Ricardo Middle School’s eighth grade football team will play for the District 32-2A title when they host San Diego at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday.

After losing their season opener to Taft, Ricardo has qualified for the championship by winning seven straight games. Last week they defeated Luehrs Junior High 24-12. Nick Labanino scored all three of Ricardo’s touchdowns through runs.

“Last year, this team was 5-3 and lost big games to Hebbronville and Bishop, since then we have come together and talked about playing team football,” Head Coach James Davis said. “They have bought into that, our offensive line is playing great right now and we have a three-headed monster with a trio of running backs (Labanino, Mike Montoya and Hunter Meyer) and a good quarterback (James Davis) who has a good head for the game and does not make any mistakes; plus two good slot backs (A.J. De la Rosa and Matt Waddingham).”

The Yellowjackets have numerous weapons on offense which makes things difficult for opposing defenses.

“You never know who is going to score and that is what makes us so tough,” Davis said. “We have probably had six different boys score for us this year and that makes it hard for defenses to key in one guy.”

Davis also pointed out the exceptional downfield blocking by receivers Brayden Wilson and Christian Garcia saying the duo have been a big key to Ricardo‘s ability to run the ball this season. The head honcho then went on by applauding his d-unit.

“Our defense has also been outstanding as a unit this season, we have shutout four opponents this season,” Davis said. “They have taken pride in keeping us in every game and our defense is a very big part of our success this season.”

Though not playing for the district crown, Ricardo’s seventh grade football team (5-3) hosts San Diego at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The Yellowjacket seventh grade squad lost to Luehrs 28-6 last week. Michael Ruelas scored Ricardo’s only points on a run.

“Our seventh grade team has really improved, we are not very big but we have a very good running back,” Davis said. “We do a lot of drills including tackling and I am just very proud of the way they have improved and feel like as big as Bishop was, we played with them in the first half and then we had a couple of injuries in the second half that changed the way the game ended up. But I am proud of the seventh graders and Offensive Coordinator Mike Morales for all of their hard work and they are going to be a good football team next year.”

Davis is especially gratified with the seventh grade team’s development on offense.

“Our offensive line is doing a better job of blocking, one of the biggest challenges for a seventh grader is learning to be aggressive,” Davis said. “Coach Felix Munoz has done a good job with them, also our downfield blocking has improved and that is very important.”