Hornets deliver 28-0 sting to Comanches in state final
Monday, December 22, 2025
by Mark Lube, Gazette Sports Editor
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ARLINGTON - Having played Muenster last year in the Class 2A-DII Football State Championship game ( Muenster defeated Shiner 36-29 on December 18, 2024 ), the Shiner Comanches knew exactly what they were up against.
Clayton Fric (7) follows the block of Charlie Clifford (10) against the Hornets. Fric rushed for 33 yards and was the Comanches leading rusher in the state title game. photo by Mark Lube, The Shiner Gazette
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The Comanches, after last year's state game loss to Muenster, got back to work in the offseason, summer conditioning and practice before and during the season to get back to the state game.
The Comanches reached that goal but the game result was not what they had wanted as Muenster made a few more plays on both sides of the ball in a 28-0 shutout Thursday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
"It was tough no doubt. We knew that going in. Muenster was here last year just like us. We knew we were going to have to play one of our best football games. We knew it would be tough with their defense and it showed up today for Muenster," Comanches head coach Daniel Boedeker said. "We just could not get into a rhythm offensively. Definitely frustrating right now and I know the kids are frustrated. We will look at the success we had on the field this year; it was a great accomplishment getting here, We just did not finish the way we wanted to."
Shiner's defense yielded 303 yards to Muenster, 162 through the air and 141 on the ground.
"Some of it was mental mistakes, some of it was being over aggressive against the run. We had to make some corrections to the mistakes we had last year, especially against Muenster's quarterback run," Boedeker said. "We knew it would be tough against their receivers because they are big kids, run good routes and Casen Carney throws well. It was tough to get pressure on him. We took some gambles at times and they were able to hit a big play."
In nearly all of their games this year, the Comanches lines were outsized by the opponents. Not so much with Muenster but the Hornets were fast and athletic, especially on defense where Shiner's offense gained just 164 yards.
"It was not so much their size but their athleticism," Boedeker said. "On film, you see how they get off blocks; what makes them different is how they pursue to the football. We were not able to stay on blocks today to get anything going offensively, particularly in the passing game. We could not hold them (off) to give Jarvis (Williams) enough time to get our receivers (open). It was tough. Our kids did not quit and it went down to the wire as they tried to score at the end."
Shiner will lose 12 seniors to graduation -Cauy Herman, Charlie Clifford, Jake Simper, Aaron Migl, Chase Malinovsky, Landyn Pohler, Cameron Evans, Jace Caddell, Jacob Nerada, Cason Dement, Drake Cerny and Canaan Bishop.
"They are a special group and fun to be around," Boedeker said. "Great kids and great players. They have a good bond with each other; when they are in the locker room before anyone else arrives, they pick on each other and there are a lot of laughs. They make me laugh a lot too. I will miss their great personalities."
The seniors end their career having played in two consecutive state games.
"It means a lot to just be able to do that with everybody," Nerada said. "Not every team gets to go two years in a row."
"The state championship game is where you want to end up at the end of the day," Simper said. "It is a great honor to be here; we just came up short and that is part of it."
Jarvis Williams tries to run away from Hornet defensive lineman Rhett Walterscheid. The Shiner offense struggled against Muenster's defense. photo courtesy of Louann Heinsohn
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Having played in the state final last year, the whole experience was not new to a lot of the Shiner players.
"It was not as big of a factor as last year (the atmosphere of state)," Simper said. "This year, we shot ourselves in the foot and Muenster is a good football team."
"The experience is different from last year," Nerada said.
"From a coach's perspective this week was definitely a little different. Last year, this was a lot of talk about the game and the stadium; this week, there was no talk about those things," Boedeker said. "The players were locked in on what we needed to try to do. In the locker room, the team was focused and right where they needed to be. We did not come up short because of the preparation of the team; they practiced their tails off, not just this past week but all year long. That is what put us in a position to be here."
We treated this game like another playoff game we have to win to get to the next one. Obviously, there is not one after this one. Loved how they put themselves in a position to get the opportunity to win and not get caught up in the big moment which can happen but our kids did not do that."
Tough and competitive games like state will help the Shiner players and coaches get better down the road.
"This team has played in some big games, some of them in multiple sports. The more games you can play in a competitive environment and you are able to handle it well, you can get better from it," Boedeker said. "I know the guys that are coming back will get better from playing this game. I know the seniors will talk to the younger ones returning, giving them senior advice because that is what kind of leaders these guys are. The coaches will get better too because the more we can coach in games like this, the better we get as well and we carry that down to the players. I know our kids are going to take what they did at this game and be a better team next year."
Gavyn Lopez (left) and a teammate tackle Muenster quarterback Casen Carney during Thursday's 2ADII state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Lopez had one solo tackle and one assist but Shiner came up short to the Hornets 28-0. photo by Nicole Smith
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The seniors took an active role in trying to get the team to be the best they can be.
"Even after doing drills at practice, the younger guys sometimes mess around and we tell them to focus on what they are doing," Nerada said.
"We emphasize growing in maturity a lot because we see the potential the returning players have to return here next season," Simper said.
The Comanches, in the offseason, will look again to get redemption from this year's state game and it will be tougher as Shiner will likely move back up to 2ADI.
"Our discussions in the offseason will be similar to what they were last year: our end result of the season was not good enough. We put a great season together but if we want our goal again to win another state championship then we have to work to get back to the state title game," Boedeker said. "That was the message we sent at end of last year and the kids did a great job of coming out and working during a long season."
Every practice was fun and that is the way it is going to have to be next year. The end result of this season was not quite good enough and next year moving to the bigger 2A Division, we will have some familiar teams we start taking a look at. We have two years that we have not paid attention to what these teams have done. We will see what we are up against and then setup our offseason to try to beat those teams that are at the top of 2A Division I."
Shiner took the opening kickoff to their 31 but two plays later, lost a fumble at their 35.
The Hornets then drove the 35 yards in seven plays, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Casen Carney.
Following the Muenster touchdown, Tyler Harvey returned the kickoff from his 15 to his 45. But after reviewing the play, the officials ruled Harvey had given an invalid fair catch signal and overturned the play, bring the ball back to the 15.
Boedeker said the officials said they judged Harvey's hand going out to catch the ball as an invalid fair catch signal.
"It was not an intentional call for a fair catch. Tyler was just getting ready to catch the ball and his hands went out. It was a judgmental call that went against us," he said. "Tyler had a really good return."
Shiner gained 17 yards on the next drive but ended up having to punt, pinning the Hornets at their own 17.
Muenster drove 83 yards in seven plays and went up 14-0 with Carney's 10-yard pass to Garrett Hess with 2:08 left in the first quarter.
The two teams traded punts and Shiner started at its own 35. Clayton Fric had a 24-yard run to the Hornet 41. Shiner managed to drive all the way down to the Hornet 14, getting help from a Muenster penalty. However, some negative-yard plays brought up fourth down and a Williams pass fell incomplete to give the Hornets the ball on downs at their own 32.
Carney capped the drive with a 34-yard strike to Hess with 3:24 left in the first half and Muenster ahead 21-0.
The Hornets capped scoring on their second drive of the second half, a 67-yard drive that ended with a Carney pass of 12-yards to Hess, their third connection in the game and a 28-0 lead with 1:07 left in the third period.
A Shiner turnover on downs, followed by a Muenster punt, set up the Shiner offense at their own 9 with 4:18 left in the game to try to score to end the shutout. The Comanches converted a 3rd-and-11 from their 8 with a 15-yard scramble by Williams. A penalty later stalled the Comanches out and they faced 3rd-and-23 at their 10. Williams found Quincy Jones for 29-yard gain to the 39. The Comanches were able to get within the Hornet 25 but several plays later, 4th-and-15 at the Hornet 27, a Williams pass fell incomplete to end any Shiner scoring threats and Muenster ran out the remaining 16 seconds.
Shiner Defensive Stats - Tyler Harvey, 12 total tackles, 6 solo, 6 assists; Clayton Fric, 9 total tackles, 6 solo,3 3assists, 1.0 tackle for 1-yard loss; Brody Popp, 9 total tackles, 4 solo, 5 assists; Jake Simper, 8 total tackles, 5 solo, 3 assists; Ismael Zamora, 2 total tackles, 2 solo; Landyn Pohler, 2 total tackles, 1 solo, 1 assist; Gavyn Lopez, 2 total tackles, 1 solo, 1 assist; Kaden Neskora, 2 total tackles, 2 assists; Quincy Jones, 1 total tackle, 1 solo; Grant Baros, 1 total tackle, 1 solo; Jace Caddell, 1 total tackle, 1 solo tackle; Boe Boehm, 1 total tackle, 1 solo; Luke Dierlam, 1 total tackle, 1 assist; Charlie Clifford, 1 total tackle, 1 assist; Canaan Bishop, 1 total tackle, 1 assist; Jarvis Williams, 1 interception.
Shiner cheerleaders from left Bianca Rainosek, Addie Prove, Addy Siegel and Harlee Sevcik get set for the 2ADII state championship game. The Shiner Comanche band played before, during and at halftime of the game. photo by Mark Lube
[ click any photo to enlarge ]photo by Nicole Smith
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The Shiner Comanches finished the season as 2025 2ADII state finalist for the second year in a row. Shiner played Muenster, the same opponent from 2024, falling short this year 28-0. The Comanches' final 2025 football season record is 15-1. photos by Mark Lube & the Texas UIL Facebook Page
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GAME STATISTICSMuenster 28, Shiner 0 Thursday, December 18, 2025, 11:00 a.m. AT&T (Cowboys) Stadium, Arlington TX Texas UIL Class 2A, Division II State Championship SCORING SUMMARY 1 2 3 4 F Muenster 14 7 0 0 -- 28 Shiner 0 0 0 0 -- 0 SCORING DETAILS: First Quarter M - Casen Carney 4 run (LegendBounds kick), 8:28 1Q. M - Garrett Hess 10 pass from Carney (Bounds kick), 2:08 1Q. Second Quarter M - Hess 34 pass from Carney (Bounds kick), 3:24 2Q.M Third Quarter M - Hess 12 pass from Carney (Bounds kick), 1:07 3Q. Fourth Quarter no score TEAM STATISTICS: Muenster Shiner First downs 16 12 Rushes-yards 35-141 35-88 Passing yards 162 76 Passes 9-10-1 7-13 Total plays-yards 45-303 48-164 Penalties-yards 7-59 5-36 Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1 Punts-aver 2-34.0 4-39.2 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Rushing M: Casen Carney `16-79, Nolan Peel 11-54, Dustyn Croft 3-8, Carter Heller 1-4, Titan Binder 1-3, Legend Bounds 1-3, Team 2-(-10). S: Clayton Fric 6-33, Caleb Cowan 9-18, Quincy Jones 5-17, Jarvis Williams 13-13, Tyler Harvey 2-7. Passing M: Carney 9-10-1-162. S: Williams 7-13-0-76. Receiving M: Garrett Hess 4-107, Croft 3-39, Maverick Bayer 1-12, Clayton Cunningham 1-4. S: Charlie Clifford 2-29, Fric 2-(-13), Jones 1-29, Boe Boehm 1-20, Landen Christensen 1-11.
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Mark Lube is the sports editor for the Shiner Gazette.
Contact him at 361-594-3346 or mark.lube@lavacacountytoday.com |
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