Comanches roll to surprising
rout of top-ranked W. Sabine
Saturday, November 28, 2003
Mike Foreman, Victoria Advocate Sports Writer
Victoria Advocate On-Line Article | Shiner Comanche Football | Return to Shiner Home Page
KATY -- Quentin Wright missed Shiner's area playoff game against Ben Bolt with a sprained ankle and the rest did him a world of good.
The Katy Rhodes Stadium scoreboard bears evidence of Shiner's convincing 49-7 victory over Pineland West Sabine. (photos by BaerCom and Crossroads Legal Video)
Wright rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Comanches to a stunning 49-7 Class 1A regional playoff romp over top-ranked Pineland West Sabine on a frigid Saturday night at Rhodes Stadium.
Shiner improved to 12-1 and moved into the quarterfinals for the second time since becoming a Class 1A school. The Comanches will meet District 30-1A foe Falls City, the team responsible for its only loss. Falls City captured a 37-12 win over Burkeville on Friday night.
"I didn't get to play last week so I came into the game with a lot of energy," said Wright, who carried 25 times and scored on runs of 8 and 5 yards. "I felt good and I just exploded."
Quentin Wright stretches out uncontested for his first score in Friday night's game.
Wright wasn't the only Shiner player to ignite against West Sabine (11-1). Quarterback Garet Pustka ran for one touchdown and threw for another and Chris Baer rushed for a touchdown and forced the Tigers into a safety when he sacked quarterback Danny Bragg in the end zone.
The Shiner defense had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries and yielded only a 12-yard touchdown run by David Fussell that was set up by a pass interference penalty. The special teams also got into the act for the Comanches as Desmond Brooks caught a shanked punt at the West Sabine 7-yard line and ran into the end zone for a touchdown and Steven Evans kept the Tigers pinned deep in their territory with punts of 42 and 43 yards..
"We prepared for this game really well," said Shiner coach Steve Cerny, whose team rushed for 373 yards. "We were ready for the pre-game hype. They have a great team, but it was just an unbelievable performance. It was the best our guys have played all year.."
Shiner defender Jeremy Burchell puts the hurt on a West Sabine running back on Friday night.
The Comanches set the tone by scoring on three of their first four performances, driving 50, 78 and 42 yards and gaining all of their yardage on the ground.
Quentin Wright started the scoring with an 8-yard run, Pustka added a 1-yard touchdown run and Baer had a 5-yard scoring run.
"We just went strong," Wright said. "It was the old veer. Our lineman were firing off the ball and we were hitting the holes fast." West Sabine cut the lead to 20-7 on a 60-yard drive that was aided by three Shiner penalties.
But the Comanches padded their lead when Matt Dickerson's punt out of the end zone went off the side of his foot and right into the arms of Brooks, who scored easily. Shiner made it 28-7 when Baer blitzed a corralled Bragg in the end zone.
Kenzley Wright sweeps the right end for a fourth quarter touchdown as the Comanche sideline cheers him on.
"We were going in the gaps and trying to put as much pressure on them as possible," said Shiner linebacker Jared Boedeker, who recovered a fumble. "We wanted to keep them contained in the backfield because we knew they had a little more speed than us."
Shiner kept West Sabine's offense off the field in the second half, controlling the ball for 10:22 of the third quarter before scoring twice in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a rout.
"A lot of the time they were slanting to the wrong side, and we were able to pop it right open," Cerny said. "We were really coming off the ball and dominating the line of scrimmage."
The Comanches completed the scoring on a 7-yard fourth-down pass from Pustka to Steven Evans, Quentin Wright's 5-yard run and Kenzley Wright's 11-yard run.
Casey Coleman's fumble recovery set up Shiner's final score. Coleman, Baer and Ryan Kloesel had interceptions for the Comanches.
"We had to attack them," said Shiner defensive coordinator Billy Turek. "They never saw anyone attack them all year, so we had to attack them."GAME STATISTICS Shiner West Sabine First Downs 22 12 Yards Rushing 55-373 27-116 Yards Passing 7 61 Passes 1-3-1 5-21-3 Punts 2-42.5 4-21.3 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-2 Penalties-Yards 4-40 5-40 Rushing - Shiner, Quentin Wright 25-201; Chris Baer 17-58; Garet Pustka 8-54; Steven Evans 1-31; Kenzley Wright 3-26; Trey Curtis 2-3. West Sabine, Matt Dickerson 2-51; Brett Standley 3-39; Greg Griffin 2-36; David Fussell 4-17; Tony Ford 1-2; Brandon Parks 1-(-3); Chris Tribble 3-(-5); Danny Bragg 7-(-9); Patrick Garner 4-(-12). Passing - Shiner, Pustka 1-3-1 7. West Sabine, Bragg 5-19-2 61; Dickerson 0-2-1 0. Receiving - Shiner, S. Evans 1-7. West Sabine, Corey Malone 3-36; Dickerson 1-17; Fussell 1-8. SCORING SUMMARY Shiner 7 21 0 21 -- 49 West Sabine 0 7 0 0 -- 7 SCORING DETAILS First Quarter S - Quentin Wright 8 run (Ryan Kloesel kick), 7:13 Second Quarter S - Garet Pustka 1 run (Kloesel kick), 10:45 S - Chris Baer 5 run (kick failed), 9:21 W - David Fussell 12 run (Josh Jacks kick), 4:45 S - Desmond Brooks 7 punt return (pass failed), 2:09 S - Safety. Baer tackled Danny Bragg in end zone, 1:19 Third Quarter no score Fourth Quarter S - Steven Evans 7 pass from Pustka (Kloesel kick), 11:56 S - Q. Wright 5 run (Kloesel kick), 7:37 S - Kenzley Wright 15 run (Kloesel kick), 1:11
© Copyright
BaerCom - Shiner, Texas 2003
