EC FRESHMAN & SOPHOMORE FOOTBALL UPDATE

El Campo's freshman and sophomore teams both had some intense action last week.

The Freshman Red took on Wharton while the Freshman and Sophomore team faced Victoria St. Joseph on the field.

Freshman Red

El Campo had no trouble with Wharton and easily won 29-7.

The Ricebirds actually had a shutout for most of the game. Wharton's only score came with about 6 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

El Campo struck early to take an 8-0 lead with 2:39 left in the first quarter.

Stephen Anderson ran in for a 3-yard touchdown and also scored the 2-point conversion.

The next touchdown came on a long pass play. Chris Kerzee connected with Shaquille Edwards for a 60-yard touchdown. Deven Luedecke kicked the extra point to put El Campo ahead 15-0.

One more touchdown helped the Ricebirds take a commanding lead into the locker room at halftime.

Anderson capped off a deep drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. Another Ludecke extra point put the 'Birds up 22-0.

El Campo came through again in the third quarter to put a lot of pressure on the Tigers.

Andrew Catete finished a nice drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Ludecke's kick was good for the extra point and the scoreboard read 29-0.

Wharton finally ended the shutout late in the fourth quarter, but it was too late to make a difference against El Campo's strong defense.

The Ricebirds won 29-7.

Catete was the leading rusher on the night with 8 carries for 94 yards while Anderson ran the ball 7 times for 62 yards.

The running backs had an easy time moving the ball thanks to great blocks by the offensive line. Rory Johnson, Mario Arismendez, Ethan Kinder, Eli Wood, Jacob O'Canas and Rosalino Salgado all performed well on the front line.

The Ricebirds were anchored by a couple of deep returns. A.J. Owens took a kick off 20 yards while Edwards had a 61-yard punt return.

Leading tacklers on the night were Anderson with 10, Arismendez with 7, Coy Radley with 6, Catete with 5 and Travell Kimble and Wood both with 4 tackles.

Freshman & Sophomores

El Campo fell in a tough game to Victoria St. Joseph 22- 6.

Three scores early in the game put the Ricebirds at a big disadvantage, but El Campo showed great determination to score in the fourth quarter and eliminate the shutout.

St. Joseph scored once in the first quarter with 1:16 remaining and then twice in the second quarter.

Victoria's last two touchdowns came within a few seconds of each other. St. Joseph scored the first on a 50-yard pass with 44 seconds left in the half and the second on a 5- yard run with 24 seconds before halftime.

The rally put El Campo down, but not out.

The Ricebirds came through with a score late in the game to end the shutout.

Walter Escamilla finished a great drive with a 2-yard touchdown. His score gave the game its final 22-6 score.

Escamilla was El Campo's leading rusher on the night with 10 carries for 55 yards.

Ryan Guttierrez led all receivers with 1 catch for 25 yards. Escamilla caught 1 ball for 11 yards.

Ty Matthews and Ross Mach both led El Campo's defense with 4 tackles while

Derek Dornak, Wes Smolik and Escamilla each made 3 and Sawyer Stanley made 2 tackles.

Bryan Moreno and Derek Dornak both recovered 1 fumble.