Everything the Paso Robles High School varsity football team needed to do for the win Friday night it did in the first half against the Lompoc Braves.

The Bearcats controlled the clock, they limited mistakes and they took advantage of mistakes made by Lompoc on their way to a 38-7 homecoming victory.

“They forced us to do things we didn’t want to do, but have the ability to do,” said Paso Robles coach Rich Schimke. “We converted and executed, and it was nice at half time to be up like we were.”

On first possession, the Bearcats moved the ball down field and four first downs and four minutes later, had their first touchdown of the night as senior quarterback Austin Flynn ran the ball in on third and goal. With the extra point by Jacob Bedell good, the Bearcats took a 7-0 lead.

On their second possession, junior quarterback Thomas Bernal connected with Cheston Holguin on a 27-yard pass for the second touchdown of the evening. Bedell’s extra point proved true again, and the Bearcats took a 14-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats found themselves in scoring position again to start the second quarter following a fumble recovered by Clay Avila, which set the ball up on a first and 10 on the 23-yard line.

From there, the Bearcats were setting up for a field goal attempt on a fourth down, but an encroachment penalty against the Braves gave the Bearcats the first down. The Bearcats wasted no time and scored their third touchdown of the night when Bernal found Weston O’Conner in the left corner of the end zone. Bedell’s extra point sailed through again, and the Bearcats took a 21-0 lead over the Braves.

On their next possession the Bearcats struck again, this time a two-yard carry from Andy Bridge gave the Bearcats a 28-0 lead. Bridge scored again at the end of the second quarter, this time off a nine-yard pass from Bernal.

While Bridge, Holguin and O’Conner all contributed to the points on the scoreboard, Schimke was quick to add that those touchdowns wouldn’t have been possible with a strong offensive line.

“[Bridge, Holguin and O’Conner are] the featured guys on our offense, and they’re the ones we’ve got to distribute and get the ball to, so they’re doing their job,” he said. “But it doesn’t get done on the running game or the passing game if not for the five guys up front.”

Those guys up front include Eric Bilderback, Jesse Lopez, Jose Lopez, Mitchell Van Dyk and Cole Thompson. For Van Dyk, that means a lot of hard hitting and blocking.

“It was tough, but it was a good game,” he said. “The whole offense and defense did their jobs, so pretty much both sides of the ball the first half did their jobs.”

But Van Dyk said he felt the team faltered in the second half.

“We still need to finish, we didn’t finish that good, so we’re going to need to step it up next time,” he added.

In the fourth quarter, Bedell — who was 5-for-5 in extra points on the night — kicked a 32-yard field goal to cap the Bearcats’ scoring in the 38-7 win.

Bridge rushed 21 times for 174 yards and had two receptions for 22. O’Conner was caught six passes for 46 yards and Holguin caught four for 95 yards.

Flynn was 3-for-9 for 38 yards and Bernal was 9-for-18 for 138 yards and three touchdowns. The Bearcats alternated between both quarterbacks throughout the game.

“They managed the game just like we expect them to do,” Schimke said of his quarterbacks. “They missed some reads on their passes and didn’t hit everything, but you look at the scoreboard, and the alumni are happy, and that’s what our goal was for tonight.”

With the win the Bearcats improved to 5-1 overall, 1-0 PAC 7. The Bearcats host the Righetti Warriors Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m.





Share on Facebook