By DANNY RAMIREZ
Valley Morning Star
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Falcons remained perfect on the year
thanks to some great blocking by the offensive line combined with key stops by the defense
to beat the Raymondville Bearkats 14-12 Friday at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
Fullback Luke Moses took advantage of some great blocking by his teammates, running up the gut of Raymondville for a game-high 174 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns.
On the night, the Falcons (3-0 on the year) rushed for 324 yards against Raymondville (2-1). For the game, Los Fresnos finished with 355 total yards.
"It was a great win for us, we’re enjoying it," Los Fresnos coach Leonel Garza said. "We ran the ball well, we just broke down at crucial times.
"We should have probably put up a few more points on the board but we came up a little short on some mental breakdowns," added Garza.
Raymondville did not go down without a fight though.
Quarterback Roel Garza kept the Bearkats in the game. The senior ran for 126 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. But the Falcons’ defense bottled up the rest of the Bearkats as Raymondville finished the night with 210 total yards, 198 on the ground.
"They got a good football team," Raymondville coach Jim Hite said. "I don’t think we underestimated them, but they are a whole lot better than what they looked like the last couple of weeks."
Los Fresnos scored first on the night as Moses took a handoff from quarterback Adrian Lopez and ran right up the middle for a 26 yard touchdown scamper. Jose Valdez connected on the ever-important PAT to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead with 10:10 left in the second quarter.
Raymondville responded two possessions later.
Garza kept the ball in the option and sprinted 47 yards for the touchdown. The Bearkats though, went for a two-point conversion pass and it was batted down by the Falcons’ defense, keeping Los Fresnos up 7-6 with 3:41 left in the second quarter.
The Falcons retook the lead in the third quarter with an 80-yard drive capped by Moses’ four-yard touchdown score with 35 seconds left in the quarter.
On that drive, the offensive line came up big, as all the yards came on the ground.
But again, the Bearkats responded.
Garza capped an 81-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown jaunt in the fourth quarter with 6:02 left in the game.
Garza again kept the ball in the option, but fumbled it forward. The senior got a lucky bounce as the ball came back up right to him as he grbbed it and outran the defense for the score.
But again, the Falcons came up with a key stop in the conversion. Los Fresnos stopped the Bearkats’ run attempt for the two-point try and the lead.
The Bearkats got the ball back again with 2:24 left in the game, but two penalties and the Falcons’ defense put the game away.