La Feria defeats Zapata 41-13

By RAUL GARCIA | LA FERIA JOURNAL

LA FERIA —  Once the Lions shook off the rust on its offensive and defensive attack Friday night in their home opener against  the Zapata Hawks they began to roll.

It looked like the Lions started right where they left off last season’s undefeated regular season campaign as the went on to defeat the Hawks 41-13.

The Lions (1-0) will go on the road to take on Grulla Oct. 16, at Rio Grande City.

Heading into the half the Hawks were able to stop a Lions goalline attack on a fourth and inches. The Lions had driven the ball 72 yards on 10 caries. And they converted on a fourth down with a 1:06 remaining to continue the drive before being stopped.

The Hawks  stopped a Lions rush and followed by putting the breaks on a quarterback sneak to keep the game close at 13 -6 heading into halftime.

Lions quarterback Dario Sanchez lead the Lions running game to its first touchdown to take a 7-6 lead over the Hawks in the second quarter.

But it was Lions running back Angel Garcia who rumbled into the endzone for the score and the Lions first touchdown of the season.

Zapata would go on to score on a 85-yard touchdown pass on its first possession of the third quarter to tie the game 13-13 with 8:01 to go.

On the next series of downs for the Lions they converted on another third down to keep the chains moving into Hawks territory.  The Lions continued to power down feild with a big 40 yard gain by Aaron Trevino to put the Lions in the red zone for a chance to take the lead.

Lions Derrick Perez reeled in a touchdown pass on second and goal to regain the lead. They converted on the extra point to push the score to 20-13 with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter.

They would not let the peddle off the gas as the Lions went on to score three more touchdowns in the second half, and tightened its defense to prevent the Hawks from scoring the rest of the contest.