The Dublin Lions 7-on-7 football team ended their season in the top 8 at the state tournament Friday.
“It was a good two days,” Coach Greg Hardcastle said of the four winds and two losses the Lions had in the state tournament. Hardcastles said the games gave a lot of valuable field experience to the relatively young team as it consisted of three seniors along with several juniors and sophomores.
The coach said Dublin started strong on Thursday, getting better and better, as they earned second in their pool play. The distinction came after 27-21 and 34- 20 wins against Alpine and Tidehaven and a narrow 26-24 loss to New Waverly.
Friday started with a 32- 27 victory against Stamford thanks in large part to some 11 th hour catches by Dalan Rasberry, who caught a TD pass in the endzone when the Lions were down by two TDs in the last minute. Rasberry then completed the one-point conversion that followed and intercepted a Stamford Pass and ran the ball in for victory.
William Wilkerson of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football called out the plays, saying it was “one of the best lategame heroic efforts I’ve ever seen in a state tournament.”
The Lions followed this with a sweeping victory over Ganado (33-12 ) before exiting the tournament in a 32- 12 loss to Gilmer Harmony against some big receivers.
Hardcastle praised the players’ performance, saying they battled well and were able to get some good practice in coverage an timing in for the fall season.
The coach also wished to thank everyone who donated for the players to make the trip to state in recent fundraisers as well as the following businesses for their direct sponsorship: Bradberry’s Best, Michael E. Boucher CPA, Five Star Dairy Queen, Lions Club, Jarhead Fabrication, Granny Clark’s, Gilman Properties, Bovine Supply Line, Bradberry Builders Supply, Rotary Club and Thomson Services.