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By Richard Bravo
The Ray Bearcats traveled to Cibecue last Friday to take on the Wildcats in an afternoon contest. With the Bearcats playing in higher elevation and with temperatures a little cooler, the Bearcat team remained hot with a 76-20 win over the hosting Wildcats.
The Bearcats came out strong as the defense held the Wildcats on three downs. A bad snap on the punt attempt gave the Bearcats offense the ball on the Wildcat 21 yard line. The Bearcats offense got on the board quickly as quarterback Destry Yocum connected with receiver Dominic Bravo on the second play of the drive for a 21-yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion failed giving the Bearcats an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Bearcats quickly got the ball back as the defense kept the Wildcats from moving the ball forcing a turnover on downs at the Wildcat 15. On the first play from scrimmage after the turnover, Bearcat running back Jacob Wernett took the handoff 15 yards for another Bearcat touchdown to give them a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter of play.
With no points to show for in the first quarter of play, the Wildcats found themselves celebrating early in the second when they found the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown pass. This cut the Bearcat lead by half with 9:10 remaining in the second quarter. The Bearcats didn’t let the celebration last to long as their special teams struck again when kick returner Bravo took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for his second kick return touchdown of the season.
The two point conversion was good and gave the Bearcats a 22-6 lead. Unable to answer right back, the Wildcats go three and out and are forced to punt the ball away. Starting from their own 33-yard line the Bearcats stuck to the ground going 47 yards on five plays when running back Clarence Baptisto capped the drive with a 4-yard run to lengthen the Bearcats lead to 30-6.
The Wildcats tried to keep the game close before heading into the locker room by coming up with a big play on special teams and took the ensuing kickoff 60 yards for a Wildcat score with 2:14 left in the first half. The two point conversion failed for the Wildcats leaving them trailing 30-12. After a touchback by the Wildcat kicker, the Bearcats started from their own 20-yard line.
With quick scoring in the quarter by both teams running back Baptisto wasted no time giving his team more cushion. He took the handoff from Yocum on the first play and out ran the Wildcat defense 60 yards for the touchdown with 1:34 to go in the half. The two point failed giving the Bearcats a 36-12 lead. With little time on the clock to work with the Wildcats took the kickoff back to midfield with under a minute to play.
On their third play of the drive, the Wildcat quarterback connected with his receiver on a 22-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was good for a 36-20 score at the end of two quarters of play.
The second half of play was all Bearcats as they came out looking impressive in every category from offense, defense and special teams. The Bearcats started the half on their own 35 when the attempted onside kicked was recovered. On the second play of the half Yocum connected with Wernett on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
The two-point conversion was good for a 44-20 Bearcat lead. After the Bearcat kickoff, the Wildcats turned the ball over on their first play when linebacker Bravo intercepted the pass and returned it 37 yards to the Wildcat 8 yard line setting up a first and goal. The Bearcats punched it in quickly when Baptisto took the handoff and crossed the goal line for another Bearcat score.
The two-point conversion was good extending their lead to 52-20. With the Bearcat defense holding the Wildcats offense to minimal yards, they forced another punt giving their offense good field position at the 30-yard line. With his running backs and receivers already finding the end zone, quarterback Yocum took his shot and scrambled 30 yards on the second play of the drive to add to the lead.
The two-point conversion was good to make it 60-20 Bearcats with 5:20 left in the third. After another three and out by the Wildcats they were forced to punt. With the Bearcats already having one touchdown on special teams, Wernett added another taking the punt 32 yards for the score. The two point conversion was good putting the score 68-20 with 2:53 remaining in the third.
The next possession for the Wildcats didn’t get any better as linebacker Bravo got his second interception of the game and ran it back 26 yards for the defensive score. The two-point conversion was good for a 76-20 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
The fourth quarter was played without either team scoring giving the Bearcats a 76-20 win improving their overall record to (3-2) and (3-1) in league play. Despite being shutdown in the second, half and several players suffering injuries the Wildcats played tough till the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Offensively the Bearcats had 288 total yards. Quarterback Yocum had 3 touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush) threw for 67 yards on 4 attempts. Leading rusher was Baptisto with 98 yards on 9 carries and 2 touchdowns, and Yocum with 35 yards on 2 carries and a touchdown.
Receiving leader was Wernett with 2 catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, and Bravo with 2 catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. Wernett and Bravo also had touchdowns on special teams.
Defensively the Bearcats were led by Wernett who had 5 tackles, 2 assist, and 3 sacks, Jacob Pace had 4 tackles, 1 assist and 2 sacks, Yocum had 4 tackles and 2 assist, Bravo had 3 tackles, 1 assist and 2 interceptions, Rexx Sosa, Ryan Bickley, and Joe Rudy Lorona with 3 tackles each.
The Bearcats next game will be against the undefeated Pima Roughriders Friday night at Dave McFee Memorial field starting at 7:00 pm. Good Luck Bearcats!
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