Gobblers run past Panthers

By Jacob Stock

The Cuero Record

Here come the Cuero Fightin’ Gobblers. Through the first two games of the season, we have seen firsthand a stingy Gobbler defense and a high-powered offensive attack that can slice and dice you on the ground or hit you through the air.

Last Friday, Sept.2, the Gobblers returned home for their home opener at Gobbler Stadium against the Navarro Panthers (0-2). Cuero rolled to a 46-13 win over Navarro that saw them win their 12th straight game at beautiful Gobbler Stadium.

The Mean Green’s last home loss came back on September 9, 2020, at the hands of the Wimberley Texans, 33-14.

The Friday night lights environment was coach Fikac’s first taste of what Gobbler football fans have to offer when playing at home.

“The sea of green up here is special. You hear them chanting, you hear the ‘Go Mean Green, so walking out on this turf in Cuero, Texas is something special. My first experience was phenomenal,” said Fikac after the Gobblers home opening win.

The Gobblers rushed for 258 yards,  but it was the touchdown pass that caught the Panthers off guard. Sophomore quarterback Mason Notaro hit four different receivers for touchdown passes totaling five darts through the air on the night. Notaro finished the night going 9/15 for 156 yards and 5 TD’s.

                                         Game Stats

                                  Cuero          Navarro

First Downs                   21              10

Yards Rushing           34-258       52-184

Yards Passing               156             12

Total Yards                   414            196

Punts                           3-96          4-115

Fumbles                       0-0             4-3

Penalties                      11-90         5-25

*Stats contributed by Ray Reese

Zyler Jones led the Mean Green in rushing on 14 carries that went for 130 yards. Tycen Williams carried the ball nine times for 58 yards. On the night the Gobbler defense forced a total of three turnovers and limited the Panther offense to just 2-12 on third down. Navarro rolled the dice plenty of times going 3-5 on fourth down conversions. Typically a run-heavy offense, the Panthers attempted a total of six pass attempts with just one of them netting positive yardage.

The first score of the game came from the same combo that put the Gobblers on the board first last week in El Campo when Notaro hit Dayson Varela for a 10-yard pass at the 7:26 mark. Varela hauled in 4 catches for 73 yards.

After the Gobbler defense forced a punt, Cuero needed just four plays to strike again with Notaro hitting Nathan Luschen on a 28-yard pass right on the left hash.

The Panthers looked to stage a little momentum when they put together their best drive of the night, a 12-play 75-yard drive that was capped off by a Diego Chapa run from just a yard out.

The quick striking potent Gobbler offense needed just one minute and 36 seconds to respond with Dayson Varela’s second touchdown reception from Notaro on the night. The two have now connected on three touchdowns in the first two games.

“Me and Dayson are good friends,” said Notaro when asked about the connection he has with Varela. “We are neighbors in the locker room. We talk a lot and hang out a lot.”

After Navarro fumbled the ball on their back-to-back different possessions, the Gobblers took advantage of the second one when Notaro flicked a shovel pass to Tycen Williams who handled the rest going 22-yards to end zone to give the Gobblers a 27-6 lead heading into halftime.

Scoring was slow to start the second half as second-half adjustments showed early on in the third quarter. In the early going of the season, the Gobbler defense has done a terrific job at granting the offense great field position.

“When you get the ball with such short field position it opens up the playbook tremendously,” said coach Fikac on the field position the stingy Gobbler defense has given the offense. “We are able to do things on our side of the football. It makes it difficult on their defense to hold us out of the end zone with the firepower we have.”

Notaro found the goal line with 3:26 left in the third for the Greens first rushing touchdown on the night making it 34-6 Cuero.

The Mean Green defense would give up just one more score early in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard Navarro run.

Cuero would respond two more times. Donavin Jones hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Notaro that was his fifth touchdown pass of the night with 5:20 remaining.

The Gobblers would add on to their lead with a late score at the 1:00-minute mark that saw Kenneth Jackson rumble in from 14 yards out.

The Gobblers now flip the page to the good old fashion DeWitt County rivalry on Sept. 9 in Yoakum. The Bulldogs have started the year off 0-2 and will host the Gobblers for their first home game of the season.

“I haven’t seen them on film or done anything like that,” said coach Fikac after Friday night's win over Navarro. “We have been locked in concentrating on Navarro. We are going to take it one game at a time not looking ahead to anything. We will come in tomorrow get in some weights, get some film and see the things we need to get better at again, and then prepare for a Yoakum team that I think is very talented. They always have good players over there, we just have to take care of what we can control.”

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