Texico's senior tight end Lucas Walthers busts though the tackle of Gruver's senior Payton Thoreson for a touchdown in the second quarter of Friday's night game at Texico. Texico won by the score of 33-7.

Texico defensive back Alan Valles returns an interception 50 yards to the Gruver 3-yard line during the first quarter of Friday's game.

Texico senior quarterback Jose Posada looks downfield for an open receiver in the first half of Friday's night game against Gruver High School in Texico.

TEXICO — It didn’t take long for Texico to put away the Gruver Greyhounds Friday night.

Capitalizing on mistakes that helped set up short fields, the Wolverines scored three times on four plays in the first four minutes of the second quarter and cruised to a 33-7 victory in the school’s homecoming game.

Senior quarterback Jose Posada ran for one touchdown and threw for another, and the Wolverines sacked Gruver senior Payton Thoreson.

“We played a lot better than we played last week (in a 27-26 loss to the Clovis junior varsity),” Wolverines coach Ryan Autrey said. “Gruver has enough athletes that if you make enough mistakes, they can beat you.

“Thankfully, most of our mistakes didn’t hurt us.”

Texico (3-2) took advantage of a short punt to drive 40 yards on its first possession, capped by Posada’s 2-yard run. Then the roof fell in on the Greyhounds.

After Texico sophomore Alan Valles returned an interception 50 yards to the Gruver 3 late in the period, the Greyhounds forced a fumble on the next play to dodge that bullet.

But Thoreson fumbled at the 5 on the first play of the second period, and Posada promptly hit junior Donovan Johnson for a touchdown.

Gruver then punted, and on the first play sophomore Shay Harrison went 73 yards for a touchdown. Gruver’s Korbin Irwin then fumbled at the Texico 40 at the end of a 17-yard reception, and two plays later senior Lucas Walthers turned a pass to the flat into a 37-yard TD, breaking several tackles along the way for a 27-0 lead.

“Texico’s a good ballclub; they do a lot of good things,” Gruver coach Terry Felderhoff said. “But I firmly believe we’re a better ballclub than what we showed in the first half.

“They capitalized on our mistakes, and that’s what good teams do.”

In the fourth quarter, as Johnson was getting his second sack, junior linebacker Jesus Rivera ripped the ball from Thoreson and returned it 66 yards for a score. Collier, who rushed for 114 yards, put the Greyhounds on the board late with a 3-yard TD run.

“Everybody did their part,” Johnson said. “That’s all we need. It really made a difference when we got on a roll.”

Johnson said it wasn’t hard to bounce back from the loss to the Clovis JV.

“That was a good game for us to learn,” he said. “We made a lot of mistakes, and I think that’s why they came out on top.”

Texico spread the wealth, with nine players getting at least one carry and five collecting at least one reception. Junior lineman Brandon King also had two sacks for Texico.

“I’m proud of these guys,” Autrey said. “They work hard. As long as they give me a full effort, I can coach the mistakes.”