By BRIAN ARGABRIGHT
The 830 Times
Del Rio played one of its better football games in recent history but came up just short in its home opener Friday night.
The Rams trailed by 14 before Fermin Rodriguez scored on a one-yard run that put Del Rio within seven points of visiting Kerrville Tivy with less than a minute to play, but a failed onside kick and a helmet-to-helmet penalty against the Rams on Tivy’s second to last offensive play sealed the 43-36 loss to the Antlers.
The 36 points was the most Del Rio had scored in a game since a 46-28 win over Laredo Nixon in October 2021 and it was the most the Rams had scored at home since a 42-6 win over Nixon in 2020.
The start of the game was delayed an hour due to lightning in the area. When the teams did take the field, Tivy’s offense sputtered as debuting starter Seth Shuler missed on his first two passes and the Antlers eventually punted.
Del Rio took advantage as a 32-yard run by Rodriguez set the Rams up at Tivy’s 10-yard line. Rodriguez then finished the drive with a 10-yard scoring run before Rodrigo Tamez’s kick made it 7-0 three minutes into the game.
The Rams defense got the ball right back as a deep Shuler pass floated over his receiver and into the hands of Del Rio’s Damion Bagneschi who returned it to Kerrville’s 47-yard line.
Rodriguez continued his strong running, picking up 37 yards on two carries before quarterback Jayden Mendoza got loose for a 25-yard run that set the Rams up inside the Tivy 10. Zane Hughes then showed off his speed by beating Tivy’s defenders to the near pylon and helping stake the Rams to a 14-0 lead.
Mendoza was seen visibly limping throughout the second quarter. He eventually gave way to Ivan Ramirez at the start of the third quarter and was seen on crutches with his right ankle wrapped up.
Tivy changed up its offensive philosophy in the second quarter, mostly abandoning the pass for a steady dose of Domynik Vasquez’s runs. The move paid off as the Antlers scored on a one-yard run by Vazquez. Shuler then found Cade Jones for the two-point conversion that cut the Rams lead to 14-8.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hughes watched as the ball bounced near the sideline. Instead of skipping out of bounds, it rolled down the sideline before a Tivy defender pounced on it at the Rams’ four-yard line. Jones scored on the ensuing play and Tivy grabbed a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter.
Tivy put the clamps on Del Rio’s running game for the rest of the first half, but the Antlers’ offense was just getting warmed up. Shuler found Colin Rose for the score to make it 22-14, and then capped his first half with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Carson Jones to send the teams to halftime with Kerrville leading 29-14.
Tivy caught the Rams by surprise at the start of the second half when the Antlers recovered an onside kick to get the ball back. Del Rio’s defense was able to stop Tivy on that possession, but Kerrville’s next time with the ball resulted in a 10-yard touchdown run by Vasquez that helped push Tivy’s lead to 36-14 with just over two minutes left in the third.
After Del Rio squandered a good scoring chance that was buoyed by an Ivan Aguilar run to the Tivy 8-yard line, Tivy sent Peyton Bailey out in place of Shuler. The ensuing drive ended in an Antlers punt and Del Rio went back to work.
Ramirez continued his strong running and helped Del Rio into Tivy’s side of the field. Ramirez then got into the action as he took the snap, rolled to his right and pitched a perfect toss to Hughes who caught the ball in stride and raced 36 yards for the touchdown. Aguilar added the two-point conversion and the lead was 36-22 with 6:44 to play.
Shuler returned for Tivy and immediately made an impact, launching a 35-yard touchdown to Cade Jones to give Kerrville a 43-22 lead with just under five minutes to play, but the Rams weren’t done.
After a big kickoff return by Hughes, Aguilar gouged the Antlers’ defense to get to the Kerrville 22. A few plays later, Aguilar plowed his way into the end zone for an eight-yard scoring run and helped make the score 43-29.
Twenty seconds later, Tivy snapped the ball over Shuler’s head and Del Rio’s Juan Hernandez recovered it at the Antlers’ 13. After Ramirez’s run moved Del Rio to the five-yard line, Rodriguez reached the end zone for the second time to help cut the lead to 43-36 with 50.4 seconds left to play.
Del Rio tried an onside kick, but Tivy recovered near midfield. With two timeouts in his pocket, Rams head coach Fiacro Ramirez used the first one after a short run by Vasquez. After Vasquez carried the ball again on second down, Ramirez used his second timeout. Tivy then lined up in victory formation and Tivy took a knee, but the officials stepped in and said Del Rio’s second timeout didn’t count so the third down play didn’t count. Ramirez asked if Del Rio would get its second timeout back, and one official appeared to say yes, but the explanation was never announced to the audience.
On the new third down, Shuler didn’t immediately take a knee and instead backpedaled before appearing to leap backwards as Rams defenders closed in on him. Del Rio’s Malcolm Lopez was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Shuler and that penalty, plus a mandatory 10-second runoff, essentially ended the game for the Rams.
Del Rio travels to San Antonio Friday to face the Warren Warriors at 7 p.m. at Gustafson Stadium.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
