Football Friday Night- Semifinals

On Friday, December 12, 2014, Canutillo's amazing run in the Class 5A Division II Playoffs came to a sudden end.  The Eagles lost 41-13 to the Ennis Lions just one game away from reaching the State Championship.  They made history by going further than any El Paso-area 11-man football team has ever gone.

Canutillo trailed the Ennis Lions only 20-13 at halftime.  The Lions opened up the scoring on their opening drive, but missed the extra point.  After being held to a three and out on their first drive, the Eagles blocked the Ennis punt attempt-- setting themselves up in scoring position.  The Eagles were held to a field goal attempt, which Frank Avila easily made to bring the score to 6-3.

Ennis was again successful in scoring another touchdown to make 12-3-- after another missed extra point attempt.  Canutillo was able to answer with their own touchdown to bring the score to 12-10.  The Lions then scored late in the first half and were successful in scoring a two-point conversion to make the game 20-10.  The Eagles drove themselves into field goal range to put up some points to end the half at 20-13.

Lions' quarterback Devin Smith passed for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and ensured that Ennis never trailed.  The second half began with Canutillo driving, but quarterback Javier Gomez fumbled the ball away after a very good 18-yard run; recovered by Ennis' James Lockhart.

After that turnover, Ennis scored 21 unanswered points to run away from the Eagles to the 41-13 victory.  Smith finished with 258 yards and four touchdowns.  Donta Thompson had 138 of those receiving yards for the Lions.  The scoring came to an end when Ennis was attempted to kill the clock when John Lopez took off on a 71-yard run with about a minute left in the game.

After this historic run, the Canutillo Eagles finished up the year with a 13-2 record.  For the Ennis Lions, they improved to 13-2 and will next face Cedar Park for the 5A Division II State Championship.  This ends our Football Friday Night coverage for the season, but El Paso-area seniors will have one more chance to play in the Greater El Paso
Football Showcase Senior All-Star Game on December 20, 2014.