Judson 37, New Braunfels 14

Quick take: Judson’s defense kept New Braunfels in a vise-like grip throughout Friday night’s District 27-6A opener and fueled a 37-14 victory at Unicorn Stadium.

Highlights: The Rockets’ highpowered offense took a while to work out the kinks, but explosive touchdown plays of 50, 80 and 49 yards over the final 24 minutes helped the Rockets (1-1, 1-0) blast past the Unicorns.

The Rockets held a modest 10-0 lead at the half due in part to a gutsy effort by New Braunfels’ defense and a number of self-inflicted wounds that came in the form of penalties. Judson was flagged 11 times in the first half, but once the Rockets began to clean up those mistakes, their breakaway speed carried them to a lopsided win.

The Unicorns (2-1, 0-1) were simply unable to find any type of sustained rhythm on offense.

New Braunfels’ second unit struck for a pair of scoring drives late in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.

Judson’s De’Anthony Lewis returned the second-half kickoff to New Braunfels’ 45-yard line, and after a false start, he burst up the middle for a 50-yard touchdown run to put the Rockets up 17-0.

Two possessions later, Judson quarterback Michael Burroughs took to the air and found Davion Wilson open down the sideline for an 80-yard scoring strike. Burroughs later broke loose for a 49-yard TD run to put the visitors up 37-0.

New Braunfels’ offense never got comfortable against Judson. The Rockets held the Unicorns’ rushing attack to just 66 yards and applied constant pressure to quarterback Peyton Driggers, which often led to incompletions as the senior attempted to find a receiver while backpedaling to avoid a strong rush from E’Vaunte Freeman, Johnny Bowens and a host of other Rockets.

Driggers was 5-of-22 passing on the night.

New Braunfels backup quarterback Hunter Turner led consecutive scoring drives late as he found Jake Vaughn for a 25-yard TD toss and then ran in a score from 8 yards out.

What it means: The Rockets overcame their penalty woes in the end, but 18 total flags for 165 yards will draw the ire of Judson’s coaching staff as it moves forward in 27-6A competition.

Thankfully for Judson, its stout defense gave the offense plenty of time to kick things into high gear. The Rockets amassed 618 yards of total offense and began substituting players in the fourth quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Game balls: Lewis rushed for a game-high 173 yards and two

TDs for Judson, while Burroughs accounted for 330 total yards — 183 passing and 147 rushing — and three total scores.

Rockets linebacker Treylin Payne snatched an interception in the second quarter, while cornerbacks Eric Nolden and Aristide Brown provided blanket coverage on New Braunfels’ wide receivers.

Stephen Kelsey and Billy Fitch both snagged picks for the Unicorns’ defense, which put together

De’Anthony Lewis 9 run, (kick failed) 11:55, 4th

Michael Burroughs 49 run, (Adrian Cortes kick) 08:30, 4th

Jake Vaughn 25 pass fromHunter Turner, (Nick Cruz kick) 06:55,

Hunter Turner 8 run, (Nick Cruz kick) 03:31, 4th

JUD— D. Lewis 19-173, 2 TDs. M. Burroughs 10-147, 2 TDs. I. Washington 5-60. J. Castillo 2-19. A. Brown 3-16. T. Gilmore 2-12. A. Evans1-8. NBR— R. Purdy13-37. D. Soto 5-29. H. Turner 3-11, 1TD. A. Baumann1-5. R. Wilson 2-3. T. Higginbotham1-(-3). P. Driggers 2-(-16).

JUD — M. Burroughs 15-23-1, 183 yards, 1 TD. J. Castillo 0-1-1, 0 yards. NBR — H. Turner 4-10-0, 85 yards, 1 TD. P. Driggers 5-22-1, 69 yards.

JUD — D. Wilson 3-99, 1 TD. A. Jones 3-23. J. Bratcher 2-16. D. Lewis 2-15. I. Washington 2-13. E. Nolden 1-7. A. Evans1-6. J. Dunn1-4. NBR— J. Vaughn 3-74,1TD. A. Baumann1-31. J. Cholico 2-29. E. Gilbreth 1-11. T. Higginbotham 2-9. W. Wilson 1-0.

JUD — T. Payne. NBR — S. Kelsey. B. Fitch. a commendable effort and kept New Braunfels within striking distance for a half.

Up next: The Rockets return to Rutledge Stadium on Thursday for a 27-6A showdown against Clemens at 7 p.m. New Braunfels is set to battle district foe Smithson Valley on Friday at Ranger Stadium.