By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
RIO HONDO, TX—The scheduling gods favored the Bobcats as they wrapped up the district part of their season against the Progreso Red Ants, following their win over the Santa Gertrudis Academy Lions last week.
Both of those Bobcat foes were ranked at or near the bottom of District 16-3A Division I. After being defeated by the Raymondville Bearkats two weeks ago, it was a solid way to regain confidence on the gridiron.
The home win against SGA finished with a score of 48-11, which was around the average points the Bobcats had been scoring this season. The Lions dropped to 2-4 in district and 2-7 overall. They are currently in sixth place. Progreso is in eighth place with a 0-6 district record and 1-8 for the season.
The Bobcats have been confident that they’d make the postseason, even before they took the field at Raymondville, where the Bearkats won, 48-21.
Rio Hondo Head Coach Rocky James said that many of the athletes on the roster who didn’t start for the varsity team still suited up when given the chance. That trend continued in the district finale at home against Progreso Thursday.
“The Raymondville loss left a bad taste in our mouths for sure; we should have played much better football, but that was on us,” Coach James said. “We just had to move forward, and it was good to get back to winning, and play good football, and with Progreso, we played out our district schedule and will prepare for the playoffs again.”
Raymondville’s placement is secured as the district’s top seed with a 6-0 record, 9-0 overall, regardless of the outcome in its finale against SGA on Friday.
Coach James said Rio Hondo (5-1, 8-1) will be the second seed even if Raymondville ties its record in district, based on head-to-head competition.
He said Rio Hondo will play in the bi-district against either the London Pirates (4-2, 5-4, fourth place) or the Edna Cowboys (5-1, 6-3, second place), who are in District 15-3A Division I.
It depended on how London fared in its district finale against Orange Grove, which was also played on the same day.
The coaching mindset for James’ staff is to keep their players mentally sharp, but more importantly, physically capable of competing.
“We had a lot of players getting a lot of reps, many who normally didn’t get that opportunity,” James said. “We don’t have a big team so we don’t have many backups. Some of the starting 11 on offense and defense may play backup at other positions. It’s important to keep them healthy, too.”