Luehrs Junior High’s Carlos Charles has nothing but green grass in front of him as he would go on to score through a 27-yard touchdown run during a seveth grade football game this past Thursday. Chasing him is Ricardo Middle School’s Eric Garcia. Luehrs Junior High’s seventh and eighth grade football teams loaded their buses and paid Ricardo Middle School a little visit this past Thursday.

The Badger seventh grade team won 20-0. Carlos Charles scored for Luehrs on a 30-yard run at 1:10 of the first quarter and the Badgers led 6-0. Charles scored again on a 27-yard sprint with 40 seconds left before halftime. Nick Colecio reached pay dirt on a sevenyard run at 4:23 of the third quarter and Austin Munoz successfully ran the ball for the two-point conversion. Ricardo’s offense reached Luehrs’ two-yard line in the fourth quarter but the Badger defense stumped the drive and eventually forced the Yellowjackets to turn the ball over on downs. Ricardo’s eighth grade football team won 8-6. Luehrs took the lead when Roy Saenz scored on a oneyard run at 3:02 of the first quarter.

Luehrs Junior High’s Nick Colecio runs for yards as Ricardo Middle School’s Michael Ruelas closes in on him during a seventh grade football game this past Thursday. The Yellowjackets struck back with a four-yard touchdown run by Nicholas Labanino at 2:10 of the second quarter and Matt Waddingham ran the ball in for the two-point conversion. Labanino set up his score, a few plays prior, with a lengthy run of over fifty yards which moved Ricardo out of their own territory and deep into Luehrs’. The Yellowjackets threatened to score again, with two seconds left before halftime, but an interception in the end zone by Luehrs’ Dustin Herrera quashed the drive.

“Both our seventh and eighth grade teams played with a lot of heart,” Luehrs Coach Bud Moctezuma said afterwards. “We had a couple of miscues and there are a couple of things we need to go over for next week.”

Thursday was the Badgers’ opening season contest after weather prevented them from taking the field last week.

“This was our first game, we didn’t play George West last week because the game got rained out,” Moctezuma said. “We were a little slow off the block but we will get prepped and be ready to go; just like last year we started slow and then came out on top.”

The Yellowjackets, meanwhile, have recently toiled with a spread of the flu.

“The first two weeks of school we had a lot of guys out. Almost all of our line was out at least three days and we had one player who was out a whole week and a running back who was out two or three days so we really could not get anything going,” Coach James Davis said. “This was the first week we actually had our entire team practicing.”

Davis was pleased with the way his eighth grade team came from behind.

“I think we came out a little flat but started kicking in on defense and that is what won the game for us,” he said. “Our offense is going to get better the more practice and reps these guys get.