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Dublin Lion Francisco Garcia carries the ball in a recent home game. Garcia received for 52 yards in Friday’s away game against Brady. Danielle Meador | For the Citizen
The Dublin Lions fell 26-21 to the Brady Bulldogs in an away game Friday, Sept. 15 but stayed in the fight, gaining momentum in the second half.
Brady leapt to an early lead with the Lions falling behind 14-0 in the second quarter when Aidan Hernandez received a 35-yard pass for the first TD of the game.
The home team came back from the half energized, scoring on the opening drive on a 52-yard passing play.
“We got some momentum on our side,” Dublin head football coach Greg Hardcastle said of the Lions in the second half.
The drive brought the score to 14-20 in Brady’s favor where it remained through the third quarter.
Brady was able to complete a 14-yard run in the fourth, but bungled a two-point conversion. The Lions answered them with two minutes left by completed a 17-yard pass for a touchdown and another successful kick by Hernandez.
This brought the score to 21-26 in the visitor’s favor where it remained for the rest of the game.
Although the team wasn’t able to successfully take the lead at the end, Hardcastle expressed pride in his team’s effort.
“The kids played hard again and there were a lot of positives,” he said. “There were a lot of bright spots and areas we need to improve on as well.”
“We did some good things in the passing game, especially in the second half,” he added, calling out the performances of Hernandez (174 yards and 3 TDs), Francisco Garcia (52 yards) and Kyson Gilman (31 yards) in receiving.
Quarterback Kaden Gaitan had a combined 265 yards in passing. Aiden Salyer led in rushing with 38 yards.
The Lions will be traveling to Liberty Hill Friday, Sept. 22 to take on the Florence Buffaloes at 7 p.m. Hardcastle noted many changes in Florence since Dublin faced them last year in a 34-23 victory.
He reported the team is fairly young, has a new coach and has changed up key parts of their game so the Lions will need to keep on their toes to clinch another W from the Buffaloes.
Fans traveling to Liberty Hill for the game should be aware the campus has a clear bag policy only allowing the following bags: clear totes not exceeding 12” x 6” x 12”, 1-gallon resealable storage bags and small bags (may be clear or not) no larger than the size of a hand.
The Jr. High teams will be facing Florence at Smith Middle School in Killeen in Thursday, Sept. 21 games starting at 4:30 p.m. while the JV team will play at home at 6 p. m.