Multiple school-record breaking performances on the offensive end Friday wasn’t enough for the Dripping Springs Tigers to secure the outright 12-5A, Division I crown.
Twenty-one fourth quarter Seguin Matador points doomed the Tigers as they fell in a wild 70-63 shootout that featured the most points ever scored in a Dripping Springs contest (133).
The defeat drops Dripping Springs (8-3, 6-1) into a three-way tie with Seguin and New Braunfels Canyon for the district championship. However, Dripping Springs is slated to hold the top spot out of 12-5A, D1 for postseason purposes.
Seguin and Dripping Springs countered one another for most of the contest in a slugfest that totaled 1,184 combined yards across 155 plays.
Dripping Springs trailed 35-27 at halftime, but rallied for 15 unanswered points to begin the third frame to take a 42-35 lead. Both scores featured 50-plus yard touchdown passes from Tiger quarterback Austin Novosad to wide receiver Cameron O’Banan.
O’Banan finished with a school-record 410 yards receiving on 15 catches with six touchdowns, breaking the record mark (306 yards) he had set Nov. 12 against Mansfield Timberview. Novosad went 27 of 35 for 560 yards – shattering the record setting performance (492 yards) he had against Timberview – with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Novosad tied the mark for the most pass completions by a Tiger quarterback (27) in a single game.
While Dripping Springs’ offense thrived, the Tiger defense didn’t have an answer for an equally explosive Matador offense led by quarterback Micah Rodriguez and running back Marques Washington.
Seguin battled back and outscored the Tigers 14-7 to close the third quarter and tie the score at 49-49.
The Matadors kept up the momentum and tallied 14 more unanswered points to begin the fourth quarter to take a 63-49 advantage.
Dripping Springs didn’t back down and fought back down the stretch with two more touchdowns from Novosad to O’Banan. The Matadors, however, stayed a step ahead of the Tigers with a late fourth quarter touchdown and ultimately milked down the clock in the waning moments for the victory.
Tiger Preston Alford rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries and caught six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
District 12-5A, Division I standings
*Clinched playoff berth
**Clinched playoff berth based on point differential
Dripping Springs 6-1*
New Braunfels Canyon 6-1*
Seguin 6-1*
Veterans Memorial 3-4**
Johnson 4-3
San Antonio Harlandale 2-5
Lehman 1-6
San Antonio McCollum 0-7
