By Mack Thweatt | Published Sunday, September 7, 2008
Despite a winless campaign in 2007 and losing their opener last week, the Chico Dragons rebounded with a 14-7 win at the expense of the home town Eagles at Valley View in Friday night football action. It was the first win for the Dragons since 2006.
Chico struck first when Klent Selz found the end zone from 10 yards out at the 1:33 mark in the game's opening period. The extra point attempt was blocked, but Chico owned a 6-0 lead. They managed to hold the lead until Valley View's Dustin Tomlinson got into the end zone on a one-yard run with 8:32 left in the first half. Sebastian Orozco's point-after kick gave the Eagles a 7-6 edge that they carried into the locker room.
After halftime adjustments the teams played scorless until the Dragons finally took advantage of Valley View's third fumble of the third quarter. Running back Kyler Hale broke free for a 21-yard touchdown with 2:04 to play in the period, and also added the conversion run to bring the final tally to 14-7.
The two teams fought each other to a standoff in the final period and the Dragons had earned their first victory since Oct. 27, 2006 season.
Kyler Hale was the leading rusher in the game with 114 yards on 20 carries while Selz threw for 58 yards with a seven completion performance on 15 attempts. Selz's favorite target was Shane Maddux who hauled in three passes for 40 yards.
An elated Coach Pete Hart mentioned how they had struggled last week in the opener, but "we came out strong, and defensively played very hard and caused a lot of turnovers. We had the support of everybody - cheerleaders, band, fans - and that really kept the kids going."
Chico will try to make it two in a row next week in Archer City.
