By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
The Del Rio High School Rams celebrated homecoming by notching their third win of the season over the Medina Valley High School Panthers.
The Rams raised their record to 3-6 and 2-3 in district while the Panthers fell to 5-5.
The night marked the return of quarterback Jayden Mendoza. Although he only completed one pass out of four attempts, he helped the Rams establish a running game by scrambling about for 84 yards and a touchdown run.
Del Rio got on the scoreboard first in the game’s opening quarter after breaking up a pitch out from Medina Valley and recovering the ball on the 21-yard-line.
Two plays later, Fermin Rodriguez rumbled up the middle for 12 yards to notch the Rams’ first score. Rodrigo Tamez nailed the extra point to put the Rams up 7-0.
It didn’t take long for Medina Valley to match them early in the 2nd Quarter with Brody Ripps running for a 56-yard touchdown and Brennan Kear knotted the score at 7-7.
The Rams marched down the field and Mendoza capped off the
drive with a 5-yard saunter into the left side of the end zone on a reverse jet sweep. Basically, all the Rams went to the right while Mendoza ran to the left and strolled into the end zone untouched for their final score of the game as Tamez nailed the extra point for a 14-7 lead.
In the 3rd quarter, both teams’ defenses held and gave each punter a chance to build their stats with each specialist getting three kicks in the game’s only scoreless quarter.
Midway through the fourth, MVHS’s Brody Ripps went for a 36-yard sprint along the visitors’ sideline for the game’s final score.
The difference in the game came when the Panthers extra-point team muffed the attempt with what sealed the team’s doom.
The defense consistently played tough throughout the game with Moses Fernandez leading the effort with 4 tackles and three assists and Logan Henderson getting 4 tackles and one assist.
Daniel Perez, Matthew Abrego and Juan Hernandez each got a tackle for a loss.
Jacob Ortiz, Jose Garcia and Yeshua Bocanegra each recovered a fumble.
Next Thursday is a rivalry game for Del Rio as they travel to battle Eagle Pass where both teams will be trying to notch their fourth win of the season.
The writer can be reached at joelalangton@gmail.com .
