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KSAT 12’s Big Game Coverage (BGC) is leaping into Week 7 like Brandeis running back Christopher Rodriguez on Saturday night! He and the Broncos are one of many teams that picked up sizable wins in district play over the weekend, but a number of contests went down to the wire including our Game of the Week. When the dust settled, a pair of undefeated teams were handed their first losses of the season and district races across the area tightened up.
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First things first, let’s take a moment to highlight the biggest moments from the week that was in Week 6′s Best of BGC.
Week 6 had no shortage of incredible runs, passes, catches and plays from the greater San Antonio area. Check out the best of the best, including plays from Brennan, Harlan, Marshall and Universal City Randolph!
>> Click here to check out the Best of BGC from Week 6! <<
The top four Class 6A teams all remain undefeated after six weeks of play, but there’s been plenty of movement on the weekly KSAT 12′s Top 12 rankings once again. Lanier suffered their first defeat of the season. Did they still make the cut? How did the rest of the teams fare? Find out who’s in and who’s out heading into Week 7!
>> See the full Week 7 rankings by clicking here! <<
Week 6′s Game of the Week delivered the hard-nosed, defensive battle we were hoping for!
REAGAN 14, MADISON 11
Facing adversity can really galvanize a football team. Reagan (3-2, 3-0) certainly learned that after starting the season 0-2, but early in their District 28-6A clash against Madison (3-2, 2-1), the Rattlers were dealt another challenge: finding a way to win without their starting quarterback.
Britton Moore scored the game’s first touchdown on an 11-yard keeper, but suffered an injury as he was tackled to the ground. The senior signal-caller was helped off the field, and the rest of the team turned to junior Jacob Adkins to fill in. After the Mavericks put a field goal on the board midway through the second quarter, Adkins responded with an eight-yard laser to wide receiver Gabriel Foltz in the end zone that gave Reagan a 14-3 lead at halftime. Running back Javier Colsa buoyed the offense by rushing for a game-high 135 yards, but those 14 points would be all the offense could muster.
Madison QB Landon Gill drew the Mavericks closer on an 11-yard touchdown run with 9:36 left in the fourth quarter. That ended up being as close as Madison would get. The Rattlers’ defense rose to the occasion, limiting the Mavericks to 207 total yards and 11 points. Linebacker Donnie “Trey” Laurence called game with an interception in the final minute of play, and the Rattlers moved above .500 for the first time this season with their third straight victory.
“We always fight back,” Laurence said. “We never back down from anything. It means everything. We’re one win closer to a district championship, and that’s one of our biggest goals.”
THREE DEEP
HIGHLANDS 42, BURBANK 38
The battle for the District 13-5A Division I title is shaping up to be a great one, and two of the best teams in the race put on a show at SAISD Sports Complex on Friday night.
Highlands (2-3, 2-1) raced out to a 28-10 halftime lead thanks to an incredible performance from quarterback Jacob Gutierrez. The senior threw four touchdown passes in the first half, and three of those tosses were plays of 40 yards or longer. With a sizable lead at the break, the Owls maintained their offensive balance by handing the ball off to Ja’corey Bremby and D’Marrion Gonzalez. The two combined to rack up 250 total yards rushing and receiving.
But Burbank (3-3, 2-2) battled all the way back. Quarterback Ramiro Salazar ignited the comeback with a 97-yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Hernandez. Salazar threw four TDs in the second half, two to Andrew Buentello, and finished with 289 yards passing and five touchdowns as Burbank retook the lead 38-35 early in the fourth quarter.
The game wasn’t over yet, however. With five minutes left to play, Gutierrez found wide receiver Luis Ortiz for the fourth time on a 20-yard touchdown pass that put Highlands back on top 42-38. That would prove to be the game-winner. Gutierrez’s final stat-line: 13-of-22, 341 yards and a whopping six touchdowns. As a result, the Owls move into a tie for third in the district standings with Lanier.
>> Click here to watch all of the highlights from Friday night! <<
CENTRAL CATHOLIC 35, HOUSTON ST. THOMAS 31
Two of the best TAPPS football teams in the state met at Bob Benson ‘66 Stadium on Friday night, and Central Catholic (5-1, 2-0) emerged victorious in a back-and-forth battle.
Buttons quarterback Sylas Gomez showcased his arm and his legs, completing 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 19 times for 95 yards and a pair of scores. His one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter capped a 14-point, fourth-quarter rally and proved to be the game-winner in a 35-31 victory. Senior running back Jonah Dunlap added a rushing and receiving touchdown, and finished with 94 total yards.
The winds of history might have helped lift the Buttons’ sails. Central Catholic honored members of the Class of 1970 this year with their 50th reunion, including alumni that defeated Houston St. Thomas that year to secure the program’s first state title in football. As they say, their “legacy is alive and well” with the current Buttons squad.
>> Click here to watch all of the highlights from Thursday night! <<
JOURDANTON 27, MARION 14
Marion’s impressive undefeated streak came to an end in Jourdanton on Friday night.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0) built a 14-12 halftime lead thanks to a touchdown run from running back Aidan Rios and a touchdown pass from Tanner Beakley to Dominic Castellanos, who posted a team-high 89 receiving yards. Jourdanton’s defense shut Marion’s offense down in the second half.
Early in the third quarter, Indians running back Luke Tapp ripped off a remarkable 28-yard run and quarterback Clyde Schuchart capped the drive with a one-yard keeper to give the home team the lead for good. Jordan Castillo added an insurance touchdown with 7:48 left in regulation, and Jourdanton (3-3, 2-0) earned a signature victory in District 14-3A Division I.
>> Click here to watch all of the highlights from Saturday night! <<
Hey Greg! What are your thoughts on Week 6′s results?
We dodged what could have been a ‘Freaky Friday’ to start October with terrible weather, but as it turned out, it was a great night for Big Game Coverage. That included some upsets.
It started on Thursday with the Edison Golden Bears’ big upset of undefeated Lanier at Alamo Stadium. The Voks came into that game at 4-0, while the Golden Bears entered 2-3 overall and 2-1 in District 13-5A Division I. There was only one touchdown in the first half scored by Edison QB Roger Lopez, as the Golden Bears took a 7-3 lead at the half. Edison’s defense held the Voks to just 44 yards in the first half. Lanier’s only TD of the game came in the fourth quarter when QB Xavier Tellez was able to get into the end zone, but those were the Voks’ only points on Thursday night in a 16-6 loss. Lanier drops to 4-1 overall, 2-1 in district, and Edison improves to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in district.
Also on Thursday, the Somerset Bulldogs improved to 5-1 with a 28-7 victory over Hidalgo in a game that was played in Freer.
On Friday night, the Reagan Rattlers lost their senior starting QB Britton Moore to a left leg injury that knocked him out of their 28-6A battle against Madison. Moore was actually injured scoring a TD for Reagan. That meant the Rattlers would have to go with Jacob Adkins who put the Rattlers out in front 14-3 with an 8 yard toss in the second quarter. That would be the only scoring for Reagan so it would be up to the Rattlers defense to seal the win. Donnie Laurence came up with the game-clinching interception to win 14-11. He’s actually Donnie Laurence III, and also goes by “Trey,” but told us after the game he would prefer to be called Donnie to carry on the family’s football legacy.
>>Click here to watch all of the highlights from this week’s BGC Road Trip!<<
Seguin wide receiver Devin Matthews had an instant impact on the Matadors’ dominant 48-21 victory over La Vernia on Friday night. On the second play from scrimmage, Matthews took a quick pass in the flat to the house for a 46-yard touchdown by breaking two tackles and juking at least three defenders along the way. Later in the first half, he struck again by taking a quick slant 66 yards to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. Those two plays were emblematic of how well Seguin played in the ‘Bear Den’.
It didn’t take long to see who Brandeis was going to rely on offensively in Saturday’s 45-20 victory over Roosevelt at Farris Stadium. Running back Christopher Rodriguez was a bowling ball running out of the backfield in the first half, racking up a team-high 145 yards on 19 carries. First, he showed his power by stepping out of a tackle and running through a defender on his way to the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. Then, he showed his speed on a 42-yard burner that gave the Broncos a 14-0 lead. And oh by the way, the senior has serious hops, too. Rodriguez leads the Broncos in rushing this season with nine touchdowns and 651 total yards on 85 carries. He’ll be carrying the ball a lot over the course of Brandeis’ final four regular season games.
Watch Big Game Coverage Preview show Thursday at 4 p.m.
Larry Ramirez returns alongside Greg Simmons to get you set up for Week 7 of the high school football season with our weekly Big Game Coverage Preview show, featuring breakdowns of KSAT 12′s Game of the Week and some of the biggest matchups to watch. Which teams will they feature this week? You’ll have to watch to find out!
Andrew Cely, KSAT 12 Sports Producer and Reporter
If you have any questions about this newsletter or story ideas for the season ahead, feel free to reach me via email at acely@ksat.com.