HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
THURSDAY NIGHT REWIND
GAME OF THE NIGHT Austin High 39, Del Valle 7
Austin High went from a shutout to nearly unstoppable in a week.
The Maroons scored on all but one of their possessions in defeating Del Valle on Thursday night. The 32-point victory at House Park improved Austin High’s record against District 14-6A opponents to 3-3, and it kept the Maroons in position to earn a playoff berth with games against Lehman (0-8) and Anderson (4-5) left on their schedule.
The victory also came six days after the team was thumped roundly in a 70-0 loss to Lake Travis.
“What happened to us, we wanted to inflict on another team,” said Austin High junior receiver J.J. Jacobs.
“We just worked hard all week; we ran routes and did extra work. (Maroons) coach (Mike Rosenthal) said it was the small things we needed to get back to and we went back to the small things that got us better.”
Austin High never trailed against the Cardinals, jumping to a 24-7 halftime lead.
The Maroons (5-3) scored on each of their four first-half possessions, and their offensive success was highlighted by two touchdown passes from Beau Kalbacher, a 5-yard scoring run by Marcello Mendoza and Eli Lopez’s 43-yard field goal.
Using an uptempo but deliberate offense, the Maroons put together seven-, eight-, 11- and 15-play drives over the first and second quarters, when they had only two plays exceed 15 yards.
Austin High continued to roll throughout the second half, and Kalbacher added a touchdown run and a 5-yard TD pass to Jacob Traudt to the scoring summary.
The Maroons’ offense was finally stopped on fourth down and 10 from the Del Valle 31 with under a minute to play.
Austin High finished the evening with 177 rushing yards while spreading 276 passing yards among 10 receivers.
Del Valle (2-6, 2-4) was led by sophomore quarterback Shatar McClay, who rushed for a gamehigh 129 yards and scored on an 11-yard run in the second quarter.
TOP PERFORMERS
Wes Engeling and Eric Slatter, DBs, Anderson: Both Trojans returned interceptions
for touchdowns in a victory over Lehman. Engeling’s pick-six covered 26 yards while Slatter’s went for 28.
Isaiah Feaster, RB, LBJ: Half of his eight carries for 62 yards resulted in touchdowns as the Jaguars defeated Crockett.
J.J. Jacobs, WR, Austin High: Totaled 94 yards receiving on seven catches, including a 12-yard TD grab, in a victory over Del Valle.
Beau Kalbacher, QB, Austin High: Completed 24 of 31 passes for 263 yards and three TDs against Del Valle.
Ashton Williams, DB,
LBJ: Returned an interception 98 yards for a fourth-quarter TD against Crockett.
ADD IT UP
32 — First downs recorded by Austin High against Del Valle. The Maroons’ first-half scoring drives included a pair that lasted for 11 and 15 plays, respectively.
8.8 — Average yards per carry for LBJ in its victory over Crockett. The Jaguars totaled 290 yards on 33 carries.