By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE — ZaRaivion Armendarez led Raymondville with three touchdowns, including a pick-six, in a 51-32 bi-district round victory over Corpus Christi West Oso to open the University Interscholastic League Class 4A Division II playoffs on a chilly Friday night at Burnett Stadium.
The win by the Bearkats (9-1, 3-0 16-4A DII) was their seventh straight over the Bears (4-7, 2-3 15-4A DII). Raymondville’s area-round opponent will be Wimberly, which defeated Poteet 49-35.
While Raymondville coach Frank Cantu and his staff have prided themselves on a stingy defense, they showed they were equipped with the offensive skill needed to prevail in a shootout.
“It was one of those (games) where we couldn’t afford not to score,” Cantu said. “We needed to score every time we got the ball and count every single stop. … All honor and glory to God that we were able to do that.”
The visitors made it known from the jump that they were in for a fight, as West Oso’s Zephaniah Rankin rushed for a 29-yard touchdown with 5:53 to go in the first quarter to give the Bears a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point attempt.
With just less than two minutes to go in the first quarter, Raymondville sophomore running back Nathan Munguia answered with 9-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bearkats their first lead of the game.
The West Oso duo of quarterback Malachi Flores and receiver Cameron Williams gave Raymondville trouble for much of the night. Flores hit Williams on a short screen pass for a 17-yard West Oso touchdown to take a 13-7 edge at the 9:35 mark of the second quarter.
Raymondville’s Justin Cantu responded with the first of his two rushing touchdowns to put the Bearkats ahead by one point with 6:27 to play in the second quarter.
And then, as he has so often for the Bearkats during their nine-game winning streak, Armendarez made another game-changing play.
With West Oso starting at its own 6-yard line, Flores’ pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and deflected by a Bears receiver. It ended up in the hands of Raymondville’s top playmaker, who returned it for a 12-yard touchdown to inject the home team with a momentum boost with less than 90 seconds to go in the first half.
“That was humongous,” Cantu said. “I thought that play was big. And the fact that we got the stop right after they got the ball to start the second half. So we flipped (the advantage) they had of having the ball first.”
And right on cue, after the defense came up with a big stop, Armendarez picked up right where he left off, running for a 51-yard touchdown to give Raymondville a 28-13 lead over West Oso with 9:11 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bears’ offense appeared undeterred by the daunting task in front of them, as West Oso’s Flores took a huge hit in the pocket but had just enough time to throw a deep ball to Williams for a 67-yard touchdown to bring West Oso within nine points with 8:30 to play in the third quarter.
West Oso’s defense also gave Raymondville a brief scare, as Anthony Peña intercepted a long pass attempt from Jayson Cantu that gave the visitors the ball near midfield.
On the ensuing drive, Justin Powell hauled in a pass from Flores on a post route for a gain of 46 on third-and-15 to set up Anthony Peña’s 23-yard touchdown run to draw the Bears as close as they got to threatening to tie the game or retaking the lead. The score trimmed Raymondville’s lead to 28-26 with 5:39 to play in the third quarter.
“They had us on the ropes,” Cantu said. “We normally (apply) a lot of pressure. (West Oso) had a good scheme, they had time to complete some passes. I thought we tackled poorly, but a lot of credit to them, coach Pete Guajardo and a great scheme and a great job that he’s doing there.”
The Bearkats outscored West Oso 23-6 from that point forward. A Saul Garcia field goal, 28-yard touchdown run from Braeden Lopez during the closing seconds of the third quarter, a 3-yard Armendarez touchdown run and a 50-yard touchdown run from Justin Cantu late in the fourth quarter helped seal the win.
During that same span, West Oso only mustered a 3-yard touchdown catch by Rankin that came with 2:43 to go in the fourth quarter.