The Thursday game was Warren and Taft (which so far is my GAME OF THE YEAR)…basically, the loser of this game is out of the playoff picture. The Friday game was Brennan and Stevens and the winner clinches both a playoff birth and a spot in the District 27-6 championship game next Thursday night. So, yeah, a lot on the line for all 4 teams.
Man, I was super excited to see not only the games, but also some KEY players…Christian Mallard from Taft, Aedric Robinson from Warren, Bobby Chacon from Stevens and Da’Shawn Key from Brennan. I am so damn lucky that I get to see San Antonio High School football on a weekly basis…I LOVE MY JOB!!!
TAFT AND WARREN
At Halftime, Warren (not my Dad) led Taft by a score of 31 to 13. Last year, I worked a game where a team trailed 21 to nothing at Halftime and they ended up winning the game 43 to 21 (this was my come-back game of the year).
The final Warren scoring drive to put them up 34 to 26 was 14 plays and they chewed 6:55 off the clock. They gained 64 yards and nailed a 24 yard field goal. The majority of the yards were runs by Aedric Robinson.
Down by 8 points, the Taft Raiders put the ball in Christian Mallard’s hands and he scored a 7 yard touchdown (I wrote on my stat-board above his name CLUTCH). Even though the 2-point conversion failed, Taft recovered their onside kick!!! OMG…this is awesome!!!
Well, folks, the Taft Raiders had a chance to win the game with a field goal (I gotta be honest, I wanted them to nail it) but, it was short and Warren escaped with a 34 to 32 win!!! WOW!!!
The Taft Raiders ran 63 plays for 416 yards. Christian Mallard, the running back, had 25 carries for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns. For the season, Mallard has 1,373 yards and 16 touchdowns (he is a junior)!!! The quarterback, Christian Dehoyas, was 15 of 26 passing for 189 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Warren Warriors ran 57 plays for 393 yards. Aedric Robinson, the running back, had 34 carries for 187 yards. He needs just 40 more yards to be a 1,000 yard rusher and I think he will get that and more next week. Christopher Casias, the quarterback, was 13 of 21 passing for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns. Casias was the back-up last year and in Week 12 (a playoff game against Judson), the starter got hurt and Casias came in and man, the Judson defense sacked him several times. Wow, what a difference a year makes…he looked so much better!! The leading receiver for Warren was Edwin Robinson who had 8 receptions for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Warren Warriors will play the O’Connor Panthers next week and the winner goes to the playoffs.
The Taft Raiders will play the Marshall Rams next week with absolutely nothing on the line. It is just a game to finish the normal 10 game schedule.
BRENNAN AND STEVENS
The San Antonio Express News picked this game as the GAME OF THE WEEK (great choice…both teams are undefeated in zone play and the winner plays in the championship game), but I didn’t agree with their overall score prediction…Brennan 42 and Stevens 14. Yeah, I know Brennan is faster, more athletic, and has a lot more experience than Stevens and because of that, I was expecting the Bears to win, but in a much closer game.
At Halftime, the Brennan Bears led 21 to 7 over the Stevens Falcons. Brennan had 239 total yards and Stevens had 33…WOW!!! The Brennan quarterback, Da’Shawn Key, had 12 carries for 93 yards and 1 touchdown but he hurt his ankle early in the 2nd quarter and didn’t return. I saw him on crutches and his ankle was wrapped before the 3rd quarter started (man, I really hope he is OK because KEY is the KEY for Brennan).
In the 3rd, Stevens quarterback, Bobby Chacon, threw a touchdown pass and that cut the lead to 21 to 14…yay, now we got a game!!! The Bears without their 4 year starting quarterback, Da’Shawn Key, didn’t blink or flinch…they were on a mission and that mission included scoring 34 consecutive points!!!
The final score was Brennan 55 and Stevens 14 (so, the Express News score prediction was pretty close and I looked like a fool because I told everybody this would be a close game…oh well). We even had a running clock in the 4th quarter.
The Stevens Falcons ran 45 plays for 136 yards. I have never seen a team have negative rushing numbers until last night. Bobby Chacon, the quarterback, really struggled as he was 12 of 27 passing for 152 yards with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. The leading receiver was Xavier Ortiz, who had 5 receptions for 94 yards. In Week 8, Chacon was 26 of 36 passing for 336 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
The Brennan Bears ran 51 plays for 545 yards. On the ground, they had 425 yards and 6 touchdowns. Da’Shawn Key, the starting quarterback who got hurt early in the 2nd quarter, had 12 carries for 93 yards. Third string running back and only a junior, Devonte Warren, had 7 carries for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns. Alex Hill, another running back, had 4 carries for 63 yards and 1 touchdown.
Back-up quarterback and also a junior, Taveon Tolefree, had 8 carries for 141 yards and 1 touchdown (that touchdown was for 81 yards). He was also 1 of 3 passing but that lone completion was a 57 yard touchdown to Makai Green.
Like I said last week, the three best teams that I have seen this year are still BRENNAN, BRANDEIS AND STEELE.
The Brennan Bears will play the Brandeis Broncos on Thursday for the District 27-6A championship. Both teams are playoff bound and undefeated and I expect a full house and a very close game. Unfortunately, I have a Thursday Night Lights TV game at the same time, so unless I can find a quick way to clone myself, I won’t be there.
The Stevens Falcons will play the Clark Cougars and the winner goes to the playoffs.
My Thursday Night Lights game next week is the MacArthur Brahmas and the Johnson Jaguars. Both teams have clinched a playoff birth and the loser will probably get the Steele Knights in the first round. I know Steele wants Johnson because last year. Johnson been Steele in the 5A Division II Regional Finals.
I think my Friday game will be at Lehnhoff stadium as the Steele Knights play the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars.