SAN DIEGO, Texas — The San Diego Vaqueros (6-2, 4-1) go wire to wire in an important district win over the Bishop Badgers (4-4, 4-1). The Vaqueros had a dominating performance to win 48-10 in the Friday Night Fever Game of the Week.
The San Diego win along with a Rio Hondo win vs Raymondville brings a three way tie atop the district 3A-DI District 16. Bishop began the night in first place, undefeated in district play and now fall to third in the tie breaker. Rio Hondo beat San Diego. The Vaqueros beat Bishop and the Badgers beat Rio Hondo.
San Diego kept the offense flowing all night while not allowing an offensive touchdown from Bishop.
Bishop were on their way to scoring on the opening drive of the game. They made it inside the 15 yard line of San Diego, but penalties pushed them back. They ended the drive on a missed field goal.
San Diego fared better on their first drive. On third down and long, Vaqueros ran a misdirection play that saw Nick Luera take the hand-off and go the opposite way of his linemen. The 36 yard run set them up well. Quarterback Jayden Lozano let Luera finish off the drive, finding him in the flat to his left and Luera did the hard part to get 14 yards and into the end zone.
San Diego's next drive was rescued by a fake punt near midfield. To start the second quarter, Lozano dropped a beautiful back shoulder pass to Ronnie White in the right corner of the end zone.
On the ensuing kick-off, the Badgers hit back. Tre Galvan nearly went all 100 yards to the house to make it a 14-7 game.
The Badgers held San Diego on their next drive, but they couldn't hold them for long. Later in the quarter, Lozano finds his man, White again over the middle for a 36 yard pass, dropped right in the bucket. From there, Luera took the rock and appeared to be wrapped up by half the defense. The scrum kept moving and Luera popped out of the bunch with a good push from his teammates, reaching the five yard line.
Lozano hit White once more on a slant route for the score.
Bishop snatched momentum heading into halftime. Eric Owens picked off Lozano and took the ball across midfield. Benjamin Mendez hit the 41 yard field goal to cap off the first half.
Bishop quarterback Braxton Montalvo was harassed all night by the Vaquero defensive line, namely Kaleb Rodriguez who got in the backfield often. Rodriguez was ejected in the fourth quarter after officials said he "threw punches."
Luera had three scores on the night as well as White. Marqus Guttierrez put the cherry on top of the win, scooping up a fumble and taking it home late in the fourth quarter.
Luera's final touchdown put him over 1,000 rushing yards in his sophomore year alone. During his freshman campaign he rushed for 429 yards in just 5 games on varsity.
In the final two weeks, one more win should clinch both teams a spot in the playoffs, but seeding becomes important.
San Diego travels to Falfurrias on Nov. 1 before returning home to face Lyford. San Diego has won three of the last four district titles.
Bishop will head to Raymondville on Nov. 1 and return home for the regular season finale. Their game against Falfurrias will be televised live as the KRIS 6 News Game Night South Texas. That game is Nov. 7.
Rio Hondo will play the bottom two teams in the district, Santa Gertrudis Academy and Progreso.
3A-DI District 16
Rio Hondo 4-1
San Diego 4-1
Bishop 4-1
Lyford 3-2
Raymondville 2-3
Falfurrias 2-3
Santa Gertrudis Academy 1-4
Progreso 0-5
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