Bobcats duel with Bulldogs at LaPryor

By Tim McGrath BCC Sports Writer

The Medina Bobcats caught a 6 am bus to LaPryor last Saturday morning for what amounted to a gridiron duel in the morning sun as both teams battled it out for nearly three hours in their first scrimmage of the 2012 Texas High School Football season.

The LaPryor Bulldogs had a pair of advantages going into the scrimmage; one being the home team with no early wakeup or long bus ride and the other by having 35 players to Medina's 19.

Despite the disadvantages going in, the Bobcats held their own and kept pace with the home team throughout the morning action. Medina's defense kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone for the entire 45 scheduled offensive plays of the scrimmage. LaPryor then asked for an additional play and crossed the goal line in a short-yardage situation to end the day's action.

Medina Head Coach Brandon Allen was especially pleased with the Bobcat defensive effort led by inside linebacker Joel Arreola.

"Joel really played very well. He was all over the place and finished with nine tackles. It was an outstanding effort," Allen said.

"The entire Bobcat defense gets the credit for an outstanding team effort against a really good team," Allen added.

The Bobcat offensive effort had some bright spots but Allen indicated there is work still to be done in order to tune-up the offensive timing. "Our quarterbacks, JD Ortiz and Weston Jenkins both played very well," said Allen.

The pair also saw time at wide receiver during the scrimmage. Ortiz went 6 of 13 passing for 92 yards and also had two receptions for 59 yards. Jenkins was 3 of 7 passing for 67 yards and also had a pair of receptions for another 33 yards.

Mitchell Black had one catch for 25 yards for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats return to the gridiron on Friday, August 24, for their final scrimmage action of the pre-season against the TMI Panthers at Bobcat Stadium in Medina. The scrimmage is set to get started at 6 pm.

Next week, on Friday, August 31, the Bobcats open the non-district season at home against the Center Point Pirates. Kickoff will be at 7:30 pm at Bobcat Stadium.