By DANNY RAMIREZ
Valley Morning Star
CORPUS CHRISTI — The Raymondville Bearkats rallied three times to
beat the Mathis Pirates 25-19 in a Class 3A Division I bi-district game at Cabaniss Field
here Friday night.
Raymondville will face Sinton in the regional round. Sinton beat LaVernia.
"I don’t know if it was our first playoff win or not, but it’s the best one this week," Raymondville coach Jim Hite said. "The kids did a great job. They showed a lot character and poise. They came from behind several times."
Raymondville improves to 9-2 on the year, while Mathis ends its season at 7-4.
The Bearkats’ passing game and an on-side kick recovery helped them to victory.
Raymondville went up 18-13 on a 13-yard touchdown run by fullback Israel Zamora with 5:27 left in the game. That’s when the on-side kick, that wasn’t meant to be an on-side kick, happened.
Zamora slipped on a muddy field and barely kicked the ball about 14 yards. That took Mathis by surprise and, in the scramble, Raymondville’s Joe Sosa recovered the ball.
Sosa, earlier, had missed a 22-yard field goal and had botched an extra point.
The Bearkats recovered the ball at Mathis’ 43-yard line and moved it all the way to the 29. A penalty, however, brought it back to the 43. On the ensuing play, sophomore running back Jaime Montemayor hit paydirt. That made it 25-13 with 2:51 left in the game. Tom Povias kicked the extra point.
Mathis then took the ball and scored on five plays, culminated when backup quarterback Eric Byerley connected with Derrick Saldivar on a 22-yard touchdown. Byerley’s two-point conversion attempt to Zeke Moreno failed.
But that was all that the Bearkats would allow on this rainy night.
Raymondville drew first blood in the second quarter. Roel Garza hit tight end Marco Mungia with an 11-yard touchdown pass. There was 6:14 left in the first half. The extra point failed.
Mathis responded as quarterback Chase Sugarek ran it in from two yards out. Sugarek kicked the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the half.
In the third quarter, Garza hit a wide open Leroy Zellar with a 38-yard stike with 9:03 showing in the third. The 2-point run attempt failed, making it 12-7.
Mathis came back again as Byerly threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jason Galvan. The 2-point run failed with 1:27 left in the third. The Pirates led 13-12.
That set up the Bearkats’ late heroics.