The Llano Yellowjackets took a full quarter to get going against the Ingram Warriors Friday night, but when they did, left no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Jackets had come to play, and play very good. The Jackets needed the win to secure a 5-5 record, and avoid the first losing season since 2014. Llano finished the season with a 3-3 district record, tied with Marion. Marion secures the playoff stop due to its win over the Jackets back October 13th.

While the Yellowjacket seniors may feel unfulfilled in not obtaining their preseason goals, or even making the playoffs, the accomplishments are many. The 49-27 win against Ingram allowed the frustrations to come to surface, and great effort and determination sent the seniors out on a great note.,

Ingram had played sound football all season, playing many teams down to the last minute. Their opportunity to have a winning season was on the line. Beating Ingram on their home field and on senior night would not be a cake walk. Ingram held Llano to no points in the first quarter and less than 60 yards of offense.

In fact, on the first play of the second quarter, Ingram scored from 22 yards out to take a 6-0 lead. But from that moment on, the Jackets woke up and realized the importance of taking their game to the next level. The Jackets scored three touchdowns on their next 13 plays.

The Jackets running attack took off first. Strong runs by Brayton Shaw and Luke Davis ran for first downs. Senior Fitz Kennedy ran for another first down. And to complement the running attack, the passing game had its best night of the season. Freshman quarterback Luke Davis found senior Alex Kachura for 7 catches and 141 yards for the night. Alex had a TD catch in the second quarter, his best night as a Yellowjacket.

Junior RJ Coplin also had a great night catching the football with 6 catches and over 100 yards. Senior Parker Parrish’s catch in the second quarter also was for a touchdown. Sophomore Konrad Zwicke got into the act with a key catch in the third quarter for 24 yards and a first down. And also special was the catch of Jose Silas’s in the fourth quarter for a TD. Jose is a junior. He may be most remembered this season for the key block in the Austin Crockett game in which he freed RJ to run back the fourth quarter kick off and hand Llano the win in the last minute of play.

The running attack continued with senior Cooper McWillams and junior Trey Mote picking up good yardage behind an offensive line that had its best night blocking. Cooper had one run of 14 yards in the fourth quarter that sealed the win. Kennedy too had several first down runs in the third and fourth quarters. But maybe most impressive was the play of the offensive line.

Those forgotten lineman had a wonderful last game. Seniors Dylan Kennedy and center Billy Everhart really had good nights. Josh Cooper and JJ Vaughn were superior. And while JJ and Hunter Brown and Frank Machuga spend most of their time on the defensive side of the ball, their experience will be badly missed. All had major roles in last seasons 13-1 run deep into the State Playoffs. Blocking downfield by Parker Parrish, Alex, and Aiden Beuke usually go unnoticed. Their effort was relentless. Jackson Hoot had a good year, spent also alot of time on defense. As did senior Jacob Hernandez at wide receiver. Great effort by all.

The measuring stick of how good these lineman played can go to the numbers. The record breaking night in the passing game may stand for a long time. Freshman Luke Davis threw five TD passes Friday night. The five ties a school record with several other Jacket quarterbacks. In 2001, senior Brian Edwards threw five TD passes against….Ingram also. And then only last season, junior Briggs Green threw 5 TD passes. Briggs was on the sidelines Friday night with Luke giving him the business…I think. Anyways, after the game Friday night, and with a short interview with radio announcer Art Dlugach….Luke too called out his offensive line as instrumental in making this record happen.

I spoke little this week about the defense. Will do that later this week…as well as have some statistics and mention the names I have identified this year with names going into the school record book.

These seniors have had the unreal run of having seen or played in 39 victories in their four years of high school. Pretty sure that is an LHS record. That’s winning at an 80% pace. Give this a few years to look back on, and these seniors will be very proud of what they have accomplished. Thanks for the memories.