Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

SHELDON – Jumping on Shepherd early, the Orangefield Bobcats cruised past the Pirates 55-12 in the Class 3A Region III Division I bidistrict playoffs at Sheldon ISD Stadium Thursday night.

The District 10-3A Division I champion Bobcats (9-2) led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, taking advantage of Pirate mistakes and increased their lead to 35-6 by halftime.

The Bobcats will face either Cameron Yoe (7-3) or Yoakum (4-6) in the 3A Region III Division I Area Round next week.

Orangefield piled up 481 yards of total offense, including 461 on the ground on 42 carries.

Senior tailback Cameron Dischler picked up yet another 200-yard rushing performance. He gobbled up 218 yards on 20 carries and scored four touchdowns.

Speedburner tailback Gavin Perry-Koci zipped through the Pirate defense for 178 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. Case Singleton contributed 54 yards and a score on six totes.

“Our offensive line had another great night opening things up for us,” said Bobcat coach Josh Smalley. “I thought PK (Perry-Koci) was awesome and he displayed his great speed. Disch (Dischler) had another Disch-type game.”

The Pirates finished with 264 total yards. Shepherd quarterback R.D. Green rushed for 94 yards on 21 carries and completed 5-of-13 passes for 86 yards. Pirate tailback Preston Stephens had 76 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 61 yards.

“Defensively, we made some stops on fourth down that really helped,” said Smalley. “They (Shepherd) have some athletes, especially Green and Stephens and they hit us on a couple big pass plays. Every game you can always find something to work on and we’ll enjoy this for a day and then get back to work. It’s a great feeling to get that first playoff win under your belt.”

Orangefield cashed in on some early Shepherd (5-6) turnovers, the District 9-3A Division I fourth-place team, to take a quick 14-0 lead by the halfway point of the first quarter.

“It’s always great to get off to a good start and we took advantage of a couple early turnovers,” said Smalley. “It was good to go in at the half with the nice lead, it was like a breath of fresh air. The kids came out focused in the second half and continued to play well.”

Case Singleton got the first Bobcat score with a 26-yard touchdown gallop and Bobcat quarterback Brayden Parker got into the end zone on a one-yard keeper after a pair of Shepherd miscues.

After holding the Pirates on fourth down at the Bobcat 42, Perry-Koci got loose on a 58-yard touchdown, utilizing his amazing speed to put the Bobcats up 21-0 with 3:47 in the first quarter.

Shepherd finally answered with a 10-play, 76-yard scoring drive. The big play came when H.D. Green connected with Preston Stephens on a 32-yard pass to the Bobcat 26.

Stephens handled the ball the next three times. He had a big 14-yard run to the 12, 10 more yards to the 2, and then he scored from two yards out. The two-point conversion failed as the Pirates trimmed it to 21-6 with 11:26 in the half.

The Bobcats countered with a eight-play, 69-yard scoring march. Dischler had 43 yards on four carries on the series and he capped it when on fourth-and-1 from the Pirate 24, he broke loose for a touchdown, pushing it to 28-6 with 7:47 in the half.

Shepherd mishandled the ensuing kickoff and the Bobcats took over at the Pirate 27.

After a Brayden Parker quarterback sneak on fourth down gave the Bobcats a first down at the 16, Dischler got loose for a nine-yard run and Perry-Koci bolted around the end for a eight-yard touchdown dart with five minutes left in the half.

Orangefield had 242 total yards by the half, 233 on the ground. Perry-Koci had 98 yards, Dischler 88 and Singleton 38 in the first 24 minutes.

The Pirates had 97 yards in the half.

Stephens had 38 yards on 10 carries while Green had 22 on six totes. Green was 2-for-4 in the air for 37 yards.

After the Pirates drove from their own 42 to the Bobcat 10 on their first series of the second half, the Bobcat defense held strong, stopping Shepherd on fourth-and-9 with eight minutes left in the third.

The Bobcat offense rewarded their defense with a quick five-play, 88-yard touchdown march. Perry-Koci escaped the Pirate defense and hit the sideline for a 52-yard gallop to the Pirate 16. Two plays later Dischler did the honors again, shredding the Pirate defense for a 15-yard scoring jaunt, making it 41-6 with less than six minutes in the third.

The Pirates were finally able to cash in on a Bobcat turnover as Shepherd got the ball at the Orangefield 41. Green teamed up with Luke Moore on a 16-yard pass. Stephens got loose on a nine-yard run and Green capped it with a 16-yard quarterback keeper for the score, trimming it to 41-12 with 1:47 in the third.

The Bobcats recovered nicely though, marching 64 yards in six plays to hit paydirt again. Dischler had two games on the series for 40 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown scamper and a nice dive into the end zone, pushing it back up to 48-12 with 11:07 remaining.

Orangefield found the end zone again on another quick drive, this time 59 yards in just four plays. Dischler went over the 200-yard mark again, scoring on a 30-yard jaunt, making it 55-12 with 7:13 left.