SEGUIN – Not even a furious second half rally was enough for the Dripping Springs Tigers to secure the top stop in the 12-5A, Division I district standings Friday.
A late touchdown scored in overtime lifted the Seguin Matadors past Dripping Springs in a thrilling 42-39 contest, handing the Tigers its first district loss of the season.
“I thought we fought hard you know,” Dripping Springs head coach Galen Zimmerman said. “I thought we were a little bit sloppy to start with, but I thought we played well. Its what we thought it was going to be, two really good teams in a game that could decide a district championship, so it was going to be a tough one. I’m proud of the kids, they battled.”
After trailing the Matadors 29-14 with 7:57 left in the third quarter, Tigers senior quarterback Tanner Prewit and the Dripping Springs (6-2, 4-1) offense showed signs of life after scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions.
A 2-yard run by Prewit and a six-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cameron O’banan tied the game up at 29-29 early in the fourth quarter.
Seguin (6-2, 5-0) bounced back with a three-yard touchdown run from senior running back Darien Shannon, which placed the Matadors ahead 36-29 with just under eight minutes remaining.
The Tigers answered right back with a 59-yard touchdown pass from Prewit to wide receiver Parker Alford, which retied the game. Dripping Springs had an opportunity with 11 seconds remaining to kick a 44-yard field goal attempt to win the game, but after two Seguin timeouts to ice the kicker, Zimmerman opted to go for it on fourth down instead.
The converstion attempt failed and the two teams went into the extra session.
“We were right on the edge of field goal range, and I think that was just a gut feeling (to go for it on fourth down)” said Zimmerman. “I don’t know, right or wrong, but it was just one of those things that we felt like we could get the first down and get out of bounds. I felt like we had a good play call, and either kick a little bit closer or have an opportunity to go into the end zone. You know, obviously it didn’t work out that way.”
In overtime, Tigers kicker Coleman Chapman converted a 38-yard field goal on the opening possession. Seguin answered back with 14-yard touchdown run by Shannon, his third of the game, to give the Matadors the 42-39 victory.
“This one is going to hurt and it should hurt because of the time they’ve put in and how hard they’ve worked,” Zimmerman said. “You can’t take that sting away because you invest so much and that’s what makes it hurt.”
Although the Tigers offense struggled to get going early in the game, Prewit went 18 of 35 passing for 333 yards and three total touchdowns, while also leading the team in rushing with 19 carries for 114 yards and a score. Running back Jake Cox also contributed on the ground with a bruising 75 yards on 20 carries, while senior Ty Kaatz led the team in receiving with 9 catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.
Shannon led Seguin with 96 yards rushing on 12 carries and a trio of touchdowns. Senior running back Jacob Berkley finished with 138 yards rushing, while also adding four catches for 78 yards and one receiving touchdown. Senior quarterback Anthony Gonzalez finished the game 18 of 30 passing for 323 yards and three touchdowns, while senior wide receiver Jordan Parker caught three passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
“Every week is a new opportunity, and to play on Friday night there is only so many of them,” said Zimmerman. “So whatever happened tonight isn’t going to affect next week. We’ve got to make sure that we go, after watching video and seeing some things, we go to the next team and whats going to help us beat Reagan.”
The Tigers return home Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Reagan.
District 12-5A, Division I standings
Seguin 5-0
Dripping Springs 4-1
LBJ 4-1
Crockett 3-2
McCallum 2-3
Reagan 1-4
Lanier 1-4
Travis 0-5
The week ahead
Dripping Springs vs. Reagan
Seguin vs. Lanier
Travis vs. LBJ
McCallum vs. Crockett
