In a tense, neck and neck battle against the Giddings Buffaloes, the Rockdale Tigers came up short in the final seconds of an emotion packed season opener, losing 17-16 in Buffalo Stadium, Friday night.
“(Giddings) is a good 4A team that they played close,” said Rockdale High School Head Football Coach Jeff Miller. “I think we were much better than last week.”
The Buffaloes got on the scoreboard early, with Chad Adams eight-yard touchdown run at the 6:56 mark.
With five minutes left to go in the half, sophomore running back Cam’Ron Valdez scored a 22-yard touchdown run, the Tiger’s first points of the season. This was followed by senior kicker Luis Iruegas extra point to tie the score 7-7.
At the start of the third quarter, the Buffaloes’s kicker Mark Orocio scored a 30-yard field goal to put Giddings in the lead 10-7.
The Buffaloes senior running back Ja’Darius Johnson scored at the opening of the fourth quarter, which was followed by another Orocio extra point, putting the Buffaloes ahead of the Tigers 17-7.
The Tigers drove the ball up the field for 43 yards on nine plays, which set up a 41-yard field goal by Iruegas, putting the team within a touchdown of the tie at 17-10.
With less than three minutes of play left in the game, while attempting to run out the clock, the Buffaloes fumbled in their backfield and Jackson Perry dived on the ball for a recovery. Perry’s play set up the 8-yard touchdown pass from Ross Loth to Perry to make the score 17-16.
With momentum on their side, the Tigers set up for the extra point, and Iruegas’s kick flew left of the goal post ending the Tiger’s run. The game ended with Giddings running out the clock.
“Luis is a such a great kicker,” said Miller. “Since we don’t have a practice field, he doesn’t have any goal posts to practice his kicks.”
Tigers vs. Hornets
The Rockdale Tigers will take on Caldwell at Hornet Field on Friday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m. for their second road game of the season.
Both teams are coming off opening game losses and are looking for their first victory. Caldwell lost 42-21 to Edna at Cowboy Memorial Stadium last Friday.
One of the Hornets strengths is its 26-player senior class that has been together since junior high school, according to the Bryan Eagle.
Dominique Chambers, Caldwell’s running back/ wide receiver rushed for 1,462 yards and 15 touchdowns last year and caught 21 receptions, six for touchdowns.
He will be part of an offensive line of five seniors led by guard Ray Flores, tackle Andew Telg and quarterback Will Faust, who threw for 1,400 yards last year, according to Bryan Eagle reports.
The Tigers will open district play against the Manor New Tech Titans on Friday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. for their first game at the new Tiger Stadium.
Second quarter Rockdale-Cam’Ron Valdez 22 run (Luis Iruegas kick)
Third quarter Giddings-Orocio 30 field goal
Fourth quarter Giddings-Johnson 9 run (Orocio kick) Rockdale-Iruegas 41 field goal Rockdale-Jackson Perry 5 pass from Roth Loth
RHS individual leaders Rushing: Valdez 17-86; Loth 4-48; Perry 6-29; Kesean Raven 3-5. Passing: Loth 9-18-1, 59 yards, 1 TD; Jace Robinson 2-8-1, 44 yards, 1 TD. Receiving: Perry 3-52; Quentin Hughes 1-22; Kobe Mitchell 2-15; Loth 1-10; Raven 4-4. Tackles: n/a.
10-3A-1 STANDINGS
Team Season District
W L W L Rockdale 0-1 0-0 Yoe 1-0 0-0 Jarrell 1-0 0-0 LagoVista0-1 0-0 Academy 1-0 0-0 New Tech 0-1 0-0 Troy 1-0 0-0 Last week: Yoe 49, Mexia 34; Whitney 27, Jarrell 12; Lampasas 20, Lago Vista 7; Rogers 35, Academy 21; Weimar 43, New Tech 0; Troy 15, Salado 6 This week: Yoe vs. Gatesville, Jarrell vs. Florence, Lago Vista vs. Lampasas, Salado vs. Academy, New Tech vs. Eastside Memorial, Lexington vs. Troy.
GHS 14, RHS 8 (JV)
GHS RHS
12 First Downs 13 41-172 Rushing 32-156 1-9-2 Passing 11-26-2 21 Passing yards 103 193 Total yards 259 1-1 Fumbles 1-1 7-36 Punts 8-38 12-65 Penalities 8-85
Score by quarters RHS 0 0 0 8 8 GHS 0 14 0 0 14 Scoring summary: 4 yd TD by Tucker Prestridge, 2 point conversion by Chase Mayfield. Big Plays: 30 yard catch and run by Hagen Land in 4th quarter. RHS individual leaders: Offense: Chase Mayfield, Bryce Govan, Hagen Land. Defense: Kaden Kruse, Christian Briggs, Aaron Avila
GHS 27, MHS 0
GHS MHS
17-83 Rushing 34-58 15-22-291 Passing yards 5-15-48 374 Total yards 106 1-0 Fumbles 1-0
Score by quarters MHS 0 0 0 0 0 GHS 7 20 0 0 27
13-2A-1 STANDINGS
Team Season District
W L W L Milano 0-1 0-0 Thorndale0-0 0-0 Thrall 0-1 0-0 Marlin 0-1 0-0 Rosebud 0-1 0-0 Holland 1-0 0-0 Hearne 0-1 0-0
Last week: Riesel 27, Thrall 13; Mcgregor 52, Marlin 0; Anderson-Shiro 13, Rosebud-Lott 6; Holland 49, Moody 7; Franklin 50, Hearne 6.
This week: Thrall vs. Moody, Marlin vs. Whitney, Rosebud-Lott vs. Chilton, Holland vs. Mart, Hearne vs. Groesbeck
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