The eighth-grade Moreno Middle School Trojan football teams traveled to Gregory-Portland on Tuesday evening to meet the young Wildcats. The Beeville boys captured both games with the White team getting a 6-0 victory and the Orange Trojans winning 20-8.

The first game of the evening was a defensive battle. The White Trojans got a first half score from D.J. Hernandez that covered five yards. The two-point conversion failed but the Beeville boys were out front 6-0 as the first half ended.

The defense held strong again in the second half, blanking the Wildcats to preserve the victory. Trojan Chris Valenzuela put an end to the lone Wildcat threat as he recovered a G-P fumble at the Trojan 3-yard line to help secure the victory.

The Orange team of eighth-graders ran their overall record to 4-0 with a 20-8 win over the Wildcats in the nightcap.

The Trojans scored first with Eric Rosales getting into the Wildcat end zone from 22 yards out. The conversion run was stopped, but the Trojans led 6-0 in the first quarter.

It was Rosales again in the second period. He broke off a 45-yard scamper to get the Trojan offense down to the G-P 4-yard line. Rosales then did the honors and pushed his way over the final four yards to get his second TD of the game. Trojan quarterback Brady Jones connected with Cordell Aguirre for the two-point conversion on a short pass to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead just before the half.

The Wildcats scored right before the end of the first half on a 70-yard pass completion that had the receiver getting behind the Trojan defensive backs and outracing them to the end zone. With a two-point conversion, that made it a 14-8 game at the intermission.

The Trojans took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched the length of the field for their final score of the night. The offensive line kept the running lanes clear and Aric Gamez finished things off with a four-yard run to make it 20-8. The conversion failed but the Trojans had used up a lot of clock and the Wildcats were not able to mount another scoring drive.

“Offensive line coach Alan Burkett is doing a great job with the kids. We’re trapping and pulling and getting things down up front,” said MMS coach Randy Maupin.

Coach Maupin acknowledged the fine play of his big guys up front, with John Lopez, Graham Traylor, Hunter Hardy, Arthur Ipock, Joey Granados and reserves Willie Guerra and Anthony DeLeon, all doing a great job for the offense.

The young Trojan eighth-grade team will be at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night to meet the visiting Flour Bluff Hornets. The first game will kick off at 5:30 p.m.