The Dublin Lions fell 62-42 to the Brady Bulldogs under the Friday night lights at Bob and Norma Cervetto field.
“I told my guys if you take away four minutes of the game, they played some strong the whole game,” said Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Greg Hardcastle, adding that his boys amassed more than 400 total yards in offense The four minutes in question came before half time when Brady got several recoveries, including snatching a returned kick after the Lions fumbled the catch.
Hardcastle said the Lions stepped up defensively in the second half but had to contend with five injuries including quarterback Chris Teten, who had to exit after putting in three touchdowns, 139 yards in rushing and 198 yards in passing.
Sophomore Kaden Gaitan stepped in for the senior at the end and Hardcaslte praised the performance of the player who had 12 yards of rushing, 29 in passing and 25 in receiving.
Other TDs were carried over the goal line by Dalan Rasberry (who had 89 yards of receiving), Sev Ruiz (who had 88 in receiving and Cameron Patton (who led the offensive game with nine tackles and three sacks).
Other defensive standouts included: Lucas Azua (nine tackles), Jacen Hines (eight tackles) and Fernando Esparza and Sev Ruiz (six tackles each).
Aidan Hernandez went six for six in PAT kicks.
Brady took in more donations and the trophy in this year’s Fellowships of Christian Athletes Challenge during last Friday’s game, but Hardcastle tanked all that donated to the Dublin program saying those funds will be put to good use.”We’ll have to get that trophy back next year,” he said.
Hardcastle said the Lions can look for a similar defense to Brady on Friday, when Dublin faces Florence for Homecoming at 7:30 p.m. “Florence will mix it up,” the coach added, stating the need for Dublin to stay on their toes.
With five on the injured list, “it’s time for some other guys to step up” so several members of the Pride will be working on those roles this week.
The community is invited to come to Cervetto field for a pep rally at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Homecoming Queen will be crowned at 7 p.m., prior to kick-off.