The Dublin Lions fell 35-27 to the Eastland Mavericks, but made a strong push and showed improvements as they squared off on the Eastland field.
“Defensively, we pursued the ball well,” said athletic director and head football coach Greg Hardcastle. “We want to continue to build on that. We’ve got young players. We’re helping them get better for the future.”
Coach Hardcastle commended his boys for ‘staying pretty steady’ and executing at the right moments. The biggest push came in the second quarter. After a 14-0 first quarter in Eastland’s favor, Dublin fired back in the second with three of its touchdowns. Eastland scored twice more before the half making it 28-21.
The final scoring came in the third quarter, when Eastland got seven more points and Dublin added six.
Hardcastle also called out his linebackers for stepping up to their responsibilities and the offensive line for capitalizing on any holes they found. This is especially true of Cameron Patton, who brought in two touchdowns and rushed for 222 yards Friday night.
Dalan Rasberry, who led in receiving with 93 yards, also carried the ball over the goal line twice.
Rey Chacon completes three of the Point After Touchdown (PAT) kicks.
Dublin will hit the home field for the final game of the season tonight (Nov. 3) as they take on the Jacksboro Tigers at 7 p.m. (The game was moved up one night due to storm predictions on Friday night.)
“It will be a big challenge,” Hardcastle said of the faceoff with a team sitting second in district. “They have been playing pretty good defense. We are going to go to work this week and try to get the win.”
Seniors will be honored in senior night proceedings before the game as senior members of football, band, drill team and cheer are escorted across the field.
The community was invited to get into the spirit on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in a Bonfire pep rally at the home of David and Lisa Fritts.