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As a team, the Ray High School Bearcats have been struggling, unable to give the crowd anything to cheer about in their first two games. However, last Friday night they gave the crowd plenty to cheer about as they put up huge numbers and beat up on the Sentinels from the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind in their home opener. The Sentinels took the opening kickoff starting their first offensive possession from their own 46-yard line.
Unable to move the ball, the Sentinels were forced to punt. Using a little trickery, they caught the Bearcats off guard with a fake punt that they ran 65 yards for the first score of the game. The point after was good to give the Sentinels a 7-0 lead with 9:35 left in the quarter. The Bearcats were stunned with the Sentinels score. They stayed cool and keep their composure as the offense took the field after a kickoff return of 15 yards by Patrick Morales giving the Bearcats 1st and 10 at their own 35.
The Bearcats first possession was not what the fans were expecting, going three and out leaving the Bearcats being forced to punt. Having confidence in his offense, coach Willie Jordan decided to go for it on the forth down. His offense did not let him down by getting the first and keeping the drive alive.
The next play Bearcat quarterback Destry Yocum connected with receiver Dominic Bravo on a quick slant and Bravo raced 45 yards for a Bearcat touchdown. Jacob Wernett added the 2-point conversion to put then Bearcats up by one with a score of 8-7 with 6:50 left in the first. After a nice kickoff by Daniel Harmon, the Sentinels started their second possession from their 21-yard line. The offense of the Bearcat quickly returned as the defense forced the Sentinels to punt. Not wasting any time, Yocum connected with running back Clarence Baptismo on a 52-yard pass to give the Bearcats another touchdown.
The second quarter was all Bearcats as their offense quickly took the field when their defense stopped the Sentinels once again. The Sentinels attempted another fake punt, but the defense was not fooled this time. They stopped the Sentinels short of a first down allowing the offense to take over on downs with excellent field position. Starting from the Sentinel 23 yard line the Bearcats needed just four plays to add another score when running back Jacob Wernett took the handoff and rushed 15 yards for the score.
The Bearcats started the third quarter receiving the kickoff and taking it to their own 20-yard line. On their first play of the second half Yocum handed off to Wernett and he outran the Sentinel defense for an 80 yard touchdown run. This gave the Bearcats a 58-7 lead with 9:00 left in the quarter. Not able to move the ball past the tough Bearcat defense, the Sentinels go scoreless in the third. The Bearcats got one more score before the third quarter ended on a 6 yard run by Baptismo and gave the Bearcats a demanding 64-7 lead.
The final quarter of play began with the Sentinels taking over the ball on their own 35-yard line. The Sentinels didn’t give up and found the end zone one more time. The Sentinel ball carrier found a seam in the Bearcat defense on the first play of the drive and ran 65 yards for the score. The two point conversion attempt failed by the Sentinels. With most of the Bearcat starters done for the night, the second team offense took the field. They put together one final drive when running back Lara capped a six-play 51-yard drive to score the games final touchdown on an 11-yard run. The two point conversion was added by Morales making the final score 72-13. Congratulations to the Bearcats on their first win of the year!
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