailback Ryan Estrada on track and he finished with 144 yards on 25 carries, but the Aztecs couldn't get the big play they needed. They had a 30-yard pass early that was their only play all night more than 20 yards, while the Sandies had six plays of 30 yards or more.

Booth played admirably under the circumstances, finishing 15-of-22 for 111 yards.

The season didn't end the way El Dorado hoped, but the Aztecs did lay a marker for the bright future of their program.

Aztecs proud of 10-1 season

"Not the outcome we wanted, but it was a tremendous effort, not just from our kids but our seniors," said Martinez, who completed his fourth year as head coach at El Dorado. "Our seniors were the first group we had as a coaching staff to go all four years and the culture they have built is lasting.

"These guys understand what it takes to win and we're going to continue winning. We're one of the best in the city, we know that, and we want to be one of the best in the state. We have our work cut out for us in the offseason. We're looking forward to moving forward."

Up next

Amarillo plays Richland Saturday in Wichita Falls at 7 p.m. Central time (6 p.m. Mountain) in a Class 5A Division I area-round game.