Heading into the final week of regular season football in the Rio Grande Valley, Rio Hondo and Lyford are tangled in the District 16-3A DI standings.
Rio Hondo and Lyford square off in the RGVSports.com Game of the Week at 7:30 p.m. today at Bulldog Stadium in Lyford to hash out what becomes of the district.
All four seeds in District 16-3A DI have yet to be decided, and to make the situation even more interesting tonight, San Diego and Falfurrias will be playing as well, all with a chance to share the title.
In district play, Falfurrias beat Lyford, Rio Hondo beat Falfurrias, Lyford beat San Diego and San Diego beat Rio Hondo.
If Lyford (7-2, 3-1) wins and San Diego wins, Lyford will be the No. 1 seed in the district. If the Bulldogs lose and Falfurrias loses to San Diego, the Bulldogs will be fourth.
If Falfurrias wins and Lyford wins, then the Bulldogs will be second in the district. If the Bulldogs lose and San Diego loses, Lyford will be third.
“This is stuff that you dream of. Not everybody has the opportunity for the last game of the year where if you win, you will be district champions,” Lyford head coach Jerry Jauregui said.
Rio Hondo (4-5, 3-1), with a win and a Falfurrias win, will be the No. 1 seed in the district. If Falfurrias beats San Diego and Rio Hondo loses, the Bobcats will be the No. 4 seed.
A Rio Hondo win and a San Diego win will mean the Bobcats will finish second. A Rio Hondo loss and a Falfurrias loss, the Bobcats will be third.
“We did not play our best game last week when we played San Diego,” Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James said. “I know the kids are looking forward to playing Lyford and winning the district title. Our kids are very fired up to play against Lyford.”
The district’s craziness provides the backdrop for a what could be an entertaining matchup between RGVSports.com’s No. 1 Sub-5A team in the Valley, Lyford, and a Rio Hondo team that won four straight games before losing to San Diego in Week 10.
“They are pretty good team, but they are beatable,” Lyford’s Osmar Martinez said. “We are a better team.”
Osmar Martinez leads the Valley in rushing with 1,589 yards and is joined by his twin brother, Oscar Martinez, to create a dynamic duo on offense. Oscar Martinez has battled injuries to churn out 784 rushing and receiving yards and nine touchdowns. The Martinez twins are honored to share the field and are ready to do it again tonight, Oscar Martinez said.
Other key players for Lyford tonight will be Elijiah Vela, Aaron Hinojosa and Victor Rubalcaba on defense. The trio leads the Bulldogs in tackles. Hinojosa also has 5.5 sacks, and Isaias Gonzalez leads the team in picks with three.
Offensively, Alexas Rosas has 666 rushing yards with two touchdowns, and David Caballero has 403 receiving yards with three touchdowns.
Rio Hondo’s Tony Barrientos leads the Bobcats in rushing with 815 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“I feel like it is going to be a good game, now that we have Scott Atkinson back, he was out last week,” Barrientos said. “I feel like we are going to have a good game and put on a show (tonight).”
The Bobcats needed Atkinson, their center, Barrientos said.
Making plays with Barrientos this season is Roman Perez, a wide receiver and a defensive back for the Bobcats. Perez has 328 receiving yards and four touchdowns on the season. On defense, Keyan Lopez has 128 total tackles and six sacks.
“Hopefully we can go out there on both sides of the ball and go and give 100% all four quarters,” Perez said.