By KEVIN NARRO
Staff Writer
CORPUS CHRISTI — The rugged third round of the playoffs took its course Saturday.
While La Feria exchanged blows with La Vernia, it was the play of Bears quarterback Clayton Chadwick that made the difference in a 41-13 win over the Lions in the Class 4A Division I regional round at Buccaneer Stadium.
After Lions QB Dorian Hernandez scored a touchdown that cut the lead 21-13, Chadwick answered with a 68-yard run that helped set up the knockout blow. Two plays later, Carson Duncan put the Bears ahead for good.
Chadwick threw for one score and ran for two more.
“(Chadwick) was great. When they needed him, he made the plays,” Lions coach Oscar Salinas said. “We had them in a third-and-long situation, and he was able to make a big run and that broke our back, it was 21-12 at the time. We contained him most of the afternoon, but he just made plays.”
The teams exchanged turnovers on their first possessions before the Bears took a 14-point lead heading into the half.
La Feria missed an early opportunity when it recovered a fumble at the Bears’ 30-yard yard line during the opening minutes.
A second missed opportunity came on the final drive of the second half. Hernandez directed the four-minute offense with precision until he lofted a fade route to the end zone, where La Vernia’s John Kadrmas came down with an interception.
“We struggled offensively in the first half,” Salinas said. “It took us a while to get our rhythm going, and early in the game we had some shots that we missed and that put us behind the chains, and at this level you can’t make those mistakes.”
Despite trailing by two scores, the Lions came out swinging during the second half. A big kick return from Dereck Perez helped set up an Avishai Dickerson touchdown.
Two drives later, the Lions’ defense stepped in and forced a strip sack that resulted in an interception, and took over deep in Bears territory.
After converting on a fourth-and-1, Hernandez put the Lions on the board again to trail 21-13 early in the fourth quarter. The eight-point deficit was as close as the Lions got on the afternoon.
“I’m proud of the kids and the coaching staff, they make my job easy,” Salinas said. “I give credit to the kids for adjusting to the time change and us playing a day game. I thought they handled it well. And, hey, this is a little new to us, but we have a young team moving forward.”
The Lions finished the season with an 11-2 record along with district, bi-district and area titles under their belts. Along with that came a trip to the third round, which hadn’t been done in 10 years in La Feria.