The Lobos turned kickoff coverage into a launching pad, then had to hang on while the Pirates tried to turn a comfortable preseason night into a cliffhanger. El Paso got the 38-31 win, but not before a 22-point lead nearly evaporated.

Wesley Patterson opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run, and Teddy Cooper’s extra point made it 7-0. Pirates kicker Roy Smith answered with a field goal, but the next two El Paso scores were anything but routine: Robert Peery took kickoffs back 99 and 103 yards for touchdowns. Cooper converted both, and the Lobos had surged to a 21-6 lead in the second quarter.

Smith kept the Pirates within striking distance with two more field goals before Josef Smith found Raymond Ashe for a 32-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left in the half. That made it 28-9, and Cooper’s third-quarter field goal stretched the margin to 31-9. For a while, El Paso’s special teams had made the game look like a runaway.

Then the Pirates found their bite. Lawrence Battle connected with Donald Rivas for touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, and the second was followed by a successful two-point conversion. Suddenly the Lobos’ lead was down to seven. Gayle’s seven-yard touchdown run with 4:08 remaining, followed by Cooper’s extra point, restored some breathing room at 38-24. Battle ran for a seven-yard score late, and Smith’s extra point cut it back to 38-31, but El Paso stayed in front.

Peery’s returns were the night’s loudest exclamation points, while Patterson contributed 48 rushing yards and a touchdown. Josef Smith finished with 220 passing yards and a touchdown; Ashe had 41 receiving yards and the score. The Lobos’ offense also had its rough edges: Smith’s passing line came with three interceptions, and El Paso converted only three of nine third downs.

The team numbers tell the tale of a wild split. The Lobos ran for 98 yards and intercepted two passes, while the Pirates piled up 325 passing yards and converted eight of 16 third downs. Battle threw for two touchdowns and added a rushing score; Rivas caught both scoring passes. El Paso also forced two fumbles, though it recorded no fumble recoveries.

For Patrick Panton’s club, the preseason takeaway is plain: the return game can flip a scoreboard in a heartbeat, but a 31-9 advantage is no excuse to let the fourth quarter become a fire drill. The Lobos made the plays that mattered—and escaped with the win.