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The Bearcats traveled to Valley Mills
this past Friday night where they were defeated in their season opener
by a 15-35 final score.
 After
DeLeon won the toss and elected to defer their choice to the second
half, Valley Mills was able to take their opening possession and drive
the length of the field for the first touchdown of the game.
After falling to an early 6-0 deficit,
Gustavo Calzada was able to revive the Bearcats as he returned the
Bearcats first kick off return of the season 82 yards and placed the
Bearcats at the Eagles 8 yard line.
With the great field position, Calzada
was able to kick a 27 yard field goal to bring the Bearcats within
three of Valley Mills after just one possession.
The Bearcats would not be able to score
again in the first half, but they did get close on the final play of
the half as Vince Flores intercepted an Eagle pass in the end zone and
returned it to the Eagle 30 yard line as the horn sounded ending the
first half of play.
The score at the half was 20-3 in favor
of Valley Mills.
The Bearcats started the second half with
the ball and drove the ball the length of the field before stalling
out deep in Eagle territory.
For the remainder of the third quarter
and most of the fourth, Valley Mills controlled the game and built
their lead to a commanding 35-3 before the Bearcats were able to score
two touchdowns in the final two minutes of regulation.
During that final two minutes of the
game, L.C. Williams rushed for a touchdown, Gary McClearen would catch
a touchdown pass from Jeremy Lindley, and Calzada would recover an
onside kick.
The two late touchdowns closed the gap in
the game and brought the final score to 35-15 in favor of the Eagles.
“The coaching staff learned a lot about
the kids Friday night,” said Coach John Ward. “The boys never gave up.
They fought to the very end of the game.”
Coach Ward went on to say, “There are a
lot of exciting things about the game. Our will power was tested, and
we didn’t quit.”
“Our bread and butter are the Four
Bearcat Laws: Stance, Alignment, Technique and Desire. We have to work
on getting better on those each and every week.”
Williams was the leading rusher for the
Bearcats with 92 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries while Lindley
added another 59 yards on six carries and completing four passes for
41 yards and a touchdown.
Gary McClearen was the Bearcat leading
receiver with 30 yards and touchdown on three receptions while Kevin
Smith had one reception for 11 yards.
Defensively, the Bearcats were led by
Calzada and Williams with 10 tackles each, Tyler Gardner with a fumble
recovery and Vince Flores with two interceptions.
This week, the Bearcats will travel to
Cisco on Saturday, September 9 to play the Hico Tigers in the Chelsey
Field Fall Classic with a starting time of 2:00 p.m.
Chelsey Field has recently been fitted
with a turf surface and an indoor practice facility.
There will be two other football games
played on Saturday as well. Baird will play Lubbock Christian before
the Bearcat’s game at 10:00 a.m. and Albany will face Ranger at 7:30
p.m.
“Hico will not have as much size as
Valley Mills,” said Coach Ward, “But they are very scrappy and quick.”
The Tigers are returning four offensive
and four defensive starters from a 6-4 team and they were trampled by
Hamilton last week by a final score of 47-26.
“They have a good quarterback in (Louise)
Baker. He moves well, and they execute very well as a team,” said
Coach Ward.
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