Murphy’s Law was in full effect late Thursday afternoon, as the bus taking the Rockdale 7-on-7 group to the Needville State Qualifier Tournament got a flat tire between Somerville and College Station.
This caused Rockdale to make it to Blue Jay Stadium about 45 minutes behind schedule, facing a potential forfeit.
“Luckily the tournament director moved everything back 30 minutes, so we didn’t have to forfeit,” said athetic director Jacob Campsey. “But when we got there, we didn’t get to warm up or throw.
“The other team was waiting on the field for us.”
Rockdale went on to lose their opener to Hamshire-Fannett 20-7.
“We played well,” Campsey said. “But we looked like we had just stepped off a bus.”
Despite starting the evening off with a loss, the Blue-and-Gold fought back for a chance at a state tourney trip, with a 26-6 win over Brookshire-Royal and another when they wrapped up pool play with a 20-7 victory over Class 4A Bay City.
However, two double-digit wins weren’t enough to get that one state qualifying berth given to the tourney champion as Hamshire-Fannett also beat the remainder of their competition and punched their ticket to state with a 27-20 win over Sealy in the state qualifying round, who went undefeated in Pool A.
MOVING ON—As of Tuesday afternoon, Rockdale is not scheduled to play in another state qualifier tournament. Campsey said that they are interested in finding another tournament to play in, but that it’s difficult to find one since they’re searching on short notice.
Some members of Rockdale’s 7-on-7 team include Blaydn Barcak, Kobe Mitchell, Ivan Bonner, Mario Casarez, Wyatt Windham, Creek Windham, Cruz San Migel, A.J. Hicks, Devon Hicks and Robert Owens.
FALL—The Tigers kick off their season on Aug. 27, with a home opener against La Grange. RHS beat the Leopards in last year’s debut 40-14. They start district play at Tiger Stadium with the McGregor Bulldogs on Sept. 24.
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