Shawn O'Brien of the Rio Hondo Bobcats drops back to pass in Friday night's game against the Zapata Hawks. (Photos by T.J. Tijerina)
By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Running back Victor Oviedo of the Rio Hondo Bobcats cuts around the defense to gain some yardage Friday night against the Zapata Hawks.
RIO HONDO – Any loss is difficult to swallow, especially for a team with as much pride as the Rio Hondo Bobcats and their rowdy fans.
Friday night’s defeat at the hands of the Zapata Hawks was no exception for the Bobcats, who fell to the Hawks, 21-6 in a hard-fought contest.
It’s cliché, yes, but true. The game was indeed a hard-fought affair.
To begin with, Bobcat star quarterback Juan Puga, whose electrifying performances has earned him the moniker “Mr. Friday Night,” was noticeably absent early on. Meanwhile, #10 Shawn O’Brien took the snaps. Against a tough Zapata defense, the Bobcats struggled to put together successful drives.
Rio Hondo’s defense played well as well, bending not breaking initially as the Bobcat stoppers held a surging Hawks offense to six points early on before Zapata fought to add on to the score, 14-0.
Though the Bobcats made the Hawks fight for much of its yardage, fatigue did set in especially with the offense stalling often and putting the Rio Hondo defense right back on the field.
“Defensively, we played a pretty good game, but against an offense like that, just tiny mistakes can hurt you against a good offense like Zapata’s,” said Head Coach Rocky James. “Just offensively we couldn’t get going, and it made it very difficult on the defense.”
Puga, who eventually did come into the game, was still experiencing the after effects of a hard-hitting La Feria game last week. “Juan Puga has been a little banged up from last week’s game, so we sat him out,” James said. “The La Feria game was very tough.”
The offense wasn’t completely inoperative without Puga as the Bobcats managed to drive the length of the field on two occasions but came away with no points. “I think the kids were a little let down at that point,” James said.
The loss now puts Rio Hondo at 2-1 in district and 5-3 overall; but more interestingly they’re now dead even with the Port Isabel Tarpons (2-1 in district), Grulla (2-1 in district), and now Zapata (2-1 in district). With each of those teams needing to win out in order stay in contention for at least a co-championship, fans can bet the last two games of the season are going to get interesting.
“I like our chances,” James said. “Today was just a little bump in the road, and now we’ve just got to go back to basics, run the table and finish this off.”
The Bobcats next face the Grulla Gators in Rio Grande City on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
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