FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
Week 1 of sub-5A high school football was filled with hard-nosed action. Rio Hondo and Santa Rosa battled until the end at Warrior Stadium while Raymondville and St. Joseph Academy traded touchdowns like it was the new Madden NFL game.
RAINING TOUCHDOWNS: St. Joseph at Raymondville was expected to be a high-scoring affair, but nobody saw this coming.
With an inexperienced quarterback calling the shots and an entirely new offensive line in the trenches 55 points seemed out of reach.
However, Raymondville head coach Frank Cantu and his staff never lost faith and wound up on the better side of another 55-45 thriller.
“Our offensive line did a good job up front,” said Cantu. “David Marroquin and Albert Najara also did a good job rushing because we ran so well it opened up the opportunity for our quarterback to throw some safe passes.
“The game just turned into a shootout and it went back and fourth. Both offenses were clicking really well. People got their money’s worth.”
Sophomore quarterback Daniel Gutierrez was the big question mark for the Bearkats heading into the season opener. After Raymondville’s then-starting quarterback went down with a season-ending injury during a scrimmage, Gutierrez was thrown into the starting spot with virtually no varsity experience.
“It was one of those things that we were able to run the ball so well that it opened up the pass,” said Cantu. “Daniel stepped up and did not play like a sophomore. When the game was on he looked very poised and calm, and he threw some very big passes. Overall he just had a really big night for us.”
The victory, however, didn’t come without its losses. Starting free safety Josue Garcia left the game with a broken collar bone and is expected to be out at least four weeks.