By DANNY RAMIREZ
Valley Morning Star
RAYMONDVILLE — In a game marred by six fumbles, five interceptions
and 28 penalties, the Raymondville Bearkats took care of business in the second half to
open District 32-3A play with a 34-12 victory over the Rio Hondo Bobcats Friday at Burnett
Stadium.
The win for the Bearkats (3-1 on the year) was Coach Jim Hites’ No. 100 in his career.
"It’s a personal goal, the kids wanted to give me a ride and I said no," coach Hite said. "When you win a championship, then will talk about it. But right now, I appreciate what they did. I owe a lot of kids a lot of credit for a 100 wins.
"I’m just really glad that I was with this bunch when I got it," Hite added.
No. 100 came on a great effort by quarterback Roel Garza and another strong outing by the Bearkat defense.
Raymondville held on to a 7-6 halftime lead and came out firing in the third quarter.
Garza hit Leroy Zallar with a 48-yard touchdown strike in the team’s first possession of the second half. The PAT by Juan Tobias put Raymondville up 14-6 with 9:43 left in the quarter.
Rio Hondo (1-3) responded with a touchdown of its own.
Quarterback Albert Adames scored on a 1-yard run. The Bobcats went for the two-point conversion but the run failed as Rio Hondo trailed 14-12 with 7:43 left in the quarter.
It was all Raymondville after that.
Garza scored three times, on an 8, 4 and 10 yard runs to put the game away.
"He’s the leader of the football team," Hite said. "We build our offense around the quarterback and if we’re going to be successful, the quarterback is going to have to produce yardage. He’s really a great one.
"I’m really, really pleased with his performance," added Hite.
For the game, the Bearkats finished with 278 yards of offense, 230 of it coming in the ground.
The Bobcats managed 212 yards, with 148 coming through the quarterback tandem of Adames and Manuel Gonzalez.
Raymondville’s Jaime Montemayor rushed for a game-high 85 yards and a 55-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Tobias’ PAT put the team up 7-0.
LeRoy Alaniz answered for Rio Hondo with a 19-yard run in the second quarter. The PAT was blocked but Raymondville was called for roughing the kicker on the play. Rio Hondo decided to go for two points but was stopped on the run attempt.
The Bobcats got great field position in the first half thanks to miscues by Raymondville. Rio Hondo got the ball at Raymondville’s 46, 32, 36 and 10 yard line but only came away with six points. A great stance by the Raymondville defense kept the Bearkats in the game.
Raymondville’s Abiel Robles came up with two interceptions in the second half while teammate Jose Sosa had another.