Unsung heroes help Rattlers cage Lions

HOUSTON- On a rare Saturday game for the Navasota Rattlers, the generally unsung heroes set the pace early for the Navasota as they ran all over the Yates Lions 49-6.

Navasota (5-4,5-0) set the tone early by owning the trenches and being able to run the ball at will. The great play of the offensive line propelled the Rattlers to 396 yards with 299 of those on the ground.

“All week our coaches told us they are going to give us different looks and coming into this game we didn’t expect the look they showed us but we adjusted to it and were able to make some big plays,” said senior lineman Eberardo Alvarado. “We do a drill at practice where we practice double teams and that drill has really helped us a lot.”

The Big Blue Train rolled to a 42-0 lead including 35 first half points. Darick Henderson scored on a 23-yard run in the first quarter and once in the second quarter on a 7-yard run. He finished the afternoon with 72 yards on 13 carries.

Zack Dyer capped the first quarter scoring punching it in from a yard out. Joel Castaneda scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter on a 3-yard run. Navasota scored 21-points in the second quarter with the final score of the half coming on a 29-yard pass from Dyer to La’Darrin Thomas.

Castaneda struck again behind his great offensive-line this time for a 46-yard touchdown run. “I’ve been working out a lot,” explained Castaneda. “I attended boot camp every day. I’ve been putting in the extra work and making sure I hit the weight room.”

Castaneda got extra carries this game with Darius Randle going through concussion protocol after suffering a hit against Stafford. “DJ (Darius) is like my best friend and the best running back we have but like coach Dacus always tells us it’s next man up.”

Navasota head coach Casey Dacus spoke on the effort of his offensive line, “You know they’re kind of the unsung heroes. They don’t get much credit when things are good, but they get lots of blame when things aren’t good. They are a great group of kids and they deserve credit and they deserve accolades. Unfortunately, we don’t put their names in the paper each week because they aren’t the ones carrying the ball or making tackles, but your football team is only going to be as good as your front five guys and our front five have made a ton of progress from week one to where we are now.”

Bernard Brown escaped for a 33-yard run in the fourth quarter for Yates only score. The Rattlers scoring was capped by a 4-yard run by Aaron Nichols. Miguel Alvarado completed the game perfect on extra-point attempts nailing all seven attempts.

With the win Navasota clinches at least a share of the District 12-4A championship, the second-consecutive year to do so under Dacus. The Rattlers will go for sole possession of the title on senior night Friday, Nov. 1, as they host the Wheatley Wildcats (5-3, 3-1) at 7 p.m.

Yates (1-6, 1-3) will host Furr (4-4, 2-2) Friday at 7 p.m.