Comanches edge Weimar

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SHINER – Shiner football coach Steven Cerny knew his football team could score quickly with its speed.

But he wanted to know if it could sustain long, clock-consuming drives. The Comanches answered that question on Friday as they ran the final 5 minutes, 12 seconds off the game clock to clinch a 33-32 victory over Weimar Friday at Comanche Stadium in Shiner on Homecoming Night.

“Our kids found that extra gear and hung in there,” Cerny said. “It was a good game for us. We had some big plays, but were also able to pound the football.”

Shiner (5-1) found a way to come back after falling behind 26-12 early in the third quarter. The Comanches scored 21 unanswered points after falling behind by 14 points.

“This was one of those games where you couldn’t relax,” Cerny said. “But our kids never quit and we started to get some breaks.”

After forcing the Wildcats to punt, Shiner took over at its own 20-yard line with 5:12 left in the contest. Thanks to a trio of first down runs, the Comanches were able to run out the clock with quarterback Trevion Flowers running out of bounds on the game’s final play after the clock read 0:00.

“We were really tired at the end, but we found that second gear and pushed through to come out on top,” Flowers said. “We started off bad, but we finished strong and got the victory. It feels good to be 5-1.”

Back-to-back personal fouls to open the third quarter gave Weimar (2-3) great starting field position at the Shiner 42-yard line. The Comanches were late getting on to the field after halftime, which forced them to kick off from the 25 instead of the 40.

Then Jakyle Harris was hit out of bounds on the kickoff return to give the Wildcats another 15 yards.

Two plays later, Harris took a pitch from Juwan Almeida before running 39 yards for the score to put his team up 26-12 at the 11:10 mark of the third quarter.

But Shiner went on a nine-play, 64-yard drive to pull back within a single score, 26-18, with 6:22 left in the third quarter thanks to a 17-yard score from Caleb Curtis. On the drive, Jones had three carries for 17 yards, Jacob Stafford ran twice for 15 yards, and Flowers had a trio of carries for 15 yards to set up Curtis’ score.

Both teams traded punts on their ensuing possessions before DeLexus Gordon fumbled at the Weimar 25 following a 22-yard gain, and it took the Comanches just three plays to strike again as Stafford scored on a 10-yard run following carries of 4 and 11 yards, respectively, from Flowers. Flowers then hit Brady Cejka for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 26 with 29 tics remaining in the third.

Chad Neubauer intercepted Almeida at the Wildcats’ 21 on the opening play of the fourth quarter, and Flowers made them pay three plays later. Facing a third-and-11 from the 22, Flowers rolled out to his left before reversing field to his right and running through a hole into the endzone, and Kris Patek’s extra point gave Shiner a 33-26 lead at the 10:14 mark of the period.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Neubauer said. “I got my hands on the ball and brought it in for the pick.”

Patek’s extra point kick ended up being the difference on the scoreboard. Patek, a tight end as well, kicked for the first time this season despite suffering from nausea prior to the game.

“I just sucked it up and played through the pain,” he said. “It felt good to kick again.”

A 49-yard run by Harris on the first play of the next series put Weimar at the Shiner 22. Gordon carried the ball for 5, 4 and 12 yards on the next three plays with the third carry resulting in a score.

But an errant snap on the extra point resulted in a failed two-point conversion pass, which left the Comanches in a 33-32 lead with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter. Jones intercepted Seth Helmcamp’s pass on the bad snap and nearly returned it for a two-point defensive conversion.

Defense dictated the first three minutes of the contest as Shiner was limited to a three-and-out on its opening drive and Cejka intercepted a Helmcamp pass at the Weimar 48 to set his team up from that spot. Jones found the endzone four plays later on a 25-yard touchdown run to give the Comanches a 6-0 lead at the 7:04 mark of the first quarter.

But a long kickoff return from Gordon to the Shiner 48 put the Wildcats in business. Almeida hit Payton Wells for a 12-yard gain and Harris had a pair of 14-yard gains with the latter one being the game-tying touchdown as he tied the game at 6 with 3:42 left in the opening quarter.

Following a punt, Shiner held its own as it stuffed Weimar on a fourth-and-3 from the Comanches’ 16 early in the second quarter. But the Wildcats recovered a fumble at the 29 and used a 15-yard pass from Almeida to Torre Johnson and a roughing the passer penalty to set up a go-ahead touchdown run from Helmcamp to put Weimar up 12-6 at the 6:41 mark of the second quarter.

A 51-yard punt by Neubauer pinned Weimar at its own 20 and four plays later, an errant punt snap was down at the Wildcats’ 3, which set up Shiner with stellar field position. Jones scored the equalizer on the ensuing play from the 3 to tie the game at 12 with 3:44 left in the second quarter.

“Those punts were pretty big,” Neubauer said. “I had to get them off fast.”

Neubauer had punts of 38, 51 and 39 yards on the night in addition to his fourth-quarter interception. Only a freshman, Neubauer has adjusted well to varsity football.

“It’s a lot different playing varsity football as opposed to junior high,” he said. “It’s a whole new level of football.”

Following Jones’ game-tying score, a 43-yard kickoff return by Harris set up Weimar at the Comanches’ 47, and Gordon took an option pitch from Almeida and rumbled 47 yards for the score. Almeida’s extra point gave the Wildcats a 19-12 lead with 3:20 remaining before halftime.

Harris led all rushers with 158 yards on 11 carries. Shiner was led by Flowers (18-106) and Jones (14-105), and the Comanches ran 51 times for 331 yards.

Shiner opens District 15-A-Division I play against Kenedy at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Kenedy.

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