Going into Friday evening’s game at Tiger Stadium with winless Caldwell, it was a surprise to Tiger spectators when the home team went into halftime trailing 22-14.
The beginning of the second didn’t change the atmosphere at all when seven plays into the third quarter, Jamar Hewitt helped extend the Hornet lead to 30-14 with a 13-yard TD run.
However, fortunes began to change for the Blue-and-Gold d when Davioun Scott’s three carries for 42 yards led to 9-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Blaydn Barcak to classmate Wyatt Windham to cut Caldwell’s lead to 10.
The Tiger defense did their part by forcing Caldwell to turn the ball over on downs two minutes later and getting RHS the ball back at their own 47.
Rockdale’s offense cut the game to 30-27 on a goal-line touchdown by Barcak on a possession that lasted five minutes and 11 seconds. The Hornets got the ball back with 11:19
The Hornets got the ball back with 11:19 left and maintained possession until the Tigers took over with 4:48 left in the game, giving Rockdale one last chance.
The Tigers then proceeded to move the ball 47 yards down the field on nine plays until Barcak and Windham linked up again for a six-yard touchdown. Daniel Romero made the extra point to give the Tigers a 34-30 lead, the eventual final score.
“The feeling all the way through was it was just one of those nights where you feel like you’re not getting any of the breaks,” said RHS head coach Jacob Campsey. “We couldn’t get off the field on third down, couldn’t protect, they outplayed us and outplayed us in three of the quarters.”
“You know, sometimes that happens and the mark of a good team is being able to come back with five minutes left in the fourth quarter,” he said. Top performers for the Tigers were Scott, who had a season high of 105 yards on 12 carries. Barcak was 15 for 25 with 176 yards and four touchdowns.
Owens was the main target of the night with four catches for 108 yards.
THIS WEEK—With the bye week coming, this will be the first time the Tigers have had a Friday off since August, something Campsey says is ideal for his team at this time.
“The number one focus is to get our legs under us a little bit,” he said. “It’s been a long last three months and our guys are tired.”
“We have a bye later than most people do, so we’re going to take Monday and Friday off, but Tuesday through Thursday will get back to basics a little bit and do some stuff we did during two-a-days and slow down a little bit and look at the fundamentals of the game,” he said.
STANDINGS—As of press time, the Tigers sit in fourth place of district 11-3A-I. Cameron is in third after Academy defeated the Yoe 32-28 this past Friday and undefeated Lorena is in first.
A district championship is still a possibility and a loss to Lorena but a win over Academy and Troy could catapult the Tigers to district runner up.
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