Before I dive into the game and provide a bunch of stats, I just want to say that all the folks at Smithson Valley were extremely hospitable and thanks for providing me with food and drinks. Oh, I also love the fact the Ranger stadium is 6 miles from my house, so it was nice to get home before midnight on a Friday night.
Even though our press-box was large enough for me to spread out and be in my stat comfort zone, we (or should I say I), had to make room for the newspaper writers. I don’t complain about it (all I wanted was a chair and I got it). One was Pat Turner…he was writing for the New Braunfels paper and the other was David Hinojosa…he was writing for the San Antonio Express News (but he moved to another room after the first quarter). We were also joined by Carl Padilla from the Padilla Poll.
Carl Padilla had the Steele Knights favored by 21 points. I was kinda expecting a closer game…like 17 to 13 in favor of Steele.
The Smithson Valley Rangers scored first on a 50 yard fumble return by Randy Rios. Dude, that score came just twenty-four seconds from the start of the first quarter…WOW!!! I guess you can blame it on the rain (yes, a Milli Vanilli reference and yes, I had that infamous album)!!! Three minutes later, the Rangers scored again and they lead Steele by a score of 13 to 0 and that was also the score after the first quarter. Man, the Steele Knights had 3 turnovers and 2 penalties for 25 yards in that quarter. They weren’t playing like the Steele Knights I am used to seeing.
Smithson Valley took a 20 to 0 lead early in the second quarter. I don’t think Steele has ever been down this much in a game. I, for one, didn’t expect this!!! Steele is an extremely well coached team, they are experienced (they won a state championship in 2010 and I was there), and they never give up.
Steele finally scored a touchdown with 4:41 left in the second quarter. No shut-out anymore. Two and a half minutes later, Steele scored again on a 52 yard touchdown pass from LG Williams to CJ Williams. The score now was Smithson Valley 20 and Steele 14…OMG we got a game!!
The Steele Knights, Chris Boring (who I am gonna campaign to change his last name to Awesome), recovered a Smithson Valley fumble and scored a 1 yard touchdown!!! At halftime, Steele led 21 to 20!! The Rangers ran 26 plays for 63 yards, Steele ran 35 plays for 204 yards, and both teams had a defensive score.
In the third quarter, Steele added three more points to their lead and going into the fourth quarter, they led 24 to 20. This is going to be a great finish!!!
With ninety-nine seconds left in the game, the Steele quarterback, LG Williams, scored a touchdown and that sealed the win for the Steele Knights. That drive took 7:23 off the clock with 13 plays for 64 yards. That is what I like to call a “championship drive.”
The final score was Steele 31 and Smithson Valley 20. Not all teams can have 4 turnovers and 8 penalties for 72 yards and expect to win a game..especially a game against the Smithson Valley Rangers at Smithson Valley.
The Rangers ran 55 plays for 185 yards. They had 2 turnovers and 8 penalties for 80 yards. Josh Adkins, the quarterback, was 12 of 22 passing for 143 yards with 1 interception. Derek Housler had 2 receptions for 29 yards and Kyle Kershner had 7 receptions for 54 yards. Housler’s older brother Rob payed for the Judson Rockets and now plays in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals. Cord Given had 15 carries for 37 yards with 1 touchdown and Adkins had 18 carries for 5 yards with 1 touchdown.
I said this in Week 2 and I will say it again…the Rangers need a big time play-maker (like a Trent Rios or Lawrence Mattison) to step-up and provide relief to the sophomore quarterback.
The Steele Knights ran 60 plays for 344 yards. LG Williams, the quarterback, had 18 carries for 80 yards with 2 touchdowns. Passing the ball, he was 8 of 16 for 120 yards with 1 interception and 1 touchdown. I will add them up…200 total yards and 3 touchdowns (one was the game clinching drive). LG has committed to play college football at Texas State University.
Bryson Denley had 14 carries for 75 yards, Jaylen Harris had 6 carries for 45 yards, Travell Lumpkin had 5 carries for 24 yards, and Trai Armstrong had 1 carry for yards (his older brother, Tommy, was the Steele quarterback a few years ago and is now the starting quarterback at Nebraska. I really like the running game of Steele…Armstrong and Lumpkin are sophomores and Denley is a junior. WOW!!!
I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t at the Judson/Clemens game on Friday night and likely won’t be at any future Judson games. I won’t go into details, but I will say think before you post something on the Internet (it wasn’t anything I did or wrote, it was somebody else). I have been working Judson games since 2003 and the fans are extremely passionate for football and I just want to say THANKS!! It has been a pleasure for me!!!
I am really going to miss the feedback and readership I get from my Judson BLOG’s. Hopefully, Judson will be back for me next year.
On Thursday. Thursday Night Lights has a bye week and I am glad…I am tired folks. Besides football, I also got a full-time job and my wife and are just moved in to a new house.
On Friday, I will be at Lehnhoff stadium as neighborhood rivals Steele and Clemens play each other. If you want to see that showdown, arrive early!!!