Rams hold off Bobcats

SAN ANTONIO — The Edinburg High Bobcats will have to stomach essentially giving away Saturday night’s area round game to Del Rio for the rest of the offseason.

The Bobcats held on for as long as they could despite five turnovers before the Rams finally put the game away late, scoring 14 points off of those errors in a 22-12 victory at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.

“They have nothing to be ashamed of,” Bobcats coach Joey Caceres said. “We’ve come a long way. We’re a bi-district championship team and they are champions. That’s something we needed to bring back to Edinburg.”

Defensively, the Bobcats could not have put together a better performance Saturday night as they held District 29-5A’s second-place team to a touchdown, one first down and only 57 yards of offense in the first half.

The Rams’ lone score came off Edinburg’s third turnover of the first half when wide receiver Steve Treviño coughed up the ball on a Del Rio punt which put them at the Edinburg 9. Two plays later, Josh Washington punched it in from 2 yards out to put the Rams on top 7-6.

The Bobcats (6-6) regained the lead in the third quarter when quarterback Steven Guerrero hooked up with Treviño for a 30-yard TD reception after the Rams committed a turnover of their own on their first drive of the second half.

But from that point, Edinburg never reached the end zone again and committed two more turnovers in the fourth quarter, both interceptions from Guerrero. His second pick of the night put Del Rio comfortably ahead 22-12 with 7:24 remaining after Washington, on a pitch, found Weston Morgan wide open for the completion on fourth-and-15.

The play fooled the Bobcats after it was the same designated play the Rams attempted on third down but this time Washington found Morgan open on the right side of the field.

“We played hard. We played very hard.” linebacker David Guevara said. “I know it. Defense played its hearts out. Our defense is a real strong defense. We came out and gave it 100 percent. We wanted this game so bad but it didn’t come out the way we wanted it to be.”

Before that score, Washington and John Steed were held in check by the Bobcats defense. But the duo chipped away at Edinburg’s defense late in the third quarter, trading carries before Washington scored on a 4-yard run that regained the lead for Del Rio at 15-12 and capped an 81-yard drive with 9:06 remaining.

“Edinburg played their guts out,” Rams coach Stephen Hoffman said. “They have super kids. First half we didn’t very well. They came out and hit us in the mouth. They kind of took control of the whole first half.

“Our kids don’t have the quit in them. When I came here, we’ve been working on that. I think, I’m not sure, we’re over that now.”

Ramiro Paez covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4470 or via e-mail at rpaez@themonitor.com.