Gobblers strike for 42 unanswered out of halftime to secure the district title
-
Junior quarterback Mason Notaro runs past several La Grange Leopard defenders in last Thurs- day’s district championship at Gobbler Stadium. Notaro had a total of 125 yards of offense to pair with a rushing and passing touchdown in the 49-7 win. -
Senior running back Zyler Jones rounds the corner and finds some open field.
By Jacob Stock
The Cuero Record
Come November, the Cuero Fightin’ Gobblers seem to always find themselves playing in meaningful football games. With the District 12-4A Division II championship on the line at Gobbler Stadium last Thursday, Nov. 3, the Gobblers had one less day in preparing after the threat of bad weather forced the contest to be moved up a day.
The Gobblers (9-1, 5-0), currently rank No. 3 in the 4A, Div. II polls. Coming into Thursday’s contest a playoff spot had already been clinched, but adding a district championship to the trophy case was the first step to kicking off gold football season the right way.
Tied at 7-7 heading into halftime, the Gobblers came out in the second half and displayed a dominate rushing attack centered on stone cold defense.
“It wasn’t a panic deal, it was one of those deals where we left some plays in the first half on the field,” said head coach Jerod Fikac on the first half. “We had a holding call that got one called back. We had a couple of guys open on some pass plays, so we were moving the ball, we were just behind the chains a little bit.”
La Grange’s only score would come late in the second quarter on a 4th and two conversion from the 27 yard line. After that, Cuero would strike for 42 unanswered, and added their 37th district championship to the trophy case after the big 49-7 victory.
“It feels amazing, especially going back-to-back years,” said senior running back Zyler Jones. “To do it with the boys I have been working with, it couldn’t have been a better moment for me.”
Jones came into the last regular season game with two rushing touchdowns on the season. He added two more during the game from runs of 26 and 54 yards out. He carried the ball seven times for 119 yards, one of three Gobbler running backs to eclipse the 100 yard mark on the night.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my offensive line, so I give all the credit to them,” said Jones on his performance.
The Gobbler offense would rush for a whopping 475 yards behind the offensive line unit. 351 of those came in the second half alone. Seniors Tycen Williams had 13 carries for 140 yards on the evening, while Jeremiah Wilson added a season high 106 yards on just three carries. Two of Wilson’s carries went for touchdowns from 20 and 65 yards. The three senior backs combined for 23 carries for 365 yards.
In the initial first half the La Grange Leopards (5-5, 3-2) came to play in what looked to be an absolute dog fight. The Leopards would force four first half punts, the most Cuero has had since week four against the visiting Wildcats of Calallen.
Read the full story in this week's edition of The Cuero Record. Call 361-275-3464 to subscribe and stay up to date with all the news on the Gobblers and Lady Gobblers this sports season. Go Mean Green!