The Dublin Lions charged into the second half of the Friday, Nov. 8 home game to claim a 36-22 win over Early and clinch a last-minute seat in the playoffs.
Head Dublin football coach/athletic director Greg Hardcastle said the Lions were called to execute more on their offense during a halftime pep talk and noted that defense had been strong, shutting down the Longhorns three times by holding them within 20 yards of the goal line.
“We weren’t getting first downs on offense,”Hardcastle said of the first half.
The turnaround happened in the third quarter, and Hardcastle said it was heralded by a long run by quarterback Kaden Gaitan, who pulled in big numbers for his team. Gaitan passed for 172 yards, had 133 yards in rushing and scored 18 points with three touchdowns.
Fernando Esparza scored one of the other TDs and had 42 yards in rushing and 69 yards in receiving. Hardcastle called his fumble recovery another big moment for the Lions in their victory.
Alex Teten, who scored the other TD, led in rushing with 83 yards.
Rey Chacon completed 4 of his 5 PAT kicks.
Defense was led by Alonso Moreno and Caige Balvantin who each had 13 tackles. (Balvantin also had 2 sacks.) DJ Ferguson also brought down 12 tackles and 2 sacks. Also leading in tackles were: Ruben Bustillos (11 tackles), Joe Salinas (10), Edwin Nevarez (9), Cayson Loving (8) and Jake Southall (8).
Hardcastle said it took all players to claim the win and called it a “good complete team win.”
“They kept battling,” Hardcastle said of his players. “Defense gave us a chance. They kept [Early] in check until we got going offensively.”
Dublin is heading into the first round of playoffs Friday, Nov. 15 as they travel to Springtown to face Holliday, a team who has stopped a couple of playoff runs in Dublin’s past.
Hardcastle admits it would be nice to get revenge on Holliday with win this time and one of the players said after Friday’s game that “third time’s a charm.”
Holliday has been stateranked all year, but Hardcastle said the Lions’ focus will be on continuing to improve and take advantage of the chance they’ve been given.
“Anything can happen,” Hardcastle said of the playoff match-up. “We’ve gotta focus on us and continue to get better as a team and see where some things fall.”
The Lions invite fans to take the trek up 281 and 51 to Springtown to cheer them on as they strive to extend their season again.