BEARCATS DRIVE 98 FOR TD, MORENO KICKS 46 FG

With a final of 45-6 it might seem there would not be a major turning point in the game, but there was one in the Bearcats win over Lavaca Friday night at Bearcat Stadium.

Late in the second quarter the Bearcats (7-2, 6-0 Conference 3A-1) led 21-6 but Lavaca had the ball inside the Bearcat 3-yard line after consecutive penalties for pass interference that wiped out an interception and an offside call.

The Golden Arrows (6-3, 3-3) also had three downs with which to work.

First Matt O’Bar and Lance Sims made a 1-yard stop on second down. Sims made a stop at the line of scrimmage on third down, and an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the Bearcats the ball.

That came at the 2:27 mark of the second quarter.

Dax Goff, on his way to 169 first half yards and 230 on the night, got the Bearcats 10 and a first down to start what would be a 98-yard scoring drive that took just 2:19.

Goff carried five straight downs, gaining 53 yards, then caught a pass from Jace Washburn for 10 more yards.

Washburn threw for 82 yards on 6-of-9 passing but those three incompletions would come in succession and had the Bearcats facing a fourth down at the Lavaca 35 with 36 seconds left in the half.

Washburn hit Dakota Mattson for 14 on fourth down, spiked the ball to stop the clock, hit Goff for nine more, spiked it again, and handed to Goff for 4 and a first down at the 8.

Another spike stopped the clock and Washburn threw to Mattson for a touchdown with :08 to spare and it was 28-6 at the half.

It was Mattson's second touchdown catch of the quarter.

The Bearcats had kicked off to start the game and used the opening possession of the second half to go 64 yards in just three plays.

Goff got 21, Conner Lentz got 3, and Goff bullied his way for 40 and his third touchdown of the night to make it 35-6.

The would complete Goff’s night, his third straight 200-yard night – he has run for 710 over the last three weeks.

Lavaca returned the ensuing kick to the Bearcat 39 but after a negative yardage stop by Frank Gil and Goff there were three incomplete passes and the Bearcats had the ball at their 43.

Washburn started the possession with an 8-yard completion to Colter Fisher and wrapped up the drive with a 7-yard scoring run to make it 42-6 which enacted the sportsmanship rule with 6:54 to play in the third quarter.

The next Bearcat possession began at the Lavaca 41 after a punt that actually went for minus 2 yards after the snap had sailed over the punter’s head.

Garrick Barr picked up a fist down to move the ball to the Lavaca 28 then offset a false start penalty to close the quarter.

The Bearcats sent on the field goal unit to start the final quarter and Rhett Nietert put Goff’s snap down between the 36 and 37 yard lines and Juan Moreno – shown on one of his perfect point after kicks on the night – sent it across the goal post for a 46-yard field goal to make it 45-6.

Moreno’s boot is the second longest field goal in school history.

After Lavaca punted again Farris Danes got his first career carry and went 11 yards.

The Bearcats later had Nietert twice take a knee to turn the ball over on downs with less than two minutes to play.

Lavaca then did the same to run out the clock.

The Bearcats had started the game as they had in Charleston, with a first drive ending in a red zone fumble.

The next three drives, however, would be touchdowns and a 21-0 lead.

Dylan Todd started the first scoring drive with a 19-yard pickup and Goff scored on a run of the same length.

Goff rumbled 55 yards on the next possession to set up his 2-yard scoring run for a 14-0 lead with 1:01 left in the opening quarter.

Two plays into the second quarter a 17-yard Lavaca punt gave the Bearcats the ball at the Arrow 33 and Washburn hit a wide open Mattson for a touchdown to make it 21-0.

Lavaca then went 82 yards to get on the scoreboard on a fourth down pass that covered 6 yards.

Personal foul and holding penalties helped the Arrows get the ball back and they then threatened to make it a one score game only to turn the ball over at the Bearcat 2 with 2:27 left in the half.

The Bearcats are now assured of being the top seed from the 3A-1 in the Class 3A playoffs which begin on November 10.

Standing in the way of an unbeaten conference run is Cedarville. The Pirates are 1-8 and 1-7 after Friday’s 42-6 loss to Mansfield.