Pebble Hills runs past Montwood to stay unbeaten in District 1-6A

The Pebble Hills football team's recipe for success is short and simple, like the best recipes are.

The Spartans play swarming, sure-tackling defense, they run the football down Main Street and they are brutally physical.

That's starting to turn into something. Specifically, they rode their formula to a thorough 38-7 victory against Montwood High School Friday night at the SAC 1, which gave them a two-game win streak to start District 1-6A.

Quoting the coach

"That's what we're going to live by," coach Ryan Warner said after his team leveled its record at 3-3 while moving to 2-0 in district play. "The word of the week was, 'Grit.' That's something we showed when it was time on defense, we tightened up.

"On offense, we were sky high, then we had some ups and downs but we fought through."

The defense had a remarkable night, coming within a few inches and two seconds of a shutout (Montwood got its seven points on the last play of the first half).

The Spartan defense forced three turnovers and blocked a punt to set up a 1-yard touchdown, as a Montwood team that did move the ball on occasion lost 58 yards on three ill-fated plays.

Quoting the players

"Our coaches came up with a great game plan and the defense executed it really well," said safety Cezar Perez, who had an interception, a fumble recovery and a sack. "Everyone did their job and stayed disciplined. We hit."

On the other side of the ball, Pebble Hills threw the ball effectively early, but soon enough turned the keys over to tailback Zereian Quarles, who banged out 174 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

"I want to give props to my o-line, they came out and did what they had to do," Quarles said. "We're 2-0 in district, Eastwood's up next."

How it happened

Pebble Hills took control at the end of the first quarter and early in the second. The Spartans completed a 61-yard drive with a third-and-14 touchdown pass from 29 yards out, quarterback Joe Fernandez to receiver Julian Vasquez, with 45 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Three snaps later Perez had his interception, setting up a 35-yard touchdown drive that Quarles finished from 3 yards out. Quarles added a 50-yard run on the next possession for a 21-0 Spartan lead and they weren't threatened the rest of the way.

"Getting back-to-back wins are huge because they are district wins," Warner said. "That's ultimately our goal, to win the district championship and compete for a No. 1 playoff seed. It's huge getting this two-game momentum going to the next game."

Up next

Montwood will play in the Thursday night lights next week at Coronado, and the teams will kick off at 7 p.m. Pebble Hills hosts Eastwood at the SAC 1, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.

More: Live scores Texas high school football scores: El Paso live scores from Week 7

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Pebble Hills runs past Montwood to stay unbeaten in District 1-6A