Seahawks shutout Premont Cowboys

Riviera-Kaufer’s varsity football team rekindled their playoff hopes after shutting out Premont 22-0 on Friday. Kevin Jimenez stole possession of the ball from Premont with a short lobbing opening game kickoff which the Seahawks recovered. After that, not much happened in the first quarter as both teams exchanged punts.

The Seahawks scored first at 9:09 of the second quarter when Heston Van Fleet tossed a 16-yard touchdown strike to Chris Foster. Jimenez’s extra point put Kaufer ahead 7-0. Foster’s scoring reception punctuated a 15 play drive which covered 77 yards. During the march, Justin Jimenez ran the ball five times for 17 yards and caught a pass of 12 yards.

The Seahawk defense then kicked in. Britt Reynolds helped push Premont’s offense in the wrong direction with a sack. Sterling Yaws dropped Premont’s signal caller - on their following drive - for a loss and the Seahawks defense forced and recovered a fumble two plays later. Jimenez tackled a Cowboy running back for an eleven yard loss and Van Fleet killed that same drive with an interception 37 seconds before Kaufer went into halftime with a seven point lead.

Jimenez reignited Kaufer’s momentum in the third quarter by tackling Premont’s running back in their own end zone for a safety; giving the water-birds a 9-0 lead.

Justin Jimenez returned the following free kick all the way to the Premont 31-yard line and Van Fleet sprinted for a score on the very next play. Reynolds kicked off the fourth quarter with another sack and forced the Cowboys to punt.

Van Fleet again connected with Foster on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 8:08 left in the game.

Kaufer’s offense suffered early during Friday’s game because of butterfingers.

“In the first half, we dropped so many passes but it just plays out that way sometimes,” De la Rosa said. “But the boys came back in the second half and played very well. Our quarterback (Van Fleet) did a good job of running and throwing the ball.”

The Seahawk defense never allowed Premont to enter the red zone.

“Our defense has done a lot of good things and I am very proud of them,” De la Rosa said. “They work hard, get after it and keep things going.”

At 1-2 in District 32-2A, the Seahawks need to defeat Hebbronville (October 30) and Bishop (November 6) to advance into the postseason.

“They (last two district games) are crucial and will be hard fought contests so we just have to play good football,” De la Rosa said. “Sometimes we can be very sloppy but when we go out there and play our game we do a great job. Our players just have to believe in themselves because they are contenders and they have to make up their mind that they are.”