CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The London Pirates started the season off right with a victory under their new head coach Andy Smith. Now they've got a tough matchup against the top ranked team in 2A, the Refugio Bobcats.
"Well I think Refugio is the gold standard of Texas football," said London football head coach Andy Smith. "They're No. 1 for a reason. They've been a high quality program."
It's one of the few undefeated matchups for week two in the Coastal Bend, and that's why this is our live TV matchup for Game Night South Texas.
"They're athletic. They have a new coach," said Refugio football head coach Drew Cox. "They seem real hungry. It's going to be a challenge for us."
London is coming off a tough 28-21 victory over Bishop. Their defense created the game-winning play.
"Defensively the secondary did an amazing job ball hawking to the football," said London football head coach Andy Smith. "We had three interceptions and also recovered a fumble."
London's defense will face a Refugio offense that totaled 257 rushing yards and 197 passing. Scoring all 7 touchdowns running the ball.
"If we can stop the run and force them to pass we have a really good secondary, which is going to be hard for them to complete," said London sophomore wide receiver and cornerback Maddox Jennings. "Just stopping the run is the biggest thing for us this week."
Pirates running back Jake Castaneda was tough to stop. The junior rushed for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns.
"Tried to stop our pass, so our line was able to block and make the right blocks," said London junior running back and safety Jake Castaneda. "I was able to get those two touchdowns."
Refugio won big, 48-6 against Cotulla, but it was a slow start.
"You know we're doing some new things," Cox said. "New quarterback of course, but you know we got on track at the end of the first quarter and I was pretty happy how we looked then on."
The Bobcats scored 27 points in the second quarter. Refugio's defense will look to win the turnover battle again.
"They're a lot of pass, but you know if they can run the ball that's where our defensive line and linebackers get to eat," Refugio senior nose guard and left guard Jason Delossantos. "That's what we like."
Refugio intercepted the ball three times and forced two fumbles.
"We had a few turnovers which is good," said Refugio senior right guard and defensive tackle Thor Bass. "We had 11 players to the ball almost every play, and that's key to having a good defense."
Our Game Night South Texas matchup between between London and Refugio kicks off on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Catch the game live on our sister station KDF and on our Youtube channel KRIS 6+. KDF can be found over the air on 47.2 (low power) and 10.3 (full power). Both are in HD. Also on channel 13 on Astound and Spectrum as well as channel 47 on Dish.
Thank you to Thomas J Henry for supporting Game Night South Texas and Coastal Bend athletes.
