Armando Lujan leads Sunray football past Canadian with spectacular two-way performance

(This story was updated to add new information: video of Armando Lujan, updated quotes.)

SUNRAY — The Sunray football team remained unbeaten Friday night by defeating Canadian 30-20 at home.

Senior quarterback Armando Lujan led the Bobcats, (5-0, 0-0), tossing two touchdown passes and grabbing three interceptions in the victory. Senior running back Arnold Mendoza also had a strong showing, scoring two touchdowns on the ground.

For the Wildcats (3-2, 0-0), junior running back Slayden Dickinson put up a valiant effort in the loss, racking up more than 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Key moments/big plays

Canadian struck first when Dickinson broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run on the game's first play from scrimmage.

Sunray had to punt on its opening drive, but an interception from senior defensive back Dawson Bennett put the Bobcats' offense on its own 22-yard line. Sunray failed to pick up a first down however, turning the ball back over to the Wildcats without putting any points on the board.

Later in the first quarter, Dickinson added his second touchdown of the night, scoring from four yards out to push the Wildcats' lead to 13-0. Early in the second quarter, Mendoza answered with a 5-yard touchdown run to cut Canadian's lead to six.

Sunray took the lead with six minutes left in the first half after a Luke Grajeda interception gave Lujan and company the ball on the Wildcats' 11-yard-line. The senior signal caller completed a touchdown pass to Bennett on the next play to put the Bobcats ahead 14-13.

After Sunray tacked on a field goal, Canadian scored on a short pass from freshman quarterback Weston Mitchell to junior tight end Riggs Pennington with less than 20 seconds left in the half. The score gave the Wildcats a 20-17 lead heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Lujan led the Bobcats down the field and Mendoza finished off the drive with a short touchdown run to put Sunray ahead 23-20. To cap off another long Sunray drive, Lujan threw a six-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Kolton Simmons to give the Bobcats a 30-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Bennett added another interception late in the fourth quarter to cap off an impressive performance and secure a win for Sunray.

The Bobcats defense stifled Canadian in the second half, shutting the Wildcats out in the final two quarters to come from behind for a 30-20 victory.

They said it

Sunray football coach Wes Boatmun: "(Armando Lujan is) a team captain, he's our quarterback. He makes plays with his arm, he makes plays with his legs, he's a gamechanger. He can turn nothing into something, and he's got a great supporting cast for him to be able to do that. I hope that people are watching, I hope they're seeing what I'm seeing, because I feel like the kid is going places."

Sunray senior quarterback Armando Lujan: "It feels great man, but it was tiring, because they're a big school and they like to go fast. All week during practice we just practiced on them going fast and (us) getting to the ball and just communicate."

Canadian football coach Andy Cavalier: "We just talked about there at the end of the game, that, first of all, I don't feel like we made enough plays to win the game. We had opportunities. Sunray's a really good football team and you're going to have to play really good to beat a really good football team. I feel like we could have been better at times tonight."

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Up next

The Wildcats will look to rebound next week when Shallowater makes the trek to Canadian for a showdown between two Class 3A opponents. The Bobcats get a bye next week, but will return to action on Oct. 11 in Spearman for a District 1-2A battle with the Lynx.

Sunray 30, Canadian 20

Sunray 0 17 6 7 — 30

Canadian 13 7 0 0 — 20

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

C — Slayden Dickinson 70-yard run (Julius Gonzalez kick)

C — Slayden Dickinson 4-yard run (kick failed)

Second quarter

S — Arnold Mendoza 5-yard run ( om Armando Lujan (Azriel Vargas kick)

S — Azriel Vargas field goal

S — Dawson Bennett 11-yard pass from Armando Lujan (Azriel Vargas kick)

C — Riggs Pennington 6-yard pass from Weston Mitchell (Julius Gonzalez kick)

Third quarter

C — Arnold Mendoza 1-yard run (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

C — Kolton Simmons 6-yard pass from Armando Lujan (Azriel Vargas kick)

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Armando Lujan leads Sunray football past Canadian with spectacular two-way performance