RIO HONDO — After battling to hand the Port Isabel Tarpons their first loss of the year, the Rio Hondo Bobcats couldn’t overcome enough hurdles to claim the top seat in the District 16-4A DII standings.
Ultimately it was turnovers and a big second-half kickoff return which plagued the Rio Hondo Bobcats, helping the Orange Grove Bulldogs to a 21-18 win Friday night at Bobcat Stadium.
The Bobcats threw three interceptions on the night, including two in the first half, and had a lapse in kickoff coverage, allowing Orange Grove’s Ricky Martinez to return the kick to the house.
That was the ensuing kickoff after Rio Hondo took a 10-7 lead on a 10 yard pass from Eli Pitones to Derek Salazar in the early part of the third quarter.
Rio Hondo trailed by as much as 11 in the end, but pulled within a field goal of tying on Marco Garate run and an Eli Pitones two-point run.
However, miscues were too much for Bobcat head coach Rocky James and company to pull the game out.
“That kickoff return was really the difference in the game. We had just went up on them and then they turn around and run one back on us; that was the difference in the score,” James said after the game. “We played sound defense all night, but we just didn’t score enough. We turned the ball over and we just didn’t get it done on the offensive side. We fought back, but we just ran out of time.”
Now, the Bobcats (6-2, 2-1) will face Raymondville and hope that the Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0) will trip up next week against Port Isabel so that they can have a shot at the district crown.
While the Bobcats have been the talk of the district defensively, the Bulldogs defense made the plays Friday and hopes that the district is on notice.
“Everybody talks about (Rio Hondo’s) defense down here and we’re way up there, so nobody talks about ours,” Orange Grove head coach Jerry Bomar said. “We’re really good on defense too, but our kids had to play tough the whole second half. We could’ve put the game away in the first half, but (Rio Hondo) is a tough team who kept fighting. Our kids have to win tough games like these; I’m real proud of them.”
The Miscues were everywhere for the Bobcats Friday.
After Orange Grove quarterback Hondo Harris threw an interception in the end zone, Bobcat receiver Salazar dropped an easy pass from Pitones in the end zone on the next drive, making the Bobcats settle for a Danny Cucul 25-yard field goal.
On the ensuing drive Orange Grove’s Martinez ran in a 5 yard run to make it 7-3 late in the first.
On Rio Hondo’s third drive of the game, Bobcat back up quarterback Arturo Castillo was picked in the end zone.
The 7-3 score held as both defenses struggled to end the first half.
In the second half Orange Grove had just four drives, but Martinez’s kickoff return and his 20 yard catch for a touchdown from Harris was enough to put the game out of reach.