ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
LYFORD — The Lyford Bulldogs improved their chances in the District 16-3A Division I football race with a 37-6 triumph at home Friday against the Aransas Pass Panthers.
The win upped the Bulldogs’ records to 4-2 on the season and 2-1 in district. Aransas Pass slipped to 1-5 and 1-2.
The Bulldogs gained momentum early by scoring on their first two possessions. In fact, Lyford was up 16-0 in the opening quarter before the visiting Panthers had even run a play.
Aransas Pass fumbled the ball away while receiving the kickoff following Lyford’s first touchdown, and that miscue gave the Bulldogs a chance to go ahead by double digits.
“This football team has turned a corner,” second-year Lyford coach Israel Gonzalez said. “Our senior leadership is great. That leadership starts with Joaquin Gonzales, Alfonso Garcia and the rest of our seniors teaching these (underclassmen) guys like Cayleb Klostermann and Devon Mendoza just how Bulldog football is supposed to be played.
“I’m extremely proud to be their coach today,” Gonzalez added. “I think our guys are headed in the right direction at the right time of the football season, and we’re excited for next week.”
Klostermann, the Bulldogs’ sophomore quarterback, highlighted the win by rushing for a pair of TDs and passing for another score.
Klostermann completed a 25-yard TD pass to Gonzales on the Bulldogs’ opening possession of the game to put Lyford ahead 8-0 following a successful two-point conversion.
After the Bulldogs recovered one of the Panthers’ many fumbles on the ensuing kickoff, it didn’t take long before Klosstermann sprinted across the goal line from 9 yards out to make it 16-0 following another successful two-point conversion with 4:48 left in the first period.
The Bulldogs added two more TDs during the second quarter for a 30-0 halftime advantage.
Mendoza’s 1-yard run at the 5:17 mark of the second period and the extra point by T.J. Nieto gave the home team a 23-0 edge. Klostermann went into the end zone from 1 yard out on a somewhat frantic final play of the first half as time expired to make it 30-0 following another Nieto extra point.
Aransas Pass closed the gap to 30-6 when Pepper Garcia scored on a 14-yard run with 8:22 to go in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs made it 37-6 with 7:05 remaining when Gonzales bolted into the end zone from 11 yards away for his second TD of the contest and Nieto again added the extra point.
“We knew Aransas Pass was going to be physical and we had to match that intensity,” Gonzalez said. “Aransas Pass is a good team, and we knew that coming in. I’m proud of my ‘Dogs’ for coming out tonight and doing that.
“This was a great win for our community,” the Lyford coach added. “(I would add) Come out and support the Bulldogs.”
Lyford was coming off a 41-3 district win at home the previous Friday against Falfurrias. Aransas Pass lost 49-0 in district last week at George West.
Lyford goes to San Diego next week in a district matchup against the Vaqueros. Aransas Pass continues district play next week at Falfurrias.