By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s offense showed some new wrinkles in its Friday night meeting against the visiting Laredo United Longhorns, but it wasn’t enough.
The Rams trailed by four at halftime, but United outscored Del Rio 17-7 in the second half as they sent Del Rio to a 31-17 loss. The Rams dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in district play.
With starting quarterback Jayden Mendoza out again due to injury, sophomore Casimiro Cardenas was called on to lead the Rams into battle. Cardenas shocked Rams fans when on the first play from scrimmage he found Hassem Mussi for a 27-yard pass that moved Del Rio into United territory.
Del Rio would get as close as the United 13-yard line before settling for a 30-yard field goal attempt by Rodrigo Tamez. The kick was good, and the Rams jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.
The Rams defense announced its presence on United’s first offensive possession when Yeshua Bocanegra sacked Jorge Luna for an eight-yard loss that led to a Longhorns punt.
Despite Zane Hughes kicking off Del Rio’s next drive with a 26-yard run, the Rams were eventually forced to punt back to United. United used its passing game to quickly move down the field. Luna hit four different receivers on the drive, capping off the 91-yard drive with a 12-yard pass to Colt Lozano that helped give the Longhorns a 7-3 lead.
The Rams turned to their all-district running back on their ensuing drive as Del Rio used a steady dose of Fermin Rodriguez to march down the field and punch holes in the Laredo United defense. Rodriguez carried the ball 10 straight times before surging into the end zone from four yards out for the score. Tamez’s kick gave the Rams a 10-7 lead.
Del Rio’s lead didn’t last long. The Longhorns used seven plays to move down the field. Luna found Jesus Garcia-Perez for a three-yard scoring strike to reclaim the lead, 14-10.
United had a chance to pad its lead, but a 33-yard pass from Luna to Alek Leven wound up carrying the wide receiver out of bounds as the first half came to an end.
The Longhorns got the ball to start the second half and put together a marathon 15-play, 74-yard drive fueled primarily by 42 yards on the drive by Victor Reyes. United’s drive ended at the Del Rio 4-yard line, but Luis Eduardo Ortega came on and hit a 22-yard field goal for a 17-10 United lead.
The teams exchanged punts before United found the end zone again, this time on a 14-yard touchdown run by Ortega. The score pushed the Longhorns to a 24-10 lead over Del Rio.
The lead grew to 31-10 on the Longhorns’ next possession when Leven scored his second touchdown of the game, reaching the end zone on a four-yard run to push their lead to 31-10.
Del Rio made one final push to add to its side of the scoreboard. Hughes had a 22-yard run, and then on fourth and two, Rodriguez broke loose for a 30-yard run to set up Del Rio in a first and goal from the United 10-yard line. With just under six seconds left to play, Cardenas lofted a pass to Mussi in the back corner of the end zone for the score, helping to make the final 31-17 in favor of United.
The Rams are scheduled to travel to Laredo Friday, Oct. 18, to face United South at 7 p.m. at the Student Activity Complex.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
