By Richard Bravo
Copper Basin News
The Ray Bearcats spectacular season came to an end Saturday night by losing their second round playoff game 57-6 to the Gilbert Christian Knights. The Bearcats who just came off a shutout victory the previous week against Duncan had their hands full against the fast high powered offense of Gilbert Christian. The Bearcats struggled the entire night both on offense and defense. The defense of the Bearcats came into the game allowing just 14.9 points a game this season. The Bearcats could not contain the Knights offense allowing a season high 57 points. As for the Bearcat offense the Knights held them to a season low of just 6 points who throughout the season averaged 33 points a game. The Bearcats also had a season high in turnovers giving the ball away eight times on the night.
The Knights dominated the game scoring 35 unanswered points in the first half. The lone score on the night for the Bearcats came with 24 seconds in the half when quarterback Destry Yocum connected with receiver Seth Harmon on a 5 yard touchdown pass. The PAT attempt failed sending the Bearcats into the locker room trailing 35-6.
The second half of the game was no different as the Bearcat struggles continued. The Bearcats turned the ball over on four straight possessions to start the second half. The Knights capitalized on each one of the Bearcat miscues stretching their lead to 57-6 at the end of three quarters of play.
The lead stayed the same through the final quarter of play as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Although the outcome wasn’t what the Bearcats hoped for the Bearcats played hard every second never giving up.
Offensively the Bearcats were led by running back Robbin Newman who rushed for 142 yards on 13 carries. Yocum completed 9 passes for 65 yards and 1 TD. Receiver Dominic Bravo had 4 catches for 42 yards and Harmon had 3 catches for 25 yards and 1 TD.
Defensively Ryan Bickley led with 6 tackles and 1 sack for a loss of 8 yards. Bravo and Yocum had 5 tackles each. Joe Rudy Lorona and Jacob Pace had 4 tackles each with Pace collecting a sack for a 5 yard loss. Harmon, Nick Lara and Jordan pace each had 2 tackles. Julio Noriega, Gregg Roemmerman, and Daniel Bravo had 1 tackle each.
The Bearcats finished the season with an (8-2) record their best since joining division VI football. I want to thank all the fans who came out and showed their support Saturday night and throughout the season. Big thanks to the Ray High School band and cheerleaders who displayed their school spirit at every game. Thank you to the Ray Booster Club who dedicated their time and efforts into making every home game an eventful one. Finally I would like to thank the Ray Bearcat coaching staff and the entire Ray Bearcat football team on an exciting and memorable season.