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The Bearcats traveled to Ranger this past
Friday night where they were able to capture their first district win
over the Bulldogs in a see-saw battle that ended in a 17-14 final
score.
The Bearcats received the opening kick
off of the game, but were only able to get one first down before
punting the ball to the Bulldogs.
On Ranger’s first possession of the game,
the Bulldogs were able to score first after converting a long third
and fifteen that allowed the Bulldogs to take an early 0-7 lead.
Ranger would not score for the remainder
of the first half, but the Bearcats were able to add ten points to
their score after a remarkable 36-yard touchdown reception by Gary
McClearen and a 27-yard field goal by Gustavo Calzada.
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BUSTIN'
LOOSE. L.C. Williams is pictured here gaining some of
his 171 yards the past Friday night against the Bulldog defense. |
The two second quarter scores would allow
the Bearcats to head into the locker room with a 10-7 lead.
Ranger started the second half with
something to prove as they were able to take their first possession
and drive the length of the field to score and take a 10-14 lead over
the Bearcats.
The momentum of the game was definitely
swinging into the Bulldogs favor if the Bearcats did not answer
quickly to the onslaught.
With great determination and guts, the
Bearcats were able to take their first possession of the second half
and take control of the game in old school fashion with some smash
mouth football. 70-yards later, the Bearcats scored on an L.C.
Williams run and took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter.
Although neither team was able to score
points in the fourth quarter, it was by far the most interesting
quarter of the game due to an inadvertent whistle, two unsportsmanlike
conduct penalties against the Bulldogs and a nail biting final play.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the
Bulldogs found themselves deep in Bearcat territory. A touchdown would
give Ranger the lead and would force Deleon to make a last minute
drive to win the game.
The Ranger quarterback took the snap,
faked to a running back and then headed to the corner with a chance to
move the ball into the Bearcats 10-yard line when a steady beeping of
a whistle was heard throughout the stands.
The line judge on the Bearcats sideline
thought the ball had been handed to the dive back and had blown his
whistle when he saw him hit the ground.
Immediately, the Ranger stands, coaches
and players went ballistic as they thought they had been robbed of a
chance to score by the mistake of the official.
One of the players on the field must have
said something to the official that was guilty of the inadvertent
whistle because he quickly tossed his flag for the unsportsmanlike
conduct.
There would soon be a second
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that must have been issued to another
player or to a Bulldog coach.
After the mayhem ceased, Ranger was
unable to score on that possession and would give the ball back to the
Bearcats with the clock winding down.
After taking over possession of the ball,
the Bearcats were unable to move the sticks and found themselves again
on the defensive as they would try to preserve their three point lead.
The game would come down to one last play
with the ball in Ranger’s hands.
The Bulldogs would run a play action pass
and look for their tallest receiver in the end zone for the game
winning score.
After the play fake, the Ranger
quarterback would find a wide open receiver in the end zone.
His pass would prove to be thrown to high which allowed Vince Flores a
chance to make up lost ground and knock away the pass and cause the
Bulldogs hope for victory to fall to the ground with the incomplete
pass.
As the Bulldog fans booed the officials
and the outcome of the game, the Bearcats exuberantly celebrated their
first victory of the season.
The victory very important for the
Bearcats because it was their first victory of the season, but it also
placed them on the inside track to capturing a playoff spot and
playing in the post season.
DeLeon’s next big game will be played
this Friday night here in DeLeon against Perrin-Whitt. The game is
scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. |
