“I think I ran pretty well, but I have to give it to my offensive line,” said Taylor, who had scoring runs of 45, 31, 39, 47 and 30 yards. “They got the blocks that we needed for me to get the holes.”
The Comanches (11-1) grabbed a 20-0 lead in the first quarter following a pair of Taylor scoring runs sandwiched around a scoring run by freshman fullback Douglas Brooks.
Hearne (5-5) got on the board late in the first quarter on a 76-yard screen pass from quarterback Micah Smith to Damian Dunn.
“I thought we played great. We gave up a couple big plays to them, but they had explosive athletes,” Shiner coach Steven Cerny said. “We knew coming into the game that that could happen. Overall, we came up with some big plays, especially in the second half when we needed them.”
Shiner extended its lead back to 20 points on another Taylor scoring run early in the second quarter. But three fumbles by the Comanches in the quarter prevented them from scoring again before halftime.
The Eagles scored on a 23-yard pass from Smith to Javareyon Bailey on the final play of the half to make it 27-14 at the break.
“Right at the end of the second quarter, we got a little bit sluggish,” Taylor said. “But after halftime, we came back and picked it up.”
A promising Hearne drive to start the second half ended with an Eagles fumble, and Shiner responded with another long Taylor scoring run.
“We had some chances and didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities that we had,” Hearne coach Ricky Sargent said. “We had some turnovers that really hurt us at crucial times. But, again, I give all the credit to Shiner.
“We’re so proud of our guys for getting here,” added Sargent. “We played against a very good Shiner football team. They proved to us why they’re ranked (No. 4) in the state. I wouldn’t be surprised if they won it all.”
A long return on the ensuing kickoff by Bailey gave Hearne great field position, and the Eagles converted that into a 3-yard scoring pass from Smith to Tyquez Tindle that cut their deficit to 34-20 late in the third quarter. Smith finished with 210 yards passing and three touchdowns.
“Our quarterback is a young guy, a sophomore,” Sargent said of Smith. “This year he’s done some amazing things, and he’s going to do nothing but grow.”
Cerny said he was glad that his team was tested Friday.
“We haven’t had to play the second half for a while,” he said. “We haven’t played four quarters of football. We had some guys get fatigued out there. You can practice as hard as you want, but you just can’t prepare for that. Overall, we handled it well, and I think the kids understand that it’s four quarters of football from here on out.”
Shiner scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including an interception return for a score by C.J. Miller and a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Mikes to Cross Rankin, to put the game away.
“I think they got tired and we started making some plays as they fatigued as well,” Cerny said. “We hung in there, and it was just a matter of staying physical and playing hard.”
The Comanches advance to the regional round, where they’ll face the winner of Friday night’s game between Refugio and Thorndale.
“It feels great to get another playoff win,” Taylor said. “But we know we have to get back to work. We have another big game coming up next week. We just have to keep practicing and getting better.”
David Vasquez is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-574-1222 or dvasquez@vicad.com |
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Angela Piazza is chief photographer for the Victoria Advocate.
Contact her at 361-574-1222 or apiazza@vicad.com |
GAME STATISTICSsource: Victoria Advocate Digital Edition, November 23, 2018 Shiner 55, Hearne 20 November 23, 2018, 1:00 p.m. Buffalo Stadium, Giddings SCORING SUMMARY 1 2 3 4 F Hearne 7 7 6 0 -- 20 Shiner 20 7 7 21 -- 55 SCORING DETAILS: First Quarter Shiner: Donyai Taylor 45 run (Connor Winkenwerder kick), 10:41 Shiner: Doug Brooks 8 run (Winkenwerder kick), 3:16 Shiner: Taylor 31 run (kick failed), :58 Hearne: Damian Dunn 76 pass from Micah Smith (Martin Lozano kick) Second Quarter Shiner: Taylor 39 run (Winkenwerder kick), 9:06 Hearne: Javareyon Bailey 23 pass from Smith (Lozano kick), :00 Third Quarter Shiner: Taylor 47 run (Winkenwerder kick). 4:09 Hearne: Tyquuez Tindale 3 pass from Smith (kick failed), 1:30 Fourth Quarter Shiner: Taylor 30 run (Winkenwerder kick), 9:59 Shiner: C.J. Miller 3 interception return (Winkenwerder kick), 8:24 Shiner: Cross Rankin 27 pass from Tyler Mikes (Winkenwerder kick), 5:00 TEAM STATISTICS: Hearne Shiner First downs 9 19 Yards rushing 12-(-5) 48-383 Yards passing 210 27 Passes 16-29-1 1-2-0 Punts 6-295 1-50.0 Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-3 Penalty-yards 6-45 5-43 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Rushing Hearne: Dunn 1-2, Anquan Boxley 3-0, Elijah Chappel 2-(-1), Smith 6-(-6); Shiner: Taylor 21-252, Brooks 17-93, Zane Rhodes 8-32, Trevor Haynes 2-6. Passing Hearne: Smith 16-29-1 210; Shiner: Mikes 1-2-0 27. Receiving Hearne: Dunn 7-120, Trndle 5-36, Bailey 2-38, Boxley 2-16; Shiner: Rankin 1-27.