The Rockdale High School football team played a big game inside a big stadium and put up big numbers in their 70-6 defeat of Manor New Tech.
The Tigers had a total of 464 offensive yards and 10 touchdowns in a game filled with firsts – first sellout crowd, first game, first district win, first safety, first everything in their new stadium.
The Rockdale scoring spree during its first game to a sellout crowd inside the $5 million Tiger Stadium helped add even more energy to Friday night’s carnival-like atmosphere.
“It was a great crowd and we’ve been waiting on something like this for months now,” said Jeff Miller, Rockdale High School head football coach and athletic director. “Our kids and our community deserve something like that, and it was just a great atmosphere. We were ready for (the stadium) to be all finished.
“I kept looking at the wrong end for the scoreboard. I’ve looked to the left for 12 years,” Miller laughed. “It felt bigger, and felt like a playoff game. That’s a pretty neat feeling.”
The crowd had to look at the scoreboard quite often, because the Tigers scored 11 times during its first District 10-3A game.
They got off to a quick start, when wide receiver Quentin Hughes scored the first touchdown in the Tigers new digs with a 19-yard pass from quarterback Jace Robinson. Luis Iruegas scored the first field goal in the stadium, which put the Tigers up 7-0.
Robinson scored soon after on a two-yard touchdown run and Iruegas made the kick. The Tigers scored once more in the first quarter on a 27-yard run by running back Brandon Hernandez. Iruegas made the kick to put the Tigers ahead 21-0.
In the second quarter, Rockdale more than doubled their score. The Tigers got their first safety of the season when the defense forced Titan quarterback Lavonte Benford out of bounds after chasing him into the end zone.
The Tigers scored four more times before the end of the half.
First, wide receiver Landon Towns scored his first touchdown of the season on a 27-yard pass from Robinson., and the kick by Iruegas was good. Next, running back Kesean Raven scored on an 80-yard run afterwards. Iruegas kicked a field goal. Levi Baggerly scored another touchdown on what was his first of two interceptions on the night. Iruegas made his sixth extra point to put the Tigers up 44-0. The Tigers closed the half with a 50-6 lead when running back Cam’Ron Valdez scored on 15-yard run. Iruegas missed the kick.
“We knew there was a chance we might over-match this group,” Miller said. “We had to warn them against not playing hard in the first half, but we executed well, and played hard. Obviously, a great way to start off the new stadium.”
The Titans got their only touchdown of the evening when wide receiver James McDonald broke away from Tiger defenders on a 75-yard pass from Benford. The extra point by Princely Umanmielen failed.
“First of all, it was a big district game,” Miller said. “We wanted to get as much participation and as much success as possible.”
The second half featured many different faces for the Tigers. Junior varsity standout Chase Mayfield scored a touchdown on one of his two carries. Running back Jahemi Rubin scored his first of the season on a two-yard run.
“We have confidence in a lot of players,” Miller said. “We had nine people
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