ECMS EIGHTH GRADE FOOTBALL UPDATE

El Campo Middle School's eighth-grade football teams both took on Bay City Oct. 9 and played great games against the rival Blackcats.

8th Grade Red

Bay City was no problem for the Ricebirds. El Campo tallied five touchdowns while the defense held the Blackcats to a shutout for a 34-0 win.

El Campo's first score came on a great 53-yard run by Devan Parks. The following extra point failed, but in the first quarter, the 'Birds had a 6-0 lead.

Parks scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came on an 18-yard run and the second was from 27 yards out.

Tanner Schoener came through with the extra point after the second touchdown and pushed El Campo's lead to 20- 0.

In the third quarter, Parks made one more score. He ran the ball in for a 26-yard touchdown. Schoener kicked for the 2-point conversion and gave El Campo a 28-0 lead.

The last score of the game came on a quarterback sneak by Cullen Schoener. He took the ball three yards to give the Ricebirds their final 34-0 score.

Parks was El Campo's leading rusher with 186 yards on 9 carries. DeAndre Pratt ran for 65 yards on five carries and actually scored two touchdowns, but they were called back because of penalties. Josh Bishop ran for 5 yards on two carries.

El Campo's leading tacklers were Ryan Reyna, Bryan Sparks, Eric Williams, Michael Hawkins, Pratt, Parks and C. Schoener.

Dillon Ferrel and Niko Yanis also played well along with the secondary, made up of

Slade Schuirring, T. Schoener and C. Schoener.

Parks and Bishop both led the defense with a fumble recovery.

The Red team improved to 4- 2 on the season with the win.

8th Grade White

El Campo took care of Bay City 44-7 and prevented the Blackcats from scoring until the fourth quarter.

The Ricebirds held Bay City to three plays and a punt to start the game. The punt proved costly for the 'Cats as Castrong Richardson returned the kick 62 yards for El Campo's first score of the game. Jacorric Malone kicked the 2-point conversion to give the Ricebirds an 8-0 lead.

Bay City's second drive was stopped after Devontey Allen recovered a fumble on the Blackcat 30-yard line.

Runs by Bartolo Salgado, Datrel North and Richardson moved the ball to the Bay City 6-yard line. On the next play, Richardson took the hand-off from Derek Yackel and broke free over the left tackle for a touchdown. Malone followed the score with a kick and El Campo's lead grew to 16-0.

El Campo's defense proved strong again and held the 'Cats to another punt and Richardson made a 32-yard return to Bay City's 3-yard line and set up a score on the next play. Richardson claimed the next three yards on a run and Malone kicked the 2-point conversion. The pair of plays put El Campo ahead 24-0 in the second quarter.

The 'Birds made one more score before halftime.

Just before the half, Allen completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to Richardson. The following kick failed, but the 'Birds took a 30-0 lead into the locker room.

El Campo opened up the second half by running some major time off of the clock.

The Ricebirds received the kickoff and drove 62 yards on 12 plays behind the running of

Andrew Solis and North. The drive lasted through the entire third quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Solis scored on a 7-yard run. The kick missed, but The 'Birds took a 36-0 lead.

El Campo's last score came on an excellent defensive play.

Allen picked off a Bay City pass and returned it 27 yards. Malone nailed the 2-point conversion and the Ricebirds came away with a 44-7 victory.

Richardson led the 'Birds with 92 yards on 15 carries while Solis ran for 42, North ran for 28 and Allen ran for 19 yards.

Allen led the defense with 5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception. Salgado also had 5 tackles.

Ty Pustejovsky, Fabian Cardoza, Davontey Simmons and Solis all played a good defensive game.

The White team progressed to 2-4 with the win.