The identity crisis might be over for these Rockdale Tigers. Peaking at the right time matters. Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Hunter Hamrick said recently about his team, “They know they have the talent to compete and win.”
That’s true and win is what they did last week against the Cameron Yoemen. The final score of the game was Rockdale 47, Cameron 21.
I’ve never been taken to the woodshed, that was before my time but I now know what it looks like. It looks like the Battle of the Bell 2023. This game was really all Blue and Gold with the cross river rivals left black and blue. I was standing close to where the Cameron coaches were exiting the stadium and they did not look very anxious to leave or even get on the bus to go home and I don’t blame them.
Rockdale won the toss but deferred to receive until the second half. Cameron’s kick off team was less than spectacular most of the night and they fumbled the game opening kick off. Sophomore Tiger kickoff team specialist De’Andre Stephens recovered the fumble and went all the way to the end zone for the first Tiger touchdown of the night. As you can imagine the stadium went crazy. The Tigers were up 7-0 after a senior kicker Daniel Rodriguez extra point.
The Tigers then scored again on a 19-yard pass from senior Tiger signal caller Blaydn Barcak to wide receiver De’Andre Stephens. The Tigers missed the extra point but they were up 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
We need to give recognition to Defensive Coordinator Rene Muniz and the mighty Tiger defense. They have been solid all year long. The Tigers kept Cameron from scoring in the first quarter and held the former state champions to only seven points in each quarter after that.
The second quarter started with a third Tiger touchdown as sophomore two-way starter Sawyer Chalk ran 34 yards into the end zone. Kicker Rodriguez was good for the extra point. The score was Rockdale 20, Cameron 0.
Cameron did put together some offense that was good enough for a touchdown in the second quarter. The first of their three touchdowns for the night. The score was now Rockdale 20, Cameron 7.
Our workhorse of a quarterback, Barcak, then muscled his way into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown run. This was the first of his four rushing touchdowns in the game. The Rodriguez kick was good and at halftime it was Tigers 27, Cameron
7-- The one blemish on the Tigers for the night might have been some mix up just before the half. This small failure might have cost the Tigers another touchdown but at the end of the game it was obvious Rockdale did not need this score to win back the bell. Again, the Tigers were almost perfect Friday night.
The third quarter started out with a Yoemen touchdown and an extra point kick that made the score Rockdale 27, Cameron 14.
Rockdale answered that score with a score. Quarterback Blaydn Barcak had an eight-yard run for a touchdown. Tiger kicker Rodriguez had the extra point covered and Big Blue took a commanding lead of 34-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Tiger quarterback Barcak continued his roll in the fourth quarter by running 10 yards for a touchdown. The Tiger extra point was again good by kicker Rodriguez. The score was Rockdale 41, Cameron 14.
Came r on d id lo o k impressive as they scored on a 75-yard kickoff return. Although the play looked disast rous, as the Yoe struggled to hold onto the ball, after the dust settled, they made the last of their 21 points for the night. The score was now Rockdale 41, Cameron 21.
The Tigers then put this game in the history books as quarterback Barcak plowed 61 yards into the end zone for his fourth and final rushing touchdown. The Tigers failed on the point after but the final score of this contest was Rockdale 47, Cameron 21.
What a game for Tiger Nation. It was good to get the bell back on the right side of the river.
Coach Hamrick said, “This team won the physical side of the game. They settled in early and did what they needed to do to win this game. We put it all together tonight. We got to capitalize on the mistakes of our opponent and had things go our way.”
“This coming Friday night is a big game for us,” the coach added. “Academy is 7-1 overall and we want to be in a position to make our way into the playoffs not dependent on anyone else.”
TOP PL AY ER S— Standouts in this game were Tiger quarterback Barcak who had a total of five touchdowns, four rushing, one passing. Barcak had 178 yards on the ground and 176 yards of passing. The entire offensive line gets a high five, way to go! All gas and no brakes, I think the man can do anything. Senior linebacker Kemar Spencer had 10 tackles, including one for a loss. Finally sophomore De’Andre Stephens— who makes it look easy on the kick off team, on defense and on offense— had his typical super Tiger game.
UP NEXT— The Tigers go back on the road before they come home for one last regular season game against McGregor. The Little River-Academy Bumblebees are 7-1 for the season and 3-1 in district. Kick off will be at 7:30 p.m.
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