RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Randolph Ro-Hawks opened their 2008 prep football season last week with a 22-15 loss at home against Marion High School.
The Ro-Hawks have a chance to bounce back when they host Ingram tonight at Mickler Field, with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
"The kids played well and we mixed it up some with what we were trying to do," said RHS head coach Pete Wesp. "We had the ball at the end with a chance to win so, as coaches, we were happy to see the group stay with it even though we were behind."
Randolph (now 0-1) trailed 7-0 at halftime before taking a lead in the third quarter thanks to touchdown runs by Kyle McNally and Deron Terrell. The first extra-point kick was good by Tony Smith, then McNally ran for a two-point conversion that put them ahead 15-7.
Marion (now 1-0) scored twice in the fourth quarter before Randolph made its final push that came up short.
"Personally, I think the kids played well and we put together over 300 yards of total offense, so we did some things right," Wesp said. "You can't make mistakes like we did, though, with five turnovers including three fumbles. We're seeing a lot of improvement each week so were happy with the team and its effort."
Defensively, linebackers set the tone in the close loss. Kory Kuhl and Danny Adolike each had 13 tackles. Kuhl and Cesar Ledesma combined for eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage and the duo got together for three quarterback sacks.
Ledesma recorded 11 tackles and Terrell had 13 stops for RHS, which had lost one of its star returnees - Dante Terrell - in the final preseason scrimmage.
"Dante broke his leg with about two minutes left and this just means other people will have to step up and do things for us," Wesp said. "We will miss Dante, but we have to move forward and continue to improve."
Anthony Ravela is the team's current punter since Dante Terrell went down and Randolph must do better at striking paydirt in the red zone.
"We had the ball five times inside the 20-yard line and didn't score anything," Wesp said. "We made a lot of mistakes but we also saw a lot that pleased us with so many new people in there. The team is anxious to play again this week against Ingram."