The Bearcats could not have asked for a better game to follow their opening week against Comanche. To begin the game the Eagles returned the opening kickoff 77 yards for a score. Ballinger fans might have been shocked, but the Bearcats composed themselves and took a 7-6 lead two minutes later on a Xavier Nunez scoring run. That is the closest the score would be as Grape Creek was shut out the rest of the way in a 44-6 Bearcat victory.
Despite the lopsided score Ballinger was not able to score for large portions of the game. There was an eight minute gap between their first and second score in the 1st quarter and the Bearcats did not score again until :32 left in the 2nd quarter as Xavier Nunez threw his first touchdown pass of the season on a terrific juggling catch by Deaundre Manley.
After the half the Bearcats would again struggle to score until the 4th quarter and it was then that the floodgates opened. A beautiful 70 yard catch and run by Damian Willborn and a third rushing score by Xavier Nunez would be the end of the day for many of the offensive starters.
Ballinger’s defense wasn’t content to just win the game as they continued to harass the Eagles to the final whistle. The tenacity of the defense allowed Cooper Bean to get a safety on the Eagle quarterback with six minutes remaining. The safety would lead to another touchdown drive for the Bearcats, this time led by Jaedan Coy as he threw a touchdown to Ethan Sanchez.
On the day Ballinger allowed only 60 total offensive yards for the Eagles as they amassed 447 offensive yards. Deaundre Manley led all receivers with 112 yards on 5 catches while Cooper Bean led the Ballinger running backs with 51 yards on 14 carries.
Next up Ballinger will travel to Clyde to face the Bulldogs after their 35-6 defeat at the hands of Eastland.
