The game at Wimberley Friday night was not a repeat of last seasons game when the Jackets took the Texans into overtime. This game was a lopsided event in which Llano was ambused and injured to the point the Jackets had to pull back in order to have enough front line players to finish the game. Good players like Arrellano, Miguel, Yocum, Duggar, senior Mattthew Ibanez and Roberts all left the game to not return. The 5-4 Jackets play lowly Eastside Memorial Friday night in Llano to end the regular season. Then the 6-4 Jackets will prepare for a run into the State Playoffs. Then, most of the above players should be well, along with hopefully the return of Jansen Morris. Morris had been an unblockable defensive lineman until his injury two weeks ago.
Will only talk about the first two quarters, as the second half of the Friday night game was unrecognizable. The Texans wasted little time in putting Llano behind the eight ball. First play from scrimmage that counted, the Texan running back broke the line of scrimmage and raced 73 yards for the TD. 15 plays later after two possessions, Wimberley scored again with 6:50 left in the first quarter. 14-0. The Jackets had an interception, but the fire was still there. No one was going home.
Dependable senior John Roberts went down with an unknown injury at the time, and the ambulance came and took him away….leaving what could have been a big let down. But on the second play in the second quarter Senior Ryan Warner intercepted a Texan pass. Llano scored three plays later play, with senior quarterback Braxton Vickers scrambling, found junior Case Kuykendall in the corner of the end zone, making the score 14-8 after an Arrellano 2 point run. Case now has 6 TDs, after missing 6 games with an injury.
The Jacket defense held again with three and out. Joseph Reed, Guillermo Davilla and Cade Ligon had great plays. After the punt, on second down, Braxton hit junior Quincy Prince for a 57 yard YD pass. That quick and the score was 14-14.
But Llano was still hot. The defense again held on another three and out. Lead by seniors Jacob Cruz and Quentin Franklin…the Texans’ punted on fourth down. A Llano holding penalty was half the distance to the goal. Llano set up on what I think was the 7 yardline. I will check with Llano Coaches to confirm. Sitting in the stands between my wife Kay, and Joe Long, I said this would be a nice moment for a school record … a 93 yard TD pass from the seven….and on second down, Braxton hits Quincy in full stride for the 93 yards. Llano leads 21-14 after junior speedster Jared Beasley kicks the extra point replacing the injured Diego Miguel. Quincy’s catch was a perfect over the shoulder catch in full stride…and a perfect pass from Vickers.
The Jackets defense, despite several players now not playing had held Wimberley on four straight series of downs. Mason Baker, Duggar, Warner, Luke Keller, Yocum, Randall Murray, Juan Flores, Anthony Meza, Aaron Inge, Michael Silva, and senior Aaron Brown all had special plays. After this spirited and strong play, the wheels came off. For whatever reason, the second half was a blur. The highlight was a great catch by junior Jared Beasley late in the fourth quarter of 23 yards for a TD from Braxton. Number 8 for Jared, number 26 for Braxton. For your own knowlege, Quincy has 11 TD passes catches for the season, a school record.
All said, the Jackets will end the season with a respectable 6-4 record. Everyone gets to play Eastside. And Llano too will play hard for about a quarter before many second team players and JV players will get valuable playing time.
For Llano to have what amounts to two weeks off, many injured players could get well. I really think when well, this team can play with anyone….Llano will likely play either Devine, or even Hondo again, coming out of District 14 4 A. The Jackets home game this week should end with a win, which will be the first time since the new artificial turf was installed that the Jackets have gone 5-0 at home. Nice.
Play to Win 