Rice Consolidated, Refugio fight for quarterfinal berth
Refugio's Terrence Smith runs for a touchdown during the bi-district playoff game against Boling in El Campo's Ricebird Stadium earlier this month. The Bobcats won that game and return to the same venue to face Rice Consolidated Friday night.
Print- •
-
Share
- Share this item
-
Grab the link
Copy and paste the link:
- Blog about it
- Close
- •
-
Post a Comment
- •
Favorite- •
Class 2A, Division II regional
Rice Consolidated vs. Refugio,
7:30 p.m. Friday at Ricebird Stadium, El Campo
The Refugio Bobcats still have the memory of Rice Consolidated's Zacchaeus Foster running 80 yards for a touchdown in the Raiders' 7-6 Class 2A, Division II quarterfinal win two years ago.
"We have been using it as motivation for the last two years in everything we do," said Refugio head coach Jason Herring. "We constantly refer back to that loss and the loss to Blanco last year. When we are lifting weights, running track, we always say remember Rice and remember Blanco. It was a real hard game to get over for us, but we have worked hard to win the next time we play."
The "next time" arrives Friday at 7:30 p.m. at El Campo's Ricebird Stadium in a Class 2A, Division II regional game.
Rice Consolidated (11-1) comes into the game off a 37-12 area win over Harper, while Refugio (12-0) beat Dilley, 41-16, in area last week.
"We had our chances in that game but we let them slip away," said Refugio senior Dylan Klare. "We just have to go out there and take care of business this time. The ultimate goal is a state championship, so this is a step we have to get past."
Foster has graduated and is playing at Blinn College this year, but that hasn't stopped the Raiders from rolling on offense again this year.
"We're not as talented as we have been," Rice Consolidated coach Brad Dumont said. "But as a team we've been playing really well."
Rice Consolidated quarterback Myles Dumont has thrown for 1,719 yards and 17 touchdowns, while receiver Mario Hull, a UT-San Antonio commit, leads the team with 51 receptions, 1,076 yards and 11 touchdowns. On the ground, Michael Scott leads Rice Consolidated with 533 yards on 103 carries.
"They are extremely athletic and fast," said Herring of Rice Consolidated. "Mario Hull is the best receiver we've ever seen and Dumont gets him the ball really well. They are no longer one dimensional with Ziggy (Foster) in the backfield running for touchdowns all the time. They did like I would have done and rode him. They spread the ball around now and are really balanced."
Refugio's offense has been on target all year as well. The Bobcats are out-gaining their opponents 4,603 to 2,503 in total yards en route to their second straight undefeated regular season.
"We're playing one of the better teams in Region IV," Brad Dumont said. "They're very explosive. They're just as good if not better on offense, and their defense flies around like they did when we played them before."
Refugio's success has allowed it to get another chance against Rice Consolidated.
"We have worked hard the past two years so we can beat them this year," said Refugio's Jourdan Ortiz, who has caught seven touchdown passes and rushed for two touchdowns this season. "I think we're playing really good this year and are better than we've been in a long time."
NOTES: The game will be broadcast on KTKO, 105.7 FM. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals against the winner of the Industrial-Blanco game set for Friday at 6 p.m. at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.
