Despite the Sinton High School Pirates (13-0 overall) overcoming almost every obstacle presented to them in the final quarter of the 4A Division 2 Quarterfinal at Harlandale Memorial Stadium, the team could not prevail over the Wimberley High School Texans’ Code Red defense and the clock, on Friday, Dec. 6.
The Texans were ahead 29-12 at halftime and the score remained the same through the third quarter. Sinton would outscore Wimberley 21-7 in the final quarter, but it was too little, too late and the Texans earned a 36-33 victory.
Texans' quarterback Cody Stoever, with three rushing touchdowns for 165 yards and 275 yards passing with two touchdowns, got the Texans on the board first. Sinton had a chance to tie, but the point after touchdown failed, making it 7-6 Texans, when Dane Dugger blocked the attempt. The Pirates only lead of the game came early in the second quarter on a touchdown pass, but Wimberley took the lead for good when Stoever connected with Nolan Waida, who made a leaping catch falling into the endzone for a 14-12 lead. Stoever dove into the endzone on a two-yard run for his second touchdown of the game with 3:36 in the quarter and added two points on a pass to Ty Thames for a 22-12 lead. Stoever again dove into the endzone for his third touchdown to lead 29-12 and left 6.5 seconds on the clock for the Pirates. Both teams failed to score in the third quarter.
Sinton was first on the board with a rushing touchdown in the final quarter to cut the lead 29-19 before Stoever connected with Waida on the long touchdown pass. Bo Holman was four for four on point after touchdown attempts.
A long pass for a touchdown from Stoever to Waida left Sinton trailing 36-19 with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. Pirates’ quarterback Triston Handson scored on a 2-yard run to cut the Texans' lead to 3625 with 2:58 on the clock after the Sinton two-point conversion failed. The Pirates successfully recovered their on-side kick. Wimberley’s Thames had Handson in his grasp when the Pirate quarterback completed a touchdown pass and the two-point conversion was good to made it 36-33 with 1:43 in the game.
Another Sinton on-side kick was again recovered by the Pirates who got the ball on the Texans 48-yard line. Sinton converted a fourth down and five and had a first down with the ball on the 38-yard line with 1:04. Handson was under pressure from Thames, Reid Leinneweber, Dugger and the Texans’ Code Red defense, who stopped the Pirate quarterback in the backfield for a loss twice and Sinton used its final timeout. Handson completed a pass to Jacoby James and, with the clock running, was stopped by the Texans before getting out of bounds, well short of a first down.
Out of field goal range, Sinton’s last-ditch effort failed. Wimberley took over on downs with 7.4 seconds on the clock and Stoever took a knee to seal the 36-33 victory.
“Talk about making an old man nearly have a heart attack, seems like we had control and then, you give somebody a little bit of life,” head coach Doug Warren said after the win, “There are no bad teams this time of the year and that’s a good team, but hats off to our kids for making plays when they needed to, hanging in there and finding a way to advance.”
Wimberley totaled 440 yards with 275 passing yards to Sinton’s 388 with 254 passing yards. Waida led Texan receivers with three receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Jace Morales had four catches for 84 yards and Jace Cutrona had three receptions for 24 yards. Maverick Jacobs had four yards on one run and a pass reception. Josh Belanger had three carries for 17 yards and one reception for three yards before coming out of the game with an injury in the third quarter. Defensively, Noah Williams, Leinneweber, Dugger and Thames were all credited with sacks.
“We obviously had a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter. We kind of let our foot off the gas and let them get back in it,” Stover said after the game, “That’s a 13-0 team, so kudos to them, but I’m really proud of this team for digging deep and making a stop when we needed to.”
Wimberley (12-2 overall) is one of four teams in the Semifinals and will face the Waco La Vega High School Pirates (11-3 overall) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13 at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown. The winner will advance to play for the 4A D2 State Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 20 and will face either Brock High School (13-1 overall) or Carthage High School (13-1 overall).

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK Wimberley’s Dane Dugger (No. 34) and Ty Thames (No. 44) converge to take down Sinton quarterback Triston Handson (No. 2) for a sack with under a minute to play in the final quarter.

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK The football hits Wimberley senior Dane Dugger (center No. 34) in the chest as he leaps over Sinton players to block the Pirates point after touchdown attempt in the first quarter.

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK Wimberley’s Nolan Waida hangs on to the ball as he falls into the endzone for a touchdown for a 14-12 lead in the second quarter as Sinton’s Qwincy Rhines defends on the play.