La Feria upsets Bandera

SAN ANTONIO - Elifonso Esquivel didn't have the words.

After his Lions pulled off one of the Valley's biggest playoff upsets in recent memory, the La Feria coach had the perfect look of jubilation in his face.

The Lions were just as perfect in a dominating 31-14 win over Bandera in their Class 3A Division I regional quarterfinal game at the Alamodome Thursday night.

La Feria (7-5) dodged an early bullet from the stunned Bulldogs (7-4), but sustained solid drives on offense and forced four turnovers.

"There's no word to explain the way I'm feeling right now," Esquivel said, basking in the pandemonium around him. "I'm not surprised we won, because the kids worked real hard. It's like a dream come true. I'm so proud of these young men.

"It's a great feeling to come to the Alamodome and win."

The Lions, a team that was struggling at 1-4 earlier this year, looked nothing like that team.

Despite being two-touchdown underdogs to Bandera, they looked like champions.

Randy Rodriguez was heroic, rushing for 141 yards and two touchdowns as the Lions executed coordinator Pete Martinez's game plan flawlessly.

"We had a helluva game plan," Esquivel said of the offense. "We platooned our quarterbacks and did a great job. Randy played both ways and he came around on offense and defense."

After the Bulldogs' Cole Hubble (9-of-25 passing, 144 yards, TD) hit Cisco Ruiz for a 57-yard scoring bomb on the second play of the game, La Feria didn't panic.

They calmly answered with a six-play, 67-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard strike from Colie Long to Julio Martinez. Brian Vasquez's point after tied it at seven with 8:24 to go in the first.

Then the Lions got aggressive.

Rodriguez capped a short three play drive with a 24-yard scoring scamper as the Lions oozed confidence.

Down 14-7, however, the Bulldogs tied it with 6:52 left in the half when Hubble dove in from a yard out.

As the next series showed, it wasn't all offense for the Lions.

After a questionable fumble gave it back to Bandera at the 2-yard line, the Bulldogs proceeded to drive all the way to the La Feria 5 looking to take a lead into the locker room.

But Hubble was stuffed for no gain on second down. Then on third down, La Feria sniffed out an option play to push them back to the 16.

With no timeouts remaining, the Bulldogs appeared confused an opted to run a play with the clock ticking down. The fourth down play was incomplete.

"The defense bent a little bit, just like last time (at Robstown)," Esquivel said. "But when it came down to it, we didn't fold. We had three crucial turnovers."

It was a total team effort on defense, but Adrian Ibarra had a game to remember. The defender known as "I-Bar" picked off two Hubble passes and also recovered a fumble.

"I feel happiness, joy and excitement," Ibarra said afterward. "This is the happiest moment of my life. I have to thank my teammates. Sometimes you just get lucky and I just got lucky tonight."

La Feria took the lead for good to open the second half on Rodriguez's 1-yard plunge with 8:53 left in the third.

Later Vasquez added a 24-yard field goal and Long hit a wide-open Alfredo Gonzalez for a 20-yard TD to put it away. Long added an interception on defense to seal it.

The Lions will take on the Cuero-Sealy winner in the regional semifinals next week at a date and site to be determined.

"We had more fans than they (Bandera)," Esquivel said. "We had a lot of support from the community, the administration...I don't have the words."

Armando Garza covers sub-4A football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at armandog@valleystar.com.