The Abilene Cowboys fell to 0-8 on the season with a 48-6 loss at Ulysses on Friday night.  Abilene, the #16 seed in the west in Class 4A will open the playoffs next Friday at McPherson.

Ulysses got off to a quick start against Abilene as they scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions in the first half.  The Tigers got a 5 yard touchdown run from Nick Holmes with 6:12 to play in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.  They then got their longest score of the night on a 90 yard run by Oscar Martinez to extend their lead to 14-0 with 1:15 left in the opening quarter.

Holmes would score a second time with 8:43 left in the half on a 15 yard run to give the Tigers a 21-0 advantage.  Edgar Soto would then add the final points of the half on a 54 yard run with just 12 seconds left before intermission to give Ulysses a 28-0 lead at the break.

Soto would add his second touchdown of the night on a 6 yard run with 6:37 to play in the 3rd quarter to give the Tigers a 34-0 lead, the P.A.T. was blocked.  Abilene finally got on the board with a 2 yard run by Quarterback, Jackson Randles. He scored with 13 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to cut the deficit to 34-6.

Ulysses added touchdowns in the final quarter on a 4 yard reception by Justin Degollado on a pass from Jordan Stein, with 10:38 left in the game to increase the lead to 41-6.  Evan Cortez added the final points of the night on a 47 yard run with 2:31 left in the game.

The Tiger rushing attack put up big numbers. Unofficially Ulysses finished with 409 yards rushing.  They had 446 total yards but did struggle with turnovers as they turned over the football four times in the game with three interceptions and a fumble.  Abilene had 221 total yards and had three turnovers.

The First National Bank of Hope Players of the Game were Kaleb Becker on offense and Camden Meeks on defense.  Becker played both receiver and quarterback in the game for Abilene.  Meeks had two interceptions for the Cowboy defense.

Abilene will be a heavy underdog against undefeated McPherson.  The Bullpups defeated Circle 49-0 Friday night.  The Cowboys lost to McPherson 48-3 on September 27th in a game that was called at halftime because of lighting.  Last year Abilene lost 62-6 at McPherson, the Bullpups scored all of their points in the first half of that game.