By Moses Leos III.
A powerful second half, along with timely defense, helped Hays High outlast Seguin 25-18 in a gritty win on Friday.
The victory pushes Hays closer to a playoff berth, and keeps its hopes for a third straight district title alive.
For the first 24 minutes on Friday night, the Rebels and Matadors were deadlocked in a tough defensive battle.
Seguin struck midway through the first quarter, as quarterback Henry Young ran in a four-yard touchdown. Less than two minutes later, Hays quarterback Jeff Jordan connected with wide receiver Hayden Cagle for a 41-yard strike.
Hays linebacker Daniel Minor (58), along with linebacker Trey Solis (13) and defensive backs Emory Cuzze (20) and Kendall Stovall (6) surround Seguin quarterback Henry Young during Hays’ game at Seguin on Friday. (Photo by Lincoln Ramirez) |
The duo, which connected for 152 yards, was a portion of a healthy Rebel pass attack. Jordan’s trust in Cagle helped that cause.
“I have so much trust for Hayden. I can throw [the ball] up and he’ll be there [to catch it],” Jordan said.
Hays took the lead on a botched extra point attempt, where Jordan improvised and threw an underhand toss to Aaron Johnson to give Hays an 8-7 lead they held to halftime.
From there, the Rebels worked to halter the running style of Young, who filled in for injured starter Walker Franz.
Linebacker Trey Solis said the team didn’t know who the starting quarterback was ahead of time. Despite the mystery, the Hays front seven hindered the running style of Young, keeping him from making the big play.
“Coming in, we knew we had to contain [Young],” Solis said. “We saw him mostly at (wide) receiver, but we saw he had speed.”
Still, the Hays offense struggled to get the ball rolling in the first half. Head coach Neal LaHue knew Seguin was going to battle all night.
“There are no easy teams in our district,” LaHue said. “I don’t care if they are 0-4 in district. [Seguin is] a good team.”
LaHue felt his team needed to make necessary adjustments and play their game. It began well enough to start the third quarter.
With Seguin driving to the Hays 18, the Rebel defense slammed on the brakes, and halted the drive on a critical fourth down play. Trey Solis credited a blitz called by defensive coordinator Jason Wager for the big stop.
Hays took advantage with a four-play, 82-yard drive -– a drive which Cagle said the team “went right at” Seguin’s defense. Wide receiver Luke Park capped it off with a 32-yard touchdown to put Hays ahead 15-7. Park felt the ability to read and react to the Matador defense played a huge role in success in the second half.
However, penalties soon became a problem for the Rebels - none bigger than on the eventual game tying drive by Seguin in the third quarter.
A pass interference penalty on fourth down kept a Seguin drive alive. One play after the penalty, Young managed to run in an eight yard score, after recovering his own fumble and eluding several tackles. A two point conversion tied it at 15-15. Hays finished the game with nine penalties for 100 yards.
Most of Seguin’s success stemmed from the ground game. LaHue said their adherence to the option was a wrinkle they did not expect. He felt Hays had their own offense run against them.
“They got a good quarterback … who did a good job of running it,” he said. “I’m proud of our defense there late. They made a couple of big stops that were critical.”
Those stops occurred in the fourth, as Hays found separation. The Rebel offense played keep-away, eating up six minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 unanswered points.
The Matador offense tacked on a late field goal, but Hays’ balanced attack on offense, along with their defensive prowess, helped earn the win.
Hays now readies for the first of two epic showdowns to close the regular season. They travel to play Boerne Champion next week.
LaHue was content with another big district win on the road. However, they must stay hungry and focused to achieve the goal of another district title.
“[We] have to play Rebel smash mouth football,” Park said. “Keeping our composure and doing what we know we can do. That’s what it all comes down to.”
Hays will play Boerne Champion at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.
