Bouncing back from their first loss of the season and the season ending injury of their starting quarterback the Orangefield Bobcats played a solid game on their home turf for their first district win of the season on Friday night. Orangefield defeated the Kirbyville Wildcats 31-20 at F. L. McClain Stadium.
Orangefield (4-1, 1-1) never trailed in the ball game. When Kirbyville (0-5, 0-2) threatened to make a game of it the Bobcats responded with eleven points to seal the deal.
Sophomore Gunner Jones took over for the injured Mason Gonzales at quarterback for Orangefield. He only carried the football once, but it was a clinching touchdown late in the game. Jones threw six passes completing three for 46 yards and a touchdown.
The Wildcats used a 70-yard drive culminating with a 5-yard fourth down pass from Dylin Bishop to Tylon Cooper to close an Orangefield lead to six points with 11:48 to play in the game. The Bobcats would tally the next two scores.
Taking over at their 25 after the kickoff the Bobcats started an eleven-play march all on the ground. First downs were picked up by Blake Bradley twice and by Heston Puckett twice to prolong the possession.
Facing a fourth-and-three at the Kirbyville six, Orangefield elected to try a field goal. Derek Glaze made that decision the right one by splitting the uprights with his 23-yard kick to give the Bobcats a nine-point lead 23-14 with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff the Wildcats tried to get fancy and that was the wrong decision. The short kick was fielded by one of the up men who then tried to pass back to the speedy return man Cooper. The toss eluded Cooper, and when he tried to pick the football up at about the ten Clayson Choate hit him jarring the ball loose. The Bobcats’ Jacob Harvey recovered at the Kirbyville 7.
Kadeon Evans and Bradley each carried once to get the ball to the one. Jones snuck over on the next play for the touchdown. The Bobcats went for two and Jones passed to Kade Grozier in the right flat and he stepped into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion. Orangefield had a 31-14 advantage with 3:50 to play.
Kirbyville would not go quietly into the night. Bishop passed ten times and scrambled on another play when his protection broke down. He completed four of the passes for 48 yards and the touchdown from the twelve to James Burchett. On the night Bishop was 13 of 30 passing for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
Bishop rolled to his left on the point-after looking for someone to throw the ball to. Bishop tried to run it in when he could not find an open receiver, but was stopped short keeping the score 31-20 with 2:25 remaining in the game.
The Bobcats called on their baby bull Bradley to batter for two more first downs which then allowed them to take two knees to close out the ball game. Bradley had a stellar night rushing for 128 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown.
The first quarter started with the two teams exchanging punts until Chase Broussard intercepted a pass from Bishop and returned it 33 yards to the Wildcats’ seven. Bradley would score on the next play and Glaze added the point after to give Orangefield a 7-0 lead with 8:24 gone in the first quarter.
On their next possession the Wildcats would threaten. Bishop and Burchett connected on an 18-yard pass to move the ball into Orangefield territory. Bishop then found Hunter Wallis for 35 yards to the Bobcats’ twelve.
Three incompletions setup what appeared to be a field goal attempt by Burchett who would show on subsequent kicks he definitely had enough leg for the nearly 30-yard kick. The snap came to Wallis who the tossed the ball to Burchett who looked for and just missed Wallis in the back of the end zone with a pass.
In the second quarter the Bobcats’ ground and pound offense found its rhythm. Starting at its 16 Orangefield ran the ball five times to pickup two first downs and move to the Kirbyville 30. Evans had the big gainer with a 30-yard pop. He contributed 71 yards on nine carries in the game.
A defensive holding penalty got the Bobcats another first down to the 26. The drive stalled and Orangefield faced a fourth-and-11 at the 27. Jones took some pressure from the Wildcats and got his pass off just before he was hit. The aerial came down into the hands of Grozier who tumbled into the end zone for the score. Glaze made the score 14-0 with 3:13 on the clock. That is how the first half ended.
Orangefield started the second half with another patented time-consuming drive that netted points. Jones completed a pass to Evans for 16 yards the biggest gainer in the ten plays. Bradley carried the ball six times for 30 yards. He got the touchdown on second effort from the one. The kick was missed keeping the score 20-0 less than five minutes into the third quarter.
The lead shrank rather quickly as Kirbyville needed just five plays to score. The big play was a 37-yard run by halfback Cam Smith. On fourth-and-two from the Bobcats’ 11, Bishop swept around right end and scored. The kick by Burchett made the score 20-7 at 5:40 of the third period. That set the stage for a fourth quarter that would see both teams score in double figures, but the Bobcats holding on for the victory.
Next week the Orangefield Bobcats will travel to Winnie to play the East Chambers Buccaneers. The Kirbyville Wildcats will look for their first win of the season at Hardin against the Hornets.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
KV 0 0 7 13- 20
OF 7 7 6 11- 31
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