In Week 3 action in sub-5A football, Rio Hondo and Raymondville battled back from halftime deficits to post big wins over their respectable opponents.
RIO HONDO 52, BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH 48: Down 27-0 and with moral running low, Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James knew that if his team could just put some points on the board things could turn around in the Cats’ favor.
“I had a feeling that attitudes could change if we could score some points,” said James. “They (Rio Hondo players) were coming off the field with their heads down because Kai Money and his guys had some big plays, and our kids were pretty down. But once we put those six points on the board the tide started changing.
“I could see them (St. Joseph players) getting tired because they had a lot of kids going both ways, but then we got a big defensive stop, a couple of turnovers and it just seemed like momentum had switched our way.”
Rio Hondo went into the half trailing 27-20 and very much back in the game. Twenty seconds into the third quarter, Rio Hondo quarterback Tyler Bush saw a hole down the middle of the field and took it 70 yards to score the tying touchdown.
Bush finished the game with 188 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while passing for 240 yards on 18 of 27 with three touchdowns.
“He was phenomenal,” said James of Bush’s performance. “Last week he didn’t play his best game because it was his first game of the year and he didn’t play up to his standards. But last night he really changed it around and did a tremendous job of orchestrating the offense.
“He was able to keep the offense rolling. We put up all of our 52 points in three quarters and that was pretty special.”
Other notables for Rio Hondo were: Adrian Torres, who rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, and Erik Pizarro, who caught eight passes for 120 yards and one touchdown. In total, the Bobcats had 532 offensive yards.
RAYMONDVILLE 35, LYFORD 20: While the offense put up most of the points in this year’s WillacyCountyCotton Bowl, it was the defense that allowed the Raymondville Bearkats to rally for the win.
Just before the end of the first half, the Bearkats’ defense came up with a decisive stop inside their own 5-yard line that kept them on top 20-14 at halftime.
In the second half, two of Raymondville’s three touchdowns came from defensive turnovers. Raymondville’s Deion Castillo provided the spark by intercepting two passes while junior MarcusCapetillo returned a fumble recovery 13 yards for the final score of the game. Capetillo finished the game with 71 yards on 13 carries.
Other top performers of the game were: Lyford QB Chase Hinojosa, who finished with 168 yards on 14 of 24 passing with two touchdowns and two INTs. Raymondville QB Daniel Gutierrez threw for 143 yards on 8 of 18 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 126 yards on 17 carries for one TD.
