Chavez Changes Loara’s Luck

Billy Chavez wasn’t about to let Loara lose.

Not in the Empire League opener. Especially not to Kennedy.

So Chavez, a Loara running back, took charge.

The speedy junior blazed for 256 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Saxons to a 27-7 victory over the Fighting Irish Thursday night at Western High.

“This is a huge win for us,” Chavez said. “Especially against Kennedy.”

Loara was winless in its first four Empire League games last year, including a 3-0 loss to Kennedy, and wanted to show it was a contender this year.

“We’re out to get people,” Chavez said.

Apparently, he meant business Thursday.

Every time the Fighting Irish (3-3, 0-1 in league play) caught a glimmer of hope, Chavez came up with a big run.

He broke a 60-yard run on a draw play late in the first half, two plays after Kennedy tied the score at 7-7.

He ran for 14 yards on third-and-11 in the first quarter and ran for eight yards on third-and-two in the second quarter.

Trailing 14-7 at halftime, Kennedy pinned Loara at its seven on the second-half kickoff, but on the second play of the half, Chavez raced 20 yards to get the Saxons out of the hole.

Then, while protecting a 20-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, Chavez rushed nine times for 65 yards in a marathon 6-minute, 19-second drive to seal the game. Chavez capped it with a two-yard score.

“The holes were so big you could drive a truck through them,” Chavez said. “I kept seeing daylight and I kept running to it.”

The Saxons didn’t score on the second half’s opening drive, but they got to the Kennedy 39 before Miguel Gonzales stuck a punt at the Kennedy two.

Three plays later, Saxon linebacker Joey Ellis recovered a Kelvin Beatty fumble at the Fighting Irish one-yard line and quarterback Jeremy Ellis leaped over the pile on the next play for a 20-7 Saxon lead.

“Chavez is something else,” Loara Coach John De Fries said.

Chavez, a 5-foot-10, 161-pound tailback, wasted little time in getting started. He rushed four times for 37 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown, on the Saxons’ opening drive.

Kennedy’s scoring drive featured quarterback Geoff Etherson and receiver Steve Yaden connecting four times for 54 yards, including a 17-yard scoring play with 3:41 left in the first half.

But the Saxon defense took over from there. Kennedy managed only 134 yards in total offense, 13 rushing.