Ballinger started off their game against Grape Creek, but eventually won 41-0. Ballinger’s Gavin Martinez seemingly caught a one handed 50 yard touchdown pass on the first drive, but it was ruled an incompletion. A low snap soon after led to a fumble for Ballinger ending their first drive. On the Bearcats second drive Gavin would get his touchdown on a perfectly blocked wide receiver screen pass. The Ballinger defense would have their third straight 3 and out afterwards.
On their next drive the Bearcats then proceeded to run a 14 play drive that ended with Garrett Dixon’s first touchdown of the game. On the ensuing kickoff their was a fumble and recovery by Ballinger and one play later Weston Rollwitz was sprinting his way in for Ballinger’s third score. Grape Creek then had a long, time eating drive that chewed up over eight minutes of the clock. Grape Creek downed a punt inside the 5 yard line and Ballinger threw an interception on a tipped pass. Three plays later Ballinger cam back with an interception in the end zone by Weston Rollwitz. With little time remaining in the 2nd quarter the Bearcats were content to run the ball and end the half.
After halftime it was much of the same. Garrett Dixon got his second touchdown on Ballinger’s first possession. The next Grape Creek possession was looking promising until it was ended by a Tyler Vaughn interception that he returned 40 yards to the Grape Creek 45, giving Ballinger another short field. Four plays later Carter Arrott powered his way in for a rushing touchdown.
A short four play drive by Grape Creek led to another Ballinger drive that was ended with a Beau Perkins touchdown. Afterwards the Bearcats started subbing players out of the game and after a bad snap that led to a fumble recovery for the Eagles Ballinger brought back the starting defense and was able to preserve the shutout.
Ballinger will travel to Ingram Moore for the next game. Ingram Moore opened the season with five straight wins, but have since lost their first two district contests against Sonora and Bangs. A win would give the Bearcats next two contests against Sonora and Bangs even more meaning as all three are tied for first place in district after two weeks The Bangs Dragons and Sonora Mustangs play this week so the district is guaranteed to lose one unbeaten.
Players of the Game vs Grape Creek:
Nakia Villareal:
Nakia was a running back and blocking back for the Ballinger JV last season. He was moved to the offensive and defensive line this year and is one of the more dominating players for Ballinger in recent weeks. Nakia had a terrific 15 tackles against the Eagles but even more impressive he had 8 for a loss.
Tyler Vaughn:
Tyler leads the Bearcats in interceptions and added to his total against Grape Creek with his 5th. Tyler is also knocking the rust off at quarterback in his second week throwing since Week 1. He is 7 of 10 throwing in the last two weeks blowout victories.
Garrett Dixon and Beau Perkins:
Garrett and Beau are very complementary backs. Garrett provides the lightning to Beaus thunder and the two combined to 16 carries for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Players to watch against Ingram Moore:
Gavin Martinez and Weston Rollwitz:
These two will have to continue feeding off of each other this week. Gavin has come on strong as a threat opposite Weston. They have each scored a touchdown the last two weeks and look to make it three in a row this week.
Aiden Busenlehner:
Ingram Moore likes to run with the quarterback as their top two leading rushers both play the position. Aiden will be needed to spy the quarterback run forcing plays to his help and preventing long scrambles.
