KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
COLLEGE STATION — The question to how the young pups of Raymondville would fair in their first trip to the state 7on7 tournament was answered Thursday afternoon at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
The Kats went 2-1 in pool play and finished second behind Sunnyvale who went 3-0. Raymondville’s only loss of the afternoon came against Sunnyvale 32-19. Burnet finished in third while Palestine finished last in pool play.
The top two teams from each pool advance to Friday’s winner’s bracket where Raymondville will play at 9 a.m. on field four against Bonham.
Against Sunnyvale, Raymondville used a late Marcus Capetillo touchdown to grab a 19-14 lead at the half. In the second half it was Sunnyvale’s defense pitching a shutout, and outscoring the Kats 13-0.
“We were tired, it was a long day of games, but we made adjustments on defense and on offense,” said Xavier Ledesma. “It was fun coming out here and playing against different teams.”
The next two games were hard fought for the Kats. In the second game against Burnet, it was Capetillo who made key plays for the Kats.
Raymondville prevailed in overtime 33-27 over Burnet. Ledesma picked off a pass that set up the go head score 27-20, but Burnet quickly answered and tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Capetillo scored the game winning touchdown, and on the issuing drive, before braking up the would-be tying score to seal the win for Raymondville.
Raymondville needed every bit of energy to get past Palestine. Trailing 14-7 at the half, Zaraivion Armendarez picked off a pair of passes to help guide the defense.
After a late touchdown from Ledesma that gave the Kats a 27-26 lead in the final minutes, Armendarez picked off his second pass, and returned it to the 10-yard line before pitching it back to Jacob Posas for the pick-six and sealing a 33-26 win.
“We knew they had to go deep,” Armendarez said. “There were a few seconds left in the game, so I played back and the ball came right to me. Right now we all feel a little beat, it was a long day, our plans are to rest this evening and drink a lot of water.”