Comanches whip Wildcats, 27-6

SEGUIN – Seeing the same team more than once in a season can make the second meeting a little more difficult.

That was certainly the case for the Weimar football team on Friday. Shiner once again ran wild to the tune of 355 yards and four touchdowns in a 27-6 rout of the Wildcats in a Class A-Division I region semifinal contest Friday at Matador Stadium in Seguin.

“We played great,” Shiner coach Steven Cerny said. “Our kids played very well. We came out and played extremely well in the first half, and our defensive line did a great job of keeping their offensive line off of our linebackers. Our secondary also did well.

The Comanches will face Mason in the A-DI state quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Kelley Reeves Athletic Complex in Round Rock. Weimar finished the season 7-5.

Once again, Shiner (11-1) had another stellar outing from Evel Jones, who ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. It was his second 100-yard outing in as many games, and now has 1,246 on the season.

“We ran our base plays and executed well,” Jones said. “We also worked on tackling all week and wrapping up.”

Trevion Flowers also returned to the lineup as he started at quarterback and cornerback. He broke the 1,000-yard mark on the season as he had 45 yards on 12 carries, and now has 1,022 yards on the season.

“My knee still hurts, but I’m sucking it up for the team,” Flowers said. “Our defense also stepped up big. That was a big key to the win.”

Defense played a pivotal role for the Comanches as they limited the Wildcats to 213 yards of total offense, which included a trio of interceptions – two by linebacker/defensive end Brian Kloesel and one by Chad Neubauer.

“Those interceptions were amazing,” Kloesel said. “I knew where I had to be and what I had to do. I also was at the right place at the right time.”

It didn’t take long for Shiner to strike. Weimar drove to the Comanches’ 39 before Neubauer stepped in front of a Juwan Almeida pass and returned it 69 yards for the game’s first score and a 6-0 Shiner lead at the 10:06 mark of the first quarter.

Following a three-and-out, the Comanches drove 79 yards in 10 plays as they ran the ball nine times, including the drive-capping 11-yard touchdown run by Jones to put Shiner up 12-0 with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter. Jones had 25 yards on four carries during the drive, while Jacob Stafford ran three times for 14 yards and Justin Stovall had a 31-yard run on the first play of the drive.

Another three-and-out for the Wildcats led to another lengthy Comanches drive as they drove 72 yards in nine plays with Jones scoring from 21 yards out following a pitch from Flowers. Jones added the two-point conversion to make it 20-0 at the 10:00 mark of the second quarter.

“(On the touchdown) two of their guys were coming for me,” Flowers said. “I spun around one, but the other dove for my legs. As he dove, I saw Evel alone in the open field so I pitched it to him and was gone.”

In addition to the Jones touchdown run, Flowers also hit Caleb Kalich for 15 yards to convert a third-and-13. Stafford had four carries for 35 yards on the drive, while Jones ran three times for 35 yards.

Weimar moved the ball all the way to the Shiner 3 thanks to 41 yards on six carries from JaKyle Harris and two Almeida carries for 13 yards. But DeLexus Gordon was stuffed for no gain, Almeida was tackled for a loss back to the 4, and his third-down pass intended for Seth Helmcamp was nearly intercepted by Neubauer to force a fourth-and-goal from the 4 in which Gordon was limited to a 2-yard gain to turn the ball over on downs with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter.

The Comanches drove to the Weimar 46 as the first half ended thanks to runs of 17, 14 and 9 yards from Jones and a trio of three-yard carries from Flowers. Jones had 100 yards and two scores on 10 carries in the first half.

The second half didn’t start out any better for the Wildcats as their botched onside kick attempt was recovered by Tyler Patek at the Shiner 44. Shiner went back to work as the Comanches marched the distance in seven plays as Flowers scored from a yard out to make it 27-0 at the 8:47 mark of the third quarter.

Flowers had 18 yards on four carries during the drive, including a 14-yarder. Caleb Curtis also had a 14-yard run on the drive, while Jones had two carries for 24 yards, including a 22-yarder.

Neither team scored on their next two possessions as Weimar punted twice and Shiner punted once and turned the ball over on downs. The Wildcats took over at their own 26 with 1:47 left to play in the third quarter and went to work as Harris picked up 56 yards on five carries – including a 33-yarder on the first play – to move his team into Comanche territory.

Almeida hit Torre Johnson for a 13-yard gain on second-and-15 from the Shiner 21 before finding him for a 7-yard score at the 10:58 mark of the fourth quarter. The try for two failed as the Comanches held on to a 27-6 lead.

Following a Shiner punt, Weimar moved to the Comanches’ 40 before Kloesel recorded the first of his two interceptions with 6:51 left to play. Brady Cejka came in at quarterback to move the ball deep into Wildcat territory before turning the ball over on downs with 1:55 remaining in the contest.

Five plays later, Kloesel stepped in front of another Almeida pass to give the ball back to Shiner with 13 seconds left. Cejka took a knee to run out the clock from there.

In addition to the outings by Flowers and Jones, Stafford had 64 yards on 14 carries, while Cejka had 43 yards on four tries, Stovall ran twice for 27 yards and Curtis picked up 22 yards on five attempts. Harris led Weimar with 126 yards on 19 carries, while Almeida completed 7-of-21 passes for 76 yards and a score with Johnson leading all receivers with five catches for 61 yards and Weimar’s only touchdown.

The Comanches hope to avenge their season-ending losses from the last two years. Mason beat Shiner, 28-21, in the 2010 region semifinals and 55-7 in last year’s state quarterfinal.

“We have to play hard, be physical and execute next week,” Jones said.