Texas took advantage of three first-half Dorados turnovers and raced to a 27-7 first-half lead. After James Todd's first interception of the evening David Kennebrew capped off a 37 yard drive with a 1 yard TD run.
Texas wasted little time as they scored on their first possession of the 2nd half. Just before being sandwiched by three Dorados pass rushers, Rudy Carlton found Gabriel Hatchett for a 27-yard TD pass to give the Copperheads a commanding 34-7 lead.
Rio Grande Valley would make a 21 point run of their own. Cole passed to Jermaine Carpenter for two scores, the Dorados defense recorded a safety and then Carpenter returned the ensuing kick off 56 yards for a TD.
Gatto ended Rio Grande Valley's scoring run by converting a field goal to push Texas' lead to 37-28, but Cole and Carpenter weren't ready to throw in the towel as they teamed up on a 4-yard TD pass and catch. Gatto responded with his fourth field goal of the evening to give Texas a 40-35 lead.
Carlton closed out the scoring by throwing his third TD pass of the evening as he found Watson for 22 yards.
The Copperheads travel to Bossier-Shreveport for a June 14 contest with the Battle Wings before returning to the Berry Center on Saturday June 21 for a 7:30pm meeting with the Corpus Christi Sharks.
