The Mexia Blackcats opened up the new Blackcat Field and hosted their first home game and defeated the Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojans 46-20 on Friday night in front a capacity homecoming crowd.
The game was delayed by Mother Nature when lightning in the area sent both teams to the locker rooms and the fans the parking lots. Following a 44-minute weather delay and some heavy rain, the game was ready to begin.
Mexia put the first official points on the board for the Blackcats. Senior kicker Lalo Ortiz kicked a 36-yard field goal into a stiff win toward the Blackcat locker room and Mexia jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 6:12 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Blackcat defense got into the scoring festivities on the next possession. Trojan quarterback De’oveon Lawniczak had the ball bounce off of his hands and it rolled toward the goal line. It continued to roll into the end zone and Phillip LeJeune fell on the loose ball for the Mexia defensive touchdown. The point after was good and the Blackcats held a 10-0 lead.
Mexia made a mistake that led to an Oakhurst touchdown. The Trojan defense got a hand on the ball and they made Dre’vaun Cooper cough it up and the Trojans recovered in Mexia territory at the 49-yard line. Lawniczak had the first big play for the Trojans on a pass to Kobe McKinney to the Mexia seven-yard line. David Fulcher took the handoff and he scored on a three-yard run to cut the Blackcat lead to 10-6.
The Blackcats would put a couple of touchdowns on the board before the half. Mexia senior quarterback Jaden Proctor tossed a pass to his receiver Josh Beachum. Beachum caught the pass on the near sideline and made everyone miss tackles and dove over the far pylon for the Blackcat touchdown. Ortiz would put points up after the Blackcat defense intercepted a pass. He kicked a 32-yard field goal and Mexia led 19-6 heading into the locker room.
Mexia added to their lead on the first possession for both teams. With 9:35 remaining in the third quarter, Proctor hit LeJeune for his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard score. On the Coldspring possession, Trojan running back Contavious Parker-Harden had the ball stripped out of his hands and Gary McWhirter scooped it up around midfield and returned it for the touchdown and the lead grew to 33-6.
Coldspring completed a seven-yard scoring pass to cut into the lead but the Blackcats answered quickly on a Beachum 19-yard touchdown run. Jadrian Smith came into the game in the second half and provided a spark and he scored a touchdown on five-yard run.
The Trojans would add their final touchdown on a spectacular punt return by Keon Perkins to set the final score at 46-20.
Mexia will leave the confines of the new turf field and state of the art field house for the road when they open district play on the road. They will pay a visit to the Madisonville Mustangs to begin district 8-4A DII play.
Scott Batts reporting.
