By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
With old faces in familiar places, the Del Rio Rams football team looked to shake things up and stun district-leading Medina Valley Friday night in Castroville.
However, Medina Valley took advantage of some early Rams turnovers and helped build a lead Del Rio could never overcome, leading to a 45-7 Rams loss.
The loss drops the Rams to 0-9 on the season and 0-5 in district play.
Early on the Rams were able to put pressure on Medina Valley quarterback Xavier Gonzalez. Matthew Abrego and Jose Manuel Garcia teamed up to sack the senior signal caller and slow down the Panthers’ first drive.
But the Panthers would bounce back led by its bruising running game. Jason Zendejas rumbled 34 yards for Medina Valley’s first score to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
After stopping the Rams’ next drive, Medina Valley returned to the end zone as Gonzalez called his own number and went in from two yards out to stake the Panthers to a 14-0 lead.
The second quarter started as badly for Del Rio as quarter could.
First, Rams quarterback Jayden Mendoza was hit and fumbled as he tried to scramble away from the Panthers’ pass rush. Medina Valley recovered at the Rams’ 14-yard line, and two plays later Gonzalez scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on an eight-yard run, to put the Panthers up 21-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Del Rio’s Aaron Smith was hit by the first Medina Valley defender he encountered and the ball shot out of his arms and up field where the Panthers recovered it at the Del Rio 33-yard line.
Medina Valley didn’t take long to take advantage of the turnover, letting Gonzalez unleash a deep pass in the direction of Raymond Rodriguez. Rodriguez reeled the ball in stride and into the end zone, building the lead to 28-0.
The Panthers would add one more score to its tally before halftime after Gonzalez pitched the ball to Connor Crisp for a two-yard touchdown that put Del Rio’s deficit at 35-0 by intermission.
Del Rio’s offense was limited by Medina Valley’s bull rush. Mendoza attempted fewer than five passes in the game and none of them led to any significant gains. Instead, it was the Rams running game that kept Del Rio moving. Mendoza, Santiago Ortiz and Fermin Rodriguez were the workhorses for the offense.
Rodriguez was a two-time all-district selection at running back headed into the season but had not touched the ball on offense unless he was sent out to punt. But the bulky, cannonball-shaped ball carrier was still a bear to take down, and his running style picked up yards and punished Medina Valley defenders.
Down 42-0, after a six-yard pass from Gonzalez to Joseph Haby, the Rams looked like they had something going. Mendoza escaped the rush and raced around the right end of the line, but he took a hard shot near his facemask before being taken down. The tackle shook the senior and he would not return to the game.
After Medina Valley’s lead climbed to 45-0 on a 36-yard field goal by Waylon Payne, Del Rio put together its only scoring drive of the game.
Rodriguez capped the scoring drive with a six-yard touchdown run only after a bruising run that carried the Rams, and a few Panthers, to the Medina Valley 16.
Del Rio’s season finale will be Friday, Nov. 7, when the Rams host their longtime rivals, the Eagle Pass Eagles, at 7 p.m. at Walter Levermann Ram Stadium. It will also be Del Rio High’s homecoming game.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
