Lyford holds off Rio Hondo to clinch district championship

LYFORD — The 32-3A torch has officially been passed.

Or rather, taken.

Lyford overcame a sluggish start and fought off a valiant Rio Hondo team to win 21-14 at Bulldog Stadium on Friday night.

With the win, Lyford stays perfect on the season at 9-0 and more importantly, 6-0 in league play. The Bulldogs clinch the district championship heading into next week’s Willacy County Cotton Bowl against Raymondville.

“They gave us a heck of a game. We knew Rio Hondo wasn’t just gonna roll over and hand us the title,” Lyford head coach Jaime Infante said. “My hat’s off to Rocky (James) and his staff. We told the kids we had to go out and earn it against Rio Hondo and that’s exactly what they did.”

Rio Hondo (4-5, 4-2) won the past two district crowns and will now have to beat La Feria next week to make the playoffs. A Bobcat loss to the Lions means their season would be finished.

“Penalties and turnovers killed us,” Rio Hondo head coach Rocky James said of four giveways and 75 yards in flags. “They’ve (Lyford) got a good football team. We just didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked. Now we’ve got to take care of business next week.”

The Bobcats certainly made it difficult and didn’t go down without a fight. In fact, it was Rio Hondo that came out with something to prove early on.

Lyford went ahead on a Johnny Esparza-to-Jacob Carranco 8-yard TD pass with 3:51 left in the first. The PAT was missed for a 6-0 edge.

And the Bulldogs were poised for more points, but Rio Hondo’s Tino Ortega picked off Esparza (16-of-41, 279 yards, 3 TDs). It was one of three picks on the night for Esparza.

With that possession, Trevor David (17-104, TD) later punched it in from three yards out. The Cats made their point-after for a 7-6 edge with 8:06 left before intermission.

And the Cats played some D, too.

Esparza was constantly harassed as the Lyford offense couldn’t get on track in the first half.

“We kinda sputtered there in the first half,” Infante said. “At halftime we told the kids we had to settled down, be patient and it would come.”

It most certainly did.

To open the half, the Cats had an 84-yard touchdown pass called back due to a holding penalty. After a punt, Lyford’s crowd started to get cranked up.

So did the Bulldogs.

Esparza hit Jorge Lerma (5 catches, 98 yards) and Carranco for first downs. Then the capper was a pretty, against his-body throw by Esparza, good for a 39-yard TD pass to Lerma. The senior then hit Bobo Quiroga for the conversion to make it 14-7 with 7:19 left.

On the Bobcats’ next possession, Lyford’s Andrew Villarreal leaped into the air to snag an interception. Then one play later, Esparza hit Carranco (4 catches, 60 yards) on a 27-yard pass and the wideout backpedaled into the end zone to make it 21-7.

Rio Hondo came back with a one-yard TD dive by Isaiah De La Cruz in the fourth, but the Cats drew no closer as Lyford recovered the onside kick.

Meanwhile, now the crown is Lyford’s and after the rivalry game with the Bearkats, it’s on to the playoffs.

“Our goal was to win a district championship, and the kids have earned everything that’s happened,” Infante said. “The kids have been focused and it’s something they wanted since last offseason.”