By James Pitts
Corsicana Daily Sun
RIO VISTA — —
The Rice Bulldogs used a powerful two-pronged rushing attack to snap a two-game losing streak and defeat the Rio Vista Eagles, 38-35, on the road Friday night. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 2-4 on the season and 1-2 in District 6-2A Division II play.
Ragan Henderson rushed for 275 yards and two scores, while Chris Atchley added three touchdowns and 159 yards to pace the Bulldog ground attack. The backfield duo combined for 282 yards rushing in the second half alone as the Bulldogs answered every Rio Vista score and maintained a slim margin throughout the half.
Rio Vista was led by quarterback Nick Russell who rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns, while passing for 79 yards. Chase Hailey had 49 yards receiving for the Eagles.
Both team used outstanding special teams play throughout the night as Rio Vista had two kickoff big kickoff returns, one a 100 yard touchdown by Sean Warlow, to keep the pressure on the Bulldogs. Rice kicker Junior Pena added a 32 yard field goal in the third quarter in what proved to be the decisive points in the game.
Rice 38, Rio Vista 35
Rice 14 0 10 14 — 38
Rio Vista 7 0 14 14 — 35
First Quarter
RV — Nick Russell 24 run (Joseph Chavez kick), 11:05
R — Ragan Henderson 9 run (Junior Pena kick), 8:33
R — Chris Atchley 1 run (Pena kick), 1:47
Third Quarter
R — Henderson 60 run (Pena kick), 9:57
RV — Jacob Strickland 2 run (Chavez kick), 6:40
R — Pena 32 FG, 2:43
RV — Sean Warlow 100 kickoff return (Chavez kick), 2:28
Fourth Quarter
R — Atchley 11 run (Pena kick), 10:48
RV — Russell 5 run (Chavez kick), 7:39
R — Atchley 8 run (Pena kick), 2:49
RV — Russell 4 run (Chavez kick), 2:31
R RV
First downs 23 16
Rush-yards 51-444 33-222
Passing yards 7 79
C-A-I 1-4-1 4-9-1
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0
Punts-avg. 1-29.0 2-19.5
Penalties-yards 8-80 9-80
Individual
Rushing — R: Ragan Henderson 27-275, Chris Atchley 22-159, Angel Oropeza 2-10. RV: Nick Russell 18-176, Jacob Strickland 9-39, Sean Worlow 4-6, Jacob Stanley 2-1.
Passing — R: Dalton Pike 1-4-1-7. RV: Nick Russell 4-9-1-79.
Receiving — R: Chris Atchley 1-7. RV: Chase Hailey 2-48, Ryan Jimison 2-31.
