LYFORD — Rio Hondo’s Keyan Lopez busted through the middle of the Lyford Bulldogs’ offensive line and strip-sacked Lyford quarterback Osmar Martinez.
The Bobcats jumped on the ball to seal a 20-14 win and co-District 16-3A DI championship in the RGVSports.com Week 11 Game of the Week on Friday at Lyford’s Bulldog Stadium.
“Great being district champs, it has been a few years now,” Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James said. “We went through a tough COVID period, and for these guys as seniors to get an opportunity to win a district title, we are sharing, but we will take it.”
Rio Hondo went up 20-14 thanks to a 4-yard touchdown by sophomore quarterback Ruben Atkinson. Receiver Gavin Perez made big plays to set up the score.
The Bobcats picked up eight points on the night from kicker Leo Quezada, and a 42-yard field goal cut the Lyford lead to 14-13.
Osmar Martinez rounded the corner of the Rio Hondo defense on the first play of the Bulldogs’ first possession in the second half, taking it 80 yards for the touchdown.
“Once we settled down on defense, we were able to put together our stops,” James said. “They scored on the first play in the first half and the first play in the second half. Other than that, they did not score. We did a great job once we settled down and got into a groove.”
The Bobcats took a 10-8 lead with a 29-yard field goal by Quezada with four minutes left in the first half.
Rio Hondo’s Tony Barrientos shook off a fumble on the Bobcats’ first drive when he took a flick from Ruben Atkinson’s option 12 yards for the score late in the first quarter.
Lyford only needed one play to find the scoreboard. Osmar Martinez took the opening snap 72 yards for the touchdown. Lyford scored the two-point conversion to go up 8-0.
“They showed fight to the last second,” Lyford coach Jerry Jauregui said. “I told them, one game is not going to define us. The good thing about this is we still got a game next week. It is postseason. We got to go out there and prepare for that game.”
San Diego (8-2, 4-1) defeated Falfurrias (7-3, 3-2) 23-22 to take the top seed. Rio Hondo (5-5, 4-1) grabs the second seed because of a loss to San Diego, and Lyford (7-3, 3-2) will be the fourth seed in the district.