By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
TULOSO-MIDWAY, TX—The Rio Hondo Bobcats may have lost to the Randolph RoHawks to end their football season, but it doesn’t take away from what they learned overall that could be used as a foundation for continuous future success.
The Bobcats competed in the area round of the Class 3A playoffs at Tuloso-Midway High School where they were defeated by Randolph, a San Antonio area school, by a 46-31 margin.
The RHHS coaching staff, headed by longtime coach Rocky James, had a strong senior class in key offensive positions who played with talented underclassmen.
Many played a full season due to reasonably healthy players.
Perfect examples were senior quarterback Ruben Atkinson and backup sophomore Matthew Lopez. The Bobcats’ lead in games during the regular season allowed Lopez to play in eight varsity games.
Of eight offensive players to have rushing carries, five were seniors and three were sophomores.
Sophomore back Mario Lopez had the most impact with his runs. He played in all 12 games, as did sophomores Rolando Pastrana and Miguel Padron.
James coached signal caller Atkinson for the last time and also senior receivers Gavin Perez, Nate Sosa, and Rodrigo Saucedo.
If Matthew Lopez continues to improve under center, he will have sophomore receivers Miguel Padron and Emmanuel Perez as targets next year.
It led to outstanding all around play and its effects on the scoreboard.
On defense, stat leaders in tackles (Jahlion Williams) and interceptions (Rene Farias) were seniors. Among other seniors who played well defensively were Gavin Perez and Devin Rodriguez.
Sophomore Neo Leos will return and try to once again lead the team in sacks. Other sophomores who will return are Miguel Padron and Pastrana.
“We had a great season (9-3 record), and with four shutouts in a row to finish the season was awesome,” James said. “Every season, the seniors and underclassmen have to mesh, with the seniors leading the way. Our seniors this year were awesome young men and they led the way on and off the field. I’m very proud of them.”
Against Randolph, the closest Rio Hondo came to taking a lead was 12-10 at the end of one quarter. The RoHawks were equally, if not more talented than the Bobcats and it showed the rest of the game.
“Well, at the end of the first, we trailed by two points so we were playing pretty good. We had a lull on the offensive side of the ball in the second quarter, and the defense didn’t get the stops we needed,” James said.
“The second half, we played a lot better. It might have been a different story if we had played like that for four quarters.”
James said this year’s team was, “definitely one of our best teams I’ve been blessed to coach.”
Seven of the seniors began their varsity careers as freshmen.
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