The Rockdale Tiger varsity team lost a tough match up against the Teague Lions this past Friday at Tiger Stadium.
It’s hard to describe this game, it could have been a blow out with the Tigers winning a decisive victory and going into this week’s Taylor rivalry game with some swagger. That’s the potential of this year’s Rockdale Tigers.
The game started with the Tigers kicking off and the Teague Lions running the ball back for a touchdown. The Lions made a 2-point conversion and went ahead early in the first few seconds of the ball game, 8-0.
This quick touchdown took the oxygen out of the stadium. I’m not sure if you would call it confusion or disbelief but the Tiger’s had to quickly find a new rhythm and prepare the offense to get onto the field.
Senior veteran signal caller, Bladyn Barcak showed immediately that he has all the tools and the grit needed to lead this offense and scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter. Senior Tiger kicker Daniel Romero kicked the extra point making the score Teague 8, Rockdale 7.
Teague scored on a 6-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. They opted to kick for the extra point and failed, making the score going into the half, Lions 14 and the Tigers 6.
These Tigers are good and they came out ready to play after the half. Head Coach and Athletic Director Hunter Hamrick said, “There is no quit in this team. They never laid down tonight, even after big turnovers.”
The Tigers scored twice in the third quarter. Senior wide receiver Gerren Marrero- Carter caught a 28-yard pass from Barcak and junior running back Sawyer Chalk made a 14-yard catch and score off of a pass from quarterback Barcak as well. This gave the Tigers the lead with a score of 21-14.
It was not long before Teague answered and came back with an 11-yard touchdown run. The Lions failed to score on a 2-point conversion making the score Rockdale 21, Teague 20, keeping the Tigers on top as the third quarter ended.
In the fourth quarter the Lions scored on an 11-yard pass reception and they were also successful on the 2-point conversion. The final score was 28-21, a Teague Lions win over the Rockdale Tigers.
What was good about this game? A lot. Special teams should get a good grade, kicker Daniel Romero was 3 for 3 on extra points, punter Wilmer Sorto performed under tough conditions and the defense played well.
We saw outstanding play from senior Tiger linebacker Riley Spears and junior lineman AJ Sandoval. Senior quarterback Barcak had 80 yards in passing and 47 yards in rushing.
Time ran out on these Tigers. No doubt there were opportunities to win this game. Interceptions, other turnovers, a personal foul that resulted in an ejection that forced personnel changes did not help. The Tigers struggled to maintain their composure after these changes and that’s understandable. Tiger fight never dies and we can anticipate this coaching staff having our team ready for next week’s road game against Taylor at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Season District W-L W-L Cameron 1-0 0-0 Academy 1-0 0-0 Franklin 1-0 0-0 Rockdale 0-1 0-0 Lorena 0-1 0-0 McGregor 0-1 0-0 Troy 0-1 0-0
Last week: Teague 28, Rockdale 21; Hillsboro 28, McGregor 15; Cameron 45, Lago Vista 21; Academy 48, Rogers 20; China Spring 35, Lorena 13; Whitney 28, Troy 21; Franklin 36, Wodville 33.
This week: Rockdale at Taylor, Cameron at Yoakum, Mexia at Franklin, Academy at Lago Vista, West at Lorena, McGregor at Groesbeck, Lexington at Troy.
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