Austin's 27-13 victory over El Paso High in the 96th Battle of the Claw was appropriate in an obvious way. The Panther offense and defense, in the best ways, looked like something from 1930.
On offense, a run off-tackle looked like a trick play after a sea of up-the-middle ground-and-pound. Austin didn't try a pass other than a two-point conversion until a stunning game-icing 28-yard strike from Mason Ruybe to Kemoni Cooley with 1:13 remaing for the final points. Defensively the Panthers ran and hit and mauled and ultimately that won the day. Austin's only offensive points were on a 5-yard drive.
El Paso threw a flurry at Austin at the start of the second half with its special teams to cut a 20-0 deficit to 20-13, but ultimately an inability to move
the ball and troubles consistently stopping Austin's ground game meant the Panthers won the Claw for the ninth straight year.
To El Paso's credit they fought back from a 20-0 halftime hole that could have been worse with a 96-yard kickoff return from Anthony Carillo to start the second half, then added a 5-yard drive after a botched Austin punt snap, but that didn't much change the overall tenor of a game where Austin was better on both lines of scrimmage.
That was established early in what ended up being a definitive first half.
Austin's ground-and-pound attack got going from the opening moments, when Joel Castaneda took the second snap of the season 54 yards for a touchdown. On Austin's next possession 5-foot-8, 220-pound tailback Roberto Flores carried it on five of the first six plays straight up the middle into a tiring Tiger defense, then Castaneda flew 66 yards past everyone for a 12-0 lead.
Castaneda finished Austin's third possession with a 34-yard run and a Panther team whose only first-half pass was a two-point conversion led 20-0. He had 174 rushing yards and those three touchdowns in the first half before going in and out of the game with an injury in the second half when he carried just three times.
El Paso drove into Austin territory on its first two possessions before stalling around the 40 and punting, as the Panther defense made the plays it needed to give its offense the cushion it needed to open up a lead. Then the defense made the plays it needed to secure the Claw.
Up next
El Paso heads east to take on Clint in a non-district game. The Friday, Sept. 4 kick is at 7 p.m.
Austin has its home opener against Jefferson in a 7 p.m. kick on Friday, Sept. 4.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Austin High's ground and pound outlasts El Paso, takes the Claw
