(San Benito News/Ray Quiroga)
By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
RIO HONDO, TX—The Bobcat Varsity Football Team returned to its winning ways to the tune of a 49-21 victory against the Falfurrias Jerseys at Bobcat Stadium, last Thursday.
With a District 16-3A Division I loss followed by a bye, the convincing win came at an opportune time for the Bobcats, who improved to 2-1 and are now in third place in their district.
“I told our players they did a great job of getting back to our winning ways; two weeks ago, we lost to Bishop, and it was a game we shouldn’t have lost,” Rio Hondo Coach Rocky James said of the 20-13 setback. “The loss, we did it to ourselves. We knew we were better than that, so it was important to come back two weeks later and show we could play better.”
Early on last Thursday, the Bobcats appeared as though they were going to blow out the Jerseys (0-3 district, 1-5 season) as they took a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.
The Bobcats looked impressive on the ground and through the air, as Rio Hondo quarterback Ruben Atkinson threw a 31-yard pass to Rodrigo Saucedo three minutes into the game to open the scoring barrage.
Atkinson followed that up with scoring runs of 34 and one yards.
Following each touchdown, kicker Leo Quezada connected on his point after attempts. In fact, he made good on all seven PATs in the game for Rio Hondo.
Falfurrias got within a touchdown midway through each of the second and third quarters. Scoring pass plays from quarterback Jaxon Garcia (14-of-31 pass completions, 125 yards passing) to three different receivers forced the Bobcats’ defense to alter the game plan.
“The momentum changed when we gave up the three-touchdown lead” James said. “Their quarterback was unbelievable. He was hard to contain, but we adjusted to Falfurrias’ style of play by putting guys that we fast enough to get at him.”
Rio Hondo, however, continued to counter with the play of Atkinson, as the senior signal-caller was in on three of four scoring plays in the second half, scoring on runs of one and two yards; and throwing a 44-yard pass play to Keyan Lopez.
Atkinson threw for more than 230 yards on at least a dozen pass completions. He rushed for around 50 yards. He had one interception and a fumble on a hand-off to a running back.
Rio Hondo’s Miguel Padron led all rushers with more than 70 yards.
Rio Hondo iced the game with 3:46 left when a Falfurrias punt play was blocked in the end zone.
The Bobcats travel on Friday to play at Lyford. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
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