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With the advantage of being in Region IV, it was always expected that after the opening 23-20 victory over Vandegrift High School — on the strength of a last second field goal by Dripping Springs High School — there would be a playoff rematch down the line.
Both teams took care of business in their regional games to make that possible. The quarterfinal matchup will take place in Gupton Stadium in Leander ISD on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. It will be only the second time (the first in 2016) that a Tiger team has climbed to that level. It will be their best chance to envision playing for a state championship at Jerry's World in Arlington.
To get to that point, the DSHS Tigers took on undefeated Harlingen High School Cardinals (12-0) in the Alamodome. It is the stage where most teams tumble from their dreams. But there was no inclement weather in the indoor stadium, and the multitalented Tigers ended up being too much for the Cardinals. The result was a 45-0 shutout that sent them to the quarterfinals. When a team gets to that game special teams and turnovers become major keys to victories. The fly in the ointment for the Cardinals was their deep snapper on punts. He never had a good snap on any of the seven punt attempts, giving the Tigers good field position on the 22 average.
When you have good athletes, it usually means they are good at many positions. This was the case of Kyle Koch, one of the outstanding receivers. It has always been evident that he, Garon Duncan and Boston Papp were blessed with good running skills. On the first drive following Harlingen's short punt, Cade Curry shouldered most of the running load and Papp caught a pass to get it to the 23-yard line. The Tiger coaches inserted Koch into a back position and gave him the ball. He responded by covering the distance without getting touched. Walker Wright kicked the first of his extra points to give the Tigers a 7-0, firstquarter lead.
After a short punt in the second quarter to the Harlingen 35-yard line, the same formula was used with the same result. Curry carried to the 22-yard line, and Koch took the handoff and scored. 14-0. Quickly, the Tigers added to the margin. A bad punt snap put the Tigers 12 yards away. On the second play, Austin Novosad hit Joseph Moreland from the nine-yard line and allowed him to muscle his way in. 21-0. Harlingen returned the kickoff to the 19-yard line. On the third play, Nathan Prehar got to experience a defensive lineman's dream when he plucked the pass out of the air and easily strode into the endzone untouched from the 11yard line. 28-0. The Cardinals punted to the 13yard line with 1.55 left in the half. Simple solution: just have Novosad toss the ball to Koch, and 87 yards later, he would cross the goal line. 35-0 at the half.
The second half went fast as each team would only have two possessions. They kept it on the ground and let the clock run. The Tigers first score came on Wright's 25-yard field goal. 38-0. The final score came in the fourth quarter by Jack Williams, and he had to do it twice. He scored from the 12yard line, but it was put back to the 22-yard line on a holding penalty. He simply scored on the next play to make the final 450. Harlingen attempted field goals on both their possessions.
Game stats (DSHS first): First downs 19-9; Rushing 29-176, 46-143; Passing 234-29; Passes 13-17-0, 4-10-1; Punts 1-43.0, 6-21.8; Penalties 4-40, 2-15; Fumbles lost 1-1, 0-0.
DSHS stats: Rushing: Curry 15-75; Koch 4-57 2TD; Williams 2-31 TD; Jack Tyndall 5-28; Maddox Maher 2-(-) 3; Novosad 1-(-) 12. Passing: Novosad 12-15-233-03TD; Williams 1-2-1-0; Receiving: Koch 3-131 TD; Wright 4-58; Papp 4-35; Moreland 1-9 TD; Skylar Capone-Ford 1-1. KOR: JD Casteen 1-29. PR: Greyson Jones 2-6. INT: Prehar 1-11 TD.
DSHS tackling (Unasst/ Asst): Derek Edgar 9-4, Bryson Amrine 7-3, Prehar 4-4, Elijah Gonzales 2-6, Daniel Sedillo 2-6, Keller Stafford 3-4, Tomsen Vickery 2-5, Gunnar Betts 2-3, Raphael Siewen 2-3, Casteen 4-0, Rio Hay 4-0, Landon Requard 1-2, Jackson Mills 0-3, Braiden Vaughn 2-1, Reed Mohon 2-1, Jones 1-1, Nolan Dahl 1-1, Cash Brunson 0-2, Gabriel Quintana 0-1.
