With the 53-0 win Friday night in Lulling, the Yellow Jackets take this week off. Again, Llano went unchallenged against the Lulling Eagles for the second week in a row. The offense came prepared, the defense had its second shutout in three games, and all seems perfect in Jacket Nation. But Jacket fans know how quickly things can change.

Llano prepares for Randolph in 10 days. Follow that up with the Marion game at Marion. And the team that has most surprised, the final game of the regular season will be with Ingram.

Ingram is tied with the Jackets in first place in district play, along with Marion. All three are tied with a 2-0 district records. Ingram has a 4-3 season record and Marion is now 5-2. Last year Llano beat both teams by one score. These were not easy games. And one to remember…Llano beat Randolph last year only because the Jacket defense held the Ro Hawks out of the end zone when they went for two points and the win when they scored and came within 2 points of beating Llano. The Jackets are 24-3 in District play over the past six seasons. The Jackets are going for their 5th District title over the past six seasons. Never has happened in school history.

The Jackets again held a team to less than 100 yards of offense, and in this game, less than 50 yards. Jose Sillas had another interception. Luke Davis threw for three more touchdowns. Cash Lynch, Konrad Zwicke, and Graham Prokop caught the TD passes. The running game was crisp and without turnovers. Jose, senior Brayton Shaw, Brady Kelly, George Gallucci, and Josiah Wood all ran hard and make for a tough out for anyone on defense. Cody Greenwood had a fumble recovery in the first quarter and Llano turned that into a quick TD.

Jackets making plays on defense were seniors Isaiah Aguilar, JD Friday, Austin Humphries, Grayson Lille, James Greenwood, and Gavin Hays. Players on offense doing their jobs included Hayden Bigger, Cason Stephenson, Ethan Griego, Zach Driskel, William Foley and Niko Arms. Special team players showing lots of hustle were Hays, Cody Greenwood and River Thomison. No one took the week off.

The Jackets have to work harder now. The reason is the work load the last two weeks has been light. And while Randolph appears to not be the Randolph of past years, don’t let that fool you. The Ro Hawks are a good football team. And they would love to beat the Jackets in Llano…just as the Jackets beat them last season in front of their home crowd. Randolph was a 10-3 football team last year. Players and fans alike….should not take Randolph lightly.

The best thing that happened to Llano in the month of October is alot of players got in some good playing time. Players like junior Evan Gomez lining up on both sides of the ball. Junior Emerson Pool. Junior Caden White. Junior Scott Henderson. Junior lineman Camren Smith. Junior Jason Cherry is seeing alot of playing time…so valuable to this team. Lineman Xander Cruz and junior Cooper Scott played nearly three quarters. The Coaches know they can send any of these guys into the game at any time, and get good sound performances.

And we also learn that returning to the starting lineup next week will be Head Coach Matt Green. Green was out for two weeks with an emergency procedure, but has healed. And best part of his absence was he was able to listen for the first time to ART and LANCE and EVAN on the radio.

Next week we’ll follow up with this Friday night games and get ready for Randolph.