The Fighting Llano Yellow Jackets took care of business Friday night on a rain soaked field in Ingram, Texas to hold back the fighting Warriors who had hopes of winning a district title. For the second week in a row, the Jackets jumped on the opposition early and never let up. Llano took the opening kick off with sophomore Cash Lynch giving Llano great field position up to the 45 yard line. Senior running back Trey Mote ran three times for 20 yards. Sophomore quarterback Luke Davis threw to junior Graham Prokop for 9 yards down to the 15 yard line. Trey then plowed ahead for the score and a 7-0 Llano lead. Senior Tate Morgan kicked his dependable extra point. 9:30 left in the first quarter.

Defense is now up. Three downs…Minus 3 yards…and a forced punt. Tackles by Carter Bickett, Tate, Jose Sillas and Logan Van Pelt.

Jacket offense back in business. Luke hits senior Heith Rhea for a big 15 yard gain and a first down. Two plays later Luke throws to senior RJ Coplin and a 20 yard gain. First down on the 44 yard line. Trey runs two times for 19 yards. Jose gets 2 more. And on second down from the 20, Luke runs it in for a two touchdown lead with 3:32 left in the quarter. Tate’s kick was good.

Ingram came into this game with thoughts of not only beating Llano, but with a win would have been district champions. That has been the case with each team over the past three weeks. In a odd twist, Ingram, Marion and Randolph ended the season with identical 3-2 district records, tying for second place. The Jackets, by winning district become the number one seed. There is a system in place about how the tie breakers is accomplished, placing each team as a number two seed, number three, and then number 4.

The same thing happened in our sister district, # 14. Our district plays District 14 right out of the box in bi district. Three teams tied for second. Jourdanton won the district and Marion plays them. San Antonio Cole (plays Ingram), Hondo, (plays Randolph), and we play Crystal City. Crystal City is 8-2. Hardly a 4th seed!!

Ingram was not done. They scored at the end of the first quarter. Completed 3 of 5 passes, yet good pass rush from senior Michael Logan and and sophomore Cole Kennedy. Carter made several plays. Juniors Gavin Hays and Austin Humphries made plays in the secondary. Juniors Carsten Hays and Jose gave no quarter. Niko Arms gets better each week. A defense that gives up 15 points a game on the season.

Back comes Llano on the next possession. Luke finds tight end Konrad Zwicke for a 26 yard gain. And on first down from the 39 yard line, Trey goes the distance and a Jacket 21-7 lead. #18, a junior, Francisco Caravano kicked the extra point.

If there was any let down in this game, it came later the second quarter. Llano forced a Warrior punt. Trey ran for 26 yards. Luke ran for 8 more on two runs. Llano punted, but forced a fumble. And on the next four plays, Llano had 40 yards in penalties. So getting down to the 12 yard line, Llano turned the ball over. Down the field came Ingram Runs of 7, 7 and 8 yards. Completions of 11 and 15. Time running out in the half, so Ingram lines up for a field goal. Nope…again…the Jackets block another kick…about 5 for the season. I did not get who blocked it…so I’ll report it next week!!

There were four possessions by both teams in the third quarter. The Jacket defense took hold of the Warriors and had a three and out on the first possession. Good plays by Carsten, Jose, senior Colton Bailey and Tate.

Llano scored in three plays. Nine yard pass to Graham. 63 yard run by Trey to the one yard line. Trey in for the score. 28-7. Francisco kicked good.

Kye Hightower has done it all for Ingram this season. The very good running back had been held to less than 20 yards on 10 carries. But he finally got loose. On third down, Hightower went 50 yards and a TD. 28-14.

On the very wet field, Llano fumbled on the next possession. But not to fear. Carter stepped in front of a Ingram pass and Llano had the ball back. But two more exchange of punts by each team ended the quarter.

The fourth quarter was all Llano defense. Ingram had the ball 12 plays and four punts. 2 yards total offense. Michael Logan got a sac on the quarterback. Cody Greenwood got in at linebacker. Colton had several tackles. Wesley Whitaker forced a bad pass. And so dependable junior JD Friday had a great game…did not see a mistake. Niko played hard. Great game by all to ready for the playoffs….for the salute to the Jacket offensive blockers all….you got Trey his 1,000 yard season…now nearly 1,200 yards… and gave him his best game as a Jacket…. over 200 yards rushing.

The 9-1 Yellow Jackets have gotten better each week. Have won eight in a row after getting beat back in September by a very good Comanche team, now ranked about # 20 in the State. Crystal City is a good football team. They have lost two games by a total of 11 points. Our common foes have been Lytle and Ingram…but not much else in common. We last played Crystal City in 2017, Coach Matt Greens’ first season in Llano. The Jackets played Crystal City three years in a row, each time in Bi-District. Llano won in 2015, but lost the next two. The 1-2 record over all with Crystal City is one of the schools Llano has a over all losing record against. (See School Won-Loss in record book)

Llano now has won the District Championship four of the last five years. That has never been done before. Llano won district in 1973, 1975, and 1976. 2024 has been a very special year.

Art and I have texted back and forth all week end. He’s for sure thinking our offense can beat about anyone and will have their way with Crystal City. I believe strongly that our defense will keep us in any game. Our expectations are that we are both right. Llano 35 Crystal City 14