The Rosebud-Lott varsity football team traveled to Leon last Friday night. Although they fought hard throughout the game, they fell in their season opener, 27-21 in overtime.
“I think we learned a lot of valuable lessons,” head Coach Brandon Hicks said. “On the bright side, with a young team and a lot of young players, they saw what it took in order to be successful and they adjusted.”
Leon would begin the scoring early in the first quarter, scoring two touchdowns before the Cougar defense could stop them. The Cougars finally answered with a defensive touchdown by Yahir Mendoza after a fumble by Leon’s offense.
Rosebud-Lott’s defense stood strong for the rest of the half, holding Leon’s running yards to minimum and keeping the score to 14-7 at half time. Freshman quarterback Pryce Rabroker’s first varsity start was rocky at first, but leveled out by the end of the game, completing 9 out 18 passes for a total of 64 yards.
“As a freshman quarterback, Pryce did a fantastic job,” said Coach Hicks.
The Cougars picked up the momentum in the second half with touchdown runs from Carson Kahlig and Jamarquis Johnson. The defense turned up the heat on Leon when Daniel Rodriguez and Gustavo Loera forced a turnover deep in Leon territory.
The Cougars kept the game tied with hard defense against Leon and ended regulation time tied at 21 each. Leon won the toss for the ball first in overtime and was able to score first and end the game with a one touchdown win.
Players of the game include Jamarquis Johnson, who had a total of 92 offensive yards and a touchdown, Carson Kahlig with 48 yards and a touchdown and DJ Hicks with 33 offensive yards. Daniel Rodriguez leads the Cougar defense with a total of 10 tackles and a forced turnover. Carson Layne, DJ Hicks and Labron Washington follow close behind with eight tackles each. Other players to mention include Eric Castillo on defense.
“With a short week and short turnaround with a very good team, we have another test,” said Hicks. “We get to find out what we are made of and hopefully our boys will respond the right way and play like I know they will.”
The Cougars will continue their season with another non-district match-up with Wortham, Thursday night in Wortham.
“Wortham is very, very big football team up front,” Hicks said. “They have the size advantage on us, but with that we know what they are gonna do and we can prepare for that.”
Rosebud-Lott and Wortham were forced to move up their game this week. Many area game schedules were adjusted in order to guarantee officials for the game. The lack of officials in the Central Texas area is now affecting scheduled games. But no matter what, Hicks looks forward to the challenge this week.
(all photos courtesy of Charla Kahlig and RL Athletics)
