Shiner stands ground against late Lexington surge
by Stewart Frazier, Cannon Correspondent
September 25, 2014
Gonzales Cannon Article | Shiner Comanche Football
SHINER — The Shiner Comanches survived a late push by the Lexington Eagles Friday night to remain undefeated for the season. Shiner’s defense showed up early, as they forced Lexington into a three-and-out on the game’s first possession. Their offense responded by scoring on a 41-yard run by Tyler Patek for the first score of the game. After a successful kick, the Shiner took the lead 7-0.
Lexington’s offense solved its troubles on their next possession as their running game proved too much for the Comanches’ defense to handle. Quarterback Nic Dillon would eventually score on a 4-yard touchdown run, and the Eagles would get the kick to tie it at 7-7 with 6:25 remaining in the first.
Shiner’s offense picked up where it left off, gaining huge yardage from Patek and Chad Neubauer to get them to the 33. A few plays later, Patek caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Blake Michalec, and after a good kick Shiner took a 14-7 lead with 3:03 left in the quarter.
The Eagle offense put together a decent drive their next time out, making it as far as the 25. However, Shiner’s defense held tough and forced a turnover on downs. Their offense kept the pressure up with their dominant run game, marching down to their opponent’s 21. Michalec broke free from there on for a long touchdown run, and after another extra point Shiner went up 21-7 with 8:19 remaining until halftime.
Lexington continued to fight, as their offense made their way down the field with a number of successful runs. The Comanche defense put up quite a bit of resistance on the goal line, but could not keep Berto Lara from scoring from the 1. Lexington would botch the snap and miss the PAT, leaving the score at 21-13 with 4:03 to go until the half.
Shiner answered quickly, as Dadrian Taylor made a nice return to the Lexington 40. Leaning heavily on the run game again, the Comanches found themselves on the goal line, where Neubauer scored on a 1-yard run. After the kick, Shiner went up 28-13, and the score remained that way until the half.
Shiner’s offense started the third quarter as sharp as they looked in the first half. They got another spark from Taylor, this time a 48-yard run on a reverse to the Lexington 13. Shiner marched closer, but the Eagle defense made a huge play, forcing and recovering a fumble on the 1. Their victory was short lived, however, as their offense fumbled a few plays later after a blocking penalty. Marcus Rodriguez scooped the ball up and scored from 9-yards out, and after another good kick Shiner took a 35-13 lead with 9:05 remaining in the third.
After trading a couple of punts with Shiner, Lexington managed to find some success running the ball again, and they took advantage of a wearing Comanche defense. They drove down the field, eventually scoring on a 5-yard run by Lara. After the kick, the score was set at Shiner 35, Lexington 20, with 0:15 in the third.
Lexington tried some trickery on the ensuing kickoff and nearly recovered an onside kick, but the Comanches hung on to give their offense a shot, which they took complete advantage off. They got another large chunk of yardage on another reverse to Taylor, setting them up on the 13. Patek would run it in the next play, but after a missed kick Shiner went up 41-20 with 11:12 left in the game.
The Eagles would answer with another tedious drive, marching down the field on an offense that opened up to the pass more than before. Dillon eventually scored on a 12-yard run and their kicker set the score at 41-27 with 4:03 remaining.
Things got interesting as Lexington managed to recover their second onside kick attempt on the Comanche 34. Shiner’s defense seemed undaunted as Neubauer and Rodriguez combined for a sack to forced the Eagles into third and long, but Lexington’s QB Dillon proved resilient and scampered for a first down the next play. They would score a few plays later on a 4-yard run by Lara, and the extra point put them within a score of tying, 41-34.
The Comanches remained calm and thwarted a third onside attempt by Lexington. The recovery did not seal the win, and it came down to the offense to do so. They managed to exhaust the Eagle’s timeouts and run the remaining 1:52 off the clock to survive the scare.
After the game, head coach Steven Cerny attributed Lexington’s comeback to their numbers: “We were worn out. We have more guys that play both ways than they do, and it started to show there late.” He said the same thing about his offense, which slowed considerably in the second half: “They were fatigued. It was a problem all around, and we knew it would be an issue against Lexington.” He said his team’s conviction made the win even better: “They were all tired, but they hung in there. I’m very proud of the way they played through it.”
Shiner hosts the Raiders of Rice Consolidated next Friday for Homecoming, and Lexington travels to New Waverly to face the Bulldogs.
GAME SUMMARY: Shiner 41, Lexington 34 Non-District SCORING SUMMARY: Lexington 7 6 7 14 - 34 Shiner 14 14 7 6 - 41 SCORING DETAILS: First Quarter S - Tyler Patek 41 run (Chad Neubauer kick) 7:48 1Q L - Nic Dillon 4 run (kick good) 6:25 1Q S - Patek 8 pass from Blake Michalec (Neubauer kick) 3:03 1Q Second Quarter S - Tyler Patek 41 run (Chad Neubauer kick) 7:48 1Q L - Nic Dillon 4 run (kick good) 6:25 1Q S - Patek 8 pass from Blake Michalec (Neubauer kick) 3:03 1Q Third Quarter S - Marcus Rodriguez 8 fumble return (Neubauer kick) 9:05 3Q L - Lara 5 run (kick good) 0:15 3Q G - Akil Ellis 21 pass from Kowalik (Steven Koehne kick) 1:37 3Q Fourth Quarter S - Patek 12 run (kick failed) 11:12 4Q L - Dillon 12 run (kick good) 4:03 4Q L - Lara 4 run (kick good) 1:52 4Q TEAM STATISTICS: Lexington Shiner First Downs 22 20 Yards Rushing 52-345 44-378 Yards Passing 54 8 Passes 16-7-0-0 6-1-1-0 Punts 36.3 25.0 Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1 Penalties-yards 4-48 4-40 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Rushing Lexington: Berto Lara 5-34, Nic Dillon 32-18. Shiner: Tyler Patek 14-136, Chad Neubauer 17-103, Dadrian Taylor 2-89, Blake Michalec 10-48, Justin Stovall 1-2. Passing Lexington: Nic Dillon 16-7-54-0. Shiner, Blake Michalec 6-1-8-0 Receiving Lexington: Team 7-54. Shiner: Tyler Patek 1-8.
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