BAY CITY 鈥 Jaden Malone had a good idea of what was coming when El Campo lined up for a fourth-and-one attempt from the Bay City 19-yard line with 1 minute left in the fourth quarter.
Malone saw running back Vlad Garcia preparing to take the snap and made sure he was there to stop him.
鈥淲e watched them on film so much, I knew where they were going,鈥 Malone said. 鈥淪o I blitzed right through. I was hoping for the best and did what I do best.鈥
Malone stopped Garcia for no gain and the No. 10 Blackcats (7-1, 3-0) hung on for a 26-20 District 15-4A, Division I win over the Ricebirds (6-2, 2-1) in the state鈥檚 oldest continuous rivalry on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
鈥淭his win means everything,鈥 said Bay City quarterback Alex Estrada, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for one. 鈥淚t means we have a very good chance to win the district title. It鈥檚 a chance for us to make history and put Bay City back on the map.鈥
The Blackcats earned their first back-to-back wins over El Campo since the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and their last district title came in 2004.
Bay City looked like it would turn the 121st contest and 105th consecutive meeting with El Campo into a rout with two early touchdowns.
Devont鈥橝 Harris returned the first of his two interceptions 16 yards to set up Estrada鈥檚 2-yard touchdown run. Estrada passed to Keaton Nunez for the two-point conversion.
Harris鈥 second interception came when the Ricebirds attempted a fake punt and it led to Estrada鈥檚 1-yard touchdown run. Nunez鈥檚 two-point conversion run put Bay City up 16-0 with 7:10 left in the first quarter.
鈥淚 was thinking it was going to be one of those games where we keep on scoring,鈥 Estrada said. 鈥淏ut I knew El Campo was a good team and wasn鈥檛 going to lay down. I was prepared when they started scoring.鈥
The Ricebirds struck back with their running game led by D鈥橝rrion Holmes, who carried 25 times for 139 yards and one touchdown.
鈥淭hey had a great start to the game and we got down early,鈥 said El Campo head coach Travis Reeve. 鈥淥ur kids didn鈥檛 panic and they just kept playing and that鈥檚 a mark of a good football team.鈥
The Ricebirds controlled the ball for 17 minutes, 14 seconds of the first half, and scored on Holmes鈥 5-yard run and a 7-yard pass from Ridge Spenrath to Garcia to cut the margin to 16-13.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not very big up front,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淓verybody is going to try and run on us. But those guys are dogs. They鈥檙e not very big dogs, but they get after it. You saw that on the last drive.鈥
Bay City was able to extend the lead thanks to a 47-yard kickoff return by Xylan Williams and a face mask penalty, which led to a 40-yard field goal by Victor Nunez on the final play of the second quarter.
鈥淲hen you jump out to a lead like that, the kids are playing with emotion,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淲e ask them to control their emotions on the field. Don鈥檛 let this game be bigger than what it is just play like how we鈥檝e been playing all-year long.鈥
The Blackcats extended the lead in the third quarter when Estrada broke free from a tackle attempt and threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jada Andrews.
But El Campo got back within one score on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Spenrath to Garcia.
鈥淲e fought our way back into it and got down again in the second half and we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end,鈥 Reeve said. 鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 happen for us tonight.鈥
El Campo鈥檚 final chance came after a bad snap into the end zone led to a 2-yard punt that set the Ricebirds鈥 up at the Bay City 28.
Garcia gained 9 yards on two carries and Spenrath threw an incomplete pass on third down.
Malone鈥檚 stop on fourth down allowed Bay City to remain in a first-place tie with Calhoun, and kept its district title hopes very much alive.
鈥淭hese last two games are very, very big,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 won a district championship since 2004, I told the kids that鈥檚 the goal this year.鈥
NOTES: El Campo leads the overall series 65-46-9.
