By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
This was not the way the Del Rio Rams wanted to welcome New Braunfels to town.
Del Rio (0-3) was held to just two first downs and kept out of the scoring column as the New Braunfels Unicorns (3-0) used a 27-0 halftime lead to propel itself to a 41-0 shutout of the home team.
Del Rio started the game with Ivan Aguilar at quarterback and usual starting quarterback Jayden Mendoza sharing rushing duties with Nathan Mojica. New Braunfels’ size and speed was too much for whomever was in the backfield, however, as the Unicorns recorded a safety less than five minutes into the contest.
After the free kick, the Unicorns wasted little time scoring on offense as Brock Stewart capped the team’s first offensive drive of the game with a seven-yard touchdown run. Graham Taylor’s kick made it 9-0 with just over four minutes left in the opening quarter.
Del Rio’s defense helped keep the Rams in the game early on. Richard Camposano forced a pair of fumbles for Del Rio, one recovered by Leonardo De Luna and the other by Eli Crispin.
New Braunfels regained its composure in the second quarter, scoring 18 points to take a double-digit lead into the half.
The Unicorns’ first score of the second quarter came on fourth and goal with 8:05 to play as quarterback Levi Golla scored on a four-yard run to help make it a 16-0 lead.
After Finn Haynes intercepted the Rams, Golla made a return trip to the end zone, evading a pair of defenders along the way before getting walloped at the goal line and tumbling into the end zone. Caleb Moore came on and added the two-point conversion for a 24-0 Unicorns lead.
As time expired in the first half, Joshua Hinton hit on a field goal to send the Unicorns and Rams to their locker rooms with New Braunfels holding z 27-0 lead.
Del Rio made some changes to its offense in the second half, inserting Mendoza into the quarterback position and relying on Mojica to be the primary ball carrier. Neither backfield, though, the first half set nor the second half set, could produce much offense as each tallied just one first down.
New Braunfels didn’t have the same offensive issues. Caleb Moore scored on a five-yard run to make it 34-0, and then added a 32-yard touchdown run with 13.3 seconds left in the third to increase its lead to 41-0 headed into the fourth quarter.
Despite having the momentum, New Braunfels wasn’t interested in adding to its lead. The Unicorns drove inside the Rams’ 10-yard line but instead of pushing into the end zone the team chose to take a knee until turning the ball over to the Rams via downs. Del Rio returned the favor in a show of sportsmanship as the Rams also took a knee to run out the clock and bring an end to the game.
Del Rio travels to San Antonio Davenport (3-0) Friday for a 7 p.m. matchup.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
