The Cuero Gobblers defense dominated the Rockport-Fulton Pirates, en route to a 3414 victory.
“We knew each week, our defense got better. Coming into district, I thought we were continuing to improve. I’m just proud of these guys. They’ve stayed to the grindstone and just keep continuing to get better each week. Giving up a shutout in the second half, right, which was huge in allowing our offense to stay on the field. We got a ton of turnovers tonight, which was huge,” Coach Fikac said.
The Pirates jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Sean Howell scored from 33 yards out on an option run.
The Gobblers returned the kick to midfield. A big gain on a screen from Jayce Guajardo to Walker Dietze, and a couple of SeanDylan Salazar runs set up a Davyon Varela touchdown from 11 yards out to tie the score 7-7.
After forcing a punt, the Gobblers took over at the Pirate 38. Dietze gained 19 yards on a reverse, setting up his first touchdown of the night. One play later Guajardo found him in the endzone to give the Gobblers a 14-7 lead.
The Pirates’ ball-control slot-t chewed up six minutes of the clock, converting two fourth downs. A 20-yard pass from Howell to Dawson Phillips tied the score at 14. The Gobbler’s running attack had big runs from Varela, Dietze, and Brayden Hernandez to move them into scoring territory, before Rockport forced a 4th and Goal from the 3. Then, Guajardo found Salazar for the go-ahead score. Tony Perez scored the 2-pt conversion. The score would remain 2214 until halftime.
Rockport opened up the third quarter with the ball. On their third play, Howell’s pass was intercepted by Jossiah Taylor.
The Gobblers failed to capitalize. Jimmy Mejia's field goal attempt was blocked. Ka’Son Roy would end the Pirates’ next drive, breaking up a screen on 3rd down. The score remained 22-14.
The Gobblers were forced to punt. It was just their second punt of the night. Then, Trevor Seals sacked Howell on first down, putting the Pirates behind the chains. They were forced to punt.
The Gobblers opened up the fourth quarter with a 31 yard field goal by Jimmy Mejia. The score was 25-14.
The Pirates would setup at the 25. On first down Seals got to the quarterback again, this time forcing a fumble. Barrett Smith was there to fall on it.
The Gobblers went 3 and out, setting up another Mejia attempt. The 36- yard kick was good and the score was 28-14 with 10:47 left.
After another touchback Rockport took over and drove the ball to the Gobbler 15. Facing a 4th and 7, Howell’s pass was intercepted by Jordan Mays.
Then, Guajardo hit Dietze with a perfect overthe- shoulder throw. A few plays later, he found Tony Perez along the sideline for a 48 yards down to the Pirate 20. He then found Dietze across the middle for their second touchdown connection of the night. The final score was 3414.
On the emergence of the defense, linebacker Barrett Smith said, “It’s all about leadership. At the beginning of the year, we didn’t have a lot going for us. Me and Jace weren’t doing our part leading the group. We switched that up and we’ve been lights out ever since.”
Top performers: Jayce Guajardo -8/18 for 182 yards, 3 TD.
Walker Dietze -163 total yards, 2 TD.
Jace Gamez- 15 tackles Trevor Seals- 13 tackles, 2 sacks,1 FF.
Jordan Mays- 4 tackles, INT The Gobblers travel to Sinton to take on the Pirates on Friday night.
