Goats Crash Tigers Homecoming Celebration!

There’s an old saying that tells of never grabbing a tiger by its tail. There’s surely another old saying about avoiding making a Goat angry.
Last Friday night, the Rockdale Tigers decided to test the latter old saying and got the worst of it as the Groesbeck Goats crashed the homecoming party and returned home with a 32-21 win, to push their season record to (4-1) at the halfway point of the regular season.
It was a grueling battle right to the very end, sort of like two titans arm wrestling each other and neither being able to push it over the top.
Rockdale started the game with a little trickery, as they decided to go with an onside kick, but the Goats recovered. Groesbeck’s first drive ended four and out, but Rockdale couldn’t move the ball too far as this Goats defense has matured as of late, forcing the Tigers to punt
Late in the first quarter, the Goats got the scoring started after a nice drive resulted in quarterback Trent Platt scoring on a six-yard run, and kicker Alan Jimenez added the extra point to give them a 7-0 lead with less than four minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Tigers managed to move the ball downfield early in the second quarter, that ended with runningback Jeremiah Butler finding his way into the end zone from four yards out and after the point-after-attempt, the game was tied at 7-7, with 11:07 before the half.
Less than a minute later, Platt hit receiver Nick Sanchez – who made some nice moves – as he sprinted into the end zone for 14-yard touchdown. The kick failed, but the Goats had the lead at 13-7.
Rockdale found out quick what the Goats had been up against for the better part of four games… the yellow hanky. Several penalties stalled the Tigers and they were forced to punt. They went to their trick bag again, but this time Groesbeck’s Isaiah Galvan sniffed out the fake and the Goats got the ball back. A short time later, Platt ran to his left and outran the Tigers defense to score again from 14 yards out. Jimenez PAT gave the red and white a 20-7 lead with 6:37 left in the second quarter.
Groesbecks defense had the Tigers on the run after that. But on a third and long, Rockdale’s Greyson Williams threw the ball downfield towards his receiver, Deandre Stephens, who jumped above a Goats defender to snag the ball and take it 69 yards for the TD, making the score 20-14 with Groesbeck still on top.
As time was running out in the first half, the Goats Jordan Smith found holes in the Tigers D and took the ball to the house from 84-yards out, but the play was called back after Groesbeck was hit with a holding penalty. Platt ended up taking a knee as the final few seconds ran off the clock as the Goats settled to keep the score at 20-14 entering halftime.
In the third quarter, both teams put up a defensive struggle, coupled by numerous penalty calls. With 6:06 showing on the clock, the Tigers managed to take the lead on a seven-yard touchdown run by Butler, putting Rockdale up by one, 21-20.
The Goats put together a nice drive after that, capped off by another Platt TD to give them a five-point lead. Coach Jerry Bomar decided to go for two to make it a seven-point game, but the Goats were stopped short leaving the score 26-21.
The Goats got a few scares in the final quarter, but held off the Tigers charges. The game was sealed with 2:59 to go in the game when Reiter Sanford carried the ball across the goal line from the two.
“This was a hard game we needed to win,” said Coach Bomar. “We overcame a lot of frustrations, but I was proud of the way we played, especially in the fourth quarter. Our defense really picked it up and we played much better.”
A couple of those defensive plays made by the Goats resulted in touchdowns for the team. The first was – as mentioned earlier – the fake punt that Galvan put a halt to, and the second was off the big interception by Avrian Ray.
Other defensive highlights included some hard hitting action by Christian Sims that resulted in no gain on the play in the first half.  Adryen Ramirez made two huge stops in the win, both in the second half, and Kyndel Herring breaking up a few passes, with the most crucial with just over a minute left in the game that left Rockdale facing a fourth and two at the Goats four-yard line.
The Goats will take this Friday night off as district play begins on October 11th.
“We’re glad it’s here (halfway mark),” Bomar said. “A (4-1) record with this team the way we were picked… at this point, it’s really an outstanding record and the players have worked hard to here. The real challenge starts as our district has a lot of good teams in it, so it’s going to be interesting.”
Platt led the Goats offense, rushing 19 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns. In the air, he completed nine passes on 15 attempts and threw for one TD. Smith finished the game with six carries for 68 yards, and caught one pass for 14 yards. Sanford had three carries for 13 yards and a TD, and Ja’marya Hall spent most of the night opening up running lanes for the Goats, but he did contribute in the stats column with four carries for eight yards. Sanchez was tops in the receiving department, catching five passes for 62 yards and a touchdown, and rounding things out is Cannon Campbell, who hauled in three passes for 86 yards.
Groesbeck returns home on October 11th as they host the Mexia Blackcats in the crest for the coveted Navasota River trophy in the Battle of the River. Yes, it’s that time again folks!