El Campo knocks off Undefeated Wharton

By Chris Doelle
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Updated: September 19, 2015

EL CAMPO - Coach Wayne Condra and the El Campo Ricebirds shortened the game on Friday night and beat one of their top rivals giving the Wharton Tigers their first loss of the season, 28-17. Coach Condra took over from his good friend and long time Ricebird Coach Bob Gillis this season after serving as defensive coordinator for 12 seasons and as the offensive coordinator last year. Coach Condra summed the game up, “It was a great battle, typical El Campo/Wharton game, battle for 48 minutes, kids came out and did a great job.”

Wharton won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Demarcus Wilson received the kick for the Ricebirds and was quickly spun down at the 17 yard line. The Tigers defense responded right out of the gates and forced a quick 3 and out. Benjamin Baylor fielded the kick at his own 38 yard line to start the Wharton drive.

Benjamin Baylor proved throughout the night to be hard to contain, especially on first downs. On his first gallop he took a zone read handoff 35 yards all the way to the Ricebird 27. Then, quarterback Trey Woods found a receiver for 11 yards. Baylor found pay dirt after that with a 16 yard run. The Tigers took the lead 7-0.

Throughout the night, both teams pounded each other with strong ground games, Wharton had 140 yards in the first half and El Campo eclipsing them by 8, at 148. Neither team passed much. Also, each team had problems with shotgun snaps tonight. El Campo was the first to suffer a turnover on their next drive when senior quarterback Ernest Arrambide fumbled the ball at the 35 and the Wharton scooped it up at the 40.

>Wharton then had their first 3 and out when Woods fired incomplete into double coverage on 3rd and 16. El Campo and Coach Condra shortened the game with a 9 play 3 minute and 29 second drive culminating in a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. The drive started with a Jerric Chapman run followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on Tiger Ruiel Taylor moving the birds to their own 35. Two back to back 13 yard gains had El Campo at first and 10 from the 38. Monster 235 pound tailback Kevin Dove frequently ran east and west, enabling the Tiger defense to tackle the bruiser easier. Once Dove reached the open field though, he became a headache for any defense. Dove announced recently that he will be playing college ball for the UTEP Miners.

Facing 3rd and 20 at the Tiger 38 quarterback Arrambide found his little brother Wesley Arrambide on a double move. What looked like a badly under-thrown ball, worked to El Campo's advantage with a 29 yard pick up down to the Tiger 17. On first down Arrambide called his own number and snuck through 2 defenders for a 17 yard touchdown run. The game was tied 7-7 after the Xavier Morales PAT.

Wharton suffered their first turnover on the next drive when Woods was intercepted by Deadrick Hollaway who returned the pick all the way to the Tiger 39. After an Arrambide keeper, a yard loss on second down and a quick end around, Kevin Dove found himself in the open field on 1st and 10 at the 24. Dove then punished 5 or 6 of the tough Tiger defense for a 22 yard gain. He finished it off for his first TD of the night and the Ricebirds took the lead, 14-7.

Coach Condra's “bend but don't break” defensive philosophy was then put to the test to end the half when Wharton drove all the way, setting up 1st and goal at the 5. Jacob Supak then came up wit a marvelous defensive play stripping Woods and also recovering the fumble.

To start the second half the Nery Enriquez boomed the kickoff deep into the end zone as he did all night. A huge gift was given to El Campo on a punt after the Tiger drive stalled. On 4th and 11 a bad snap set up the birds on the 3 yard line. On second and goal from the 1 Arrambide hopped twice into the goal line for an easy touchdown - 21-7 El Campo.

An unsportsmanlike penalty on the PAT forced the ricebirds to kick from their own 25. Benjamin Baylor made the birds pay for it two plays later on 3rd down. On a beautiful 53 yard TD run he accelerated past the last defender down the right sideline extending the El Campo lead 21-14.

El Campo had the next drive stall once again. Wharton responded by driving the ball to the Ricebird 15 and finishing things off with a 43 yard field goal. The Tigers tightened things up 21-17.

The play of the game came for El Campo to end the third quarter when Arrambide bounced of defenders like something in a pinball game for a 38 yard QB keeper and a score. The El Campo announcers in the post game said they have not seen that kind of determination in 3 or 4 years. That would be the final score of the game - 28-18 El Campo.

Another Tiger drive was stopped as Woods struggled again with a bad snap on 4th and 11 this time and 7:25 remaining to play.

El Campo put the game away on a 11 play 6 minute drive that turned the ball over on downs at the Wharton 26. With 1:03 left and two scores needed Wharton was finished off when Jabous Davis stripped the ball from Woods once again. Wharton's Baylor finished with over 200 yards rushing, he had over a 100 on 4 consecutive plays in the third and Ernest Arrambide had over 100 yards rushing for the birds

By Glenn McCarthy

Player of the Game- El Campo QB Ernest Arrambide