New Braunfels Canyon 14, Wagner 7

Quick Take: New Braunfels Canyon earned the No. 2 seed from District 12-5A-I, and the opening-round home playoff game that goes with it, by outlasting Wagner 14-7 on Friday night at Cougar Stadium in New Braunfels.

Canyon (7-3, 5-2), Wagner (7-3, 5-2) and Boerne Champion (8-2,

5-2) all posted identical district records, but the Cougars won the tiebreaker over the other two teams and are the No. 2 seed. Wagner gets the No. 3 seed by virtue of its head-to-head win over Boerne Champion, but the Thunderbirds would have been No. 2 had they been able to knock off Canyon.

Highlights: Wagner scored on its opening drive on a 10-yard run by Brayden Prasse to lead 7-0 midway through the first quarter, but it was a gamble that went bust that enabled the

Cougars to get back into the game and seize the momentum.

Late in the second quarter, Wagner faked a punt on a fourth-and-9 at its own 25 and missed, giving Canyon great field position. Jackson Regan caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Reece Deitrick and the Cougars tied the game at 7-7 with 1:40 to go before halftime.

After a mostly uneventful third period, Canyon took the lead, 14-7, late in the third quarter when Regan capped off a 12-play,

47-yard march with a

9-yard touchdown run. Wagner appeared to tie the game on the subsequent kickoff with a 96-yard return for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a penalty and the Thunderbirds never seriously threatened to score again.

The Thunderbirds had just seven first downs and 159 yards of offense, while Canyon had 237 total yards and 15 first downs.

What it means: Canyon closes its regular-season with five straight wins following a 2-3 start, while snapping Wagner’s five-game winning streak that dated back to the Thunderbirds’ 24-7 loss to Smithson Valley in Wagner’s district opener. The Cougars have also now won four straight meetings against Wagner, which hasn’t won in the series since 2015.

Canyon has now won seven or more games in three of its last four seasons and is in the playoffs for the third time in the last four years. Wagner will be making its fifth straight appearance in the playoffs.

Quotable: “In our program, we talk about grit. Grit, to us, means being tougher for longer and that’s what we were tonight. Grit isn’t pretty, but it’s what won us this football game. It’s like the old saying goes, ‘Everybody loves sausage, but they don’t like seeing it made.’ Tonight was one of those nights where you saw the sausage get made,” New Braunfels Canyon coach Nate Leonard said.

Game balls: Regan accounted for both Canyon touchdowns and had 118 yards of total offense. He piled up 107 yards on 19 carries and added another pair of catches for 11 yards for the Cougars.

Reece completed 10 passes for 83 yards through the air and added another 37 yards on nine carries. Four different receivers had at least two catches for Canyon as Reece spread out his completions.

William Reynolds had 60 yards on five carries and Prasse had 47 yards on 12 carries for Wagner, which had just 35 yards of offense and two first downs in the second half.

Up next: Both New Braunfels Canyon and Wagner will be in the Class 5A-I playoffs, which start with the bidistrict round next week. The Cougars host the No. 3 team from District 11-5A-I, Cedar Park (7-3), which is coming off a 28-21 win over Georgetown on Friday night. Meanwhile, Wagner travels to the No. 2 seed, A&M Consolidated (7-3). The Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a 38-20 win over Leander Glenn on Friday night.