San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
La Vernia 42, Boerne 31
Trailing by a field goal at halftime Friday night at Comalander Stadium, La Vernia rallied to upend Boerne 42-31 in a Class 4A-I area round game, eliminating the defending state runner-up in the second round of the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons.
La Vernia (10-2) took the lead for good when quarterback Keegan Hajek scored on a 4-yard run to put the Bears ahead 35-31 with 4:25 remaining.
Boerne lost a fumble on the second play of its next drive, and La Vernia added a final touchdown on a 1-yard run by Isaiah Cisneros with 1:31 to go to seal the victory.
Highlights: The teams combined for 830 yards of total offense and 38 first downs in a fast-paced game.
La Vernia and Boerne (10-2) traded touchdowns in the first half before Carson Cooper knocked home a 22-yard field goal with 2:26 left in the second quarter to give Boerne a 17-14 lead at the break.
La Vernia took the lead on its opening possession of the second half on a 2-yard run by Hajek to make it 21-17 Bears. Boerne scored a touchdown of its own to re-take the lead, one of five lead changes in the second half.
Boerne took its last lead, 31-28, on a 5-yard touchdown run by Adam Hicks with 6:51 left in the game. But the Greyhounds gambled and lost when an onside kick on the subsequent kickoff went out of bounds, giving La Vernia the ball at midfield.
Six plays later, Hajek scored on a 2-yard run to put La Vernia in front to stay.
What it means:
winners of six straight, beat Boerne for the first time in five all-time meetings in a series that only dates back to 2018.
The Bears are making their 27th straight state playoff appearance, last missing the postseason in 1996.
Boerne, which lost for the first time since its season opener, was in the playoffs for the 10th straight year, last missing out on the postseason in 2013.
Quotable: “Something we’ve been building, both this season and with our program as a whole is having each other’s backs. When the offense doesn’t do well, the defense makes plays and when the defense needs helps, the offense picks us up. Tonight, we did that. We executed our
gameplan and made some good halftime adjustments that enabled us to win this game,” La Vernia coach Brad Molder said.
Game balls: Hajek went 10-for-13 for 155 yards through the air and added another 48 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries.
Cisneros led the La Vernia ground game with 83 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and Colten Schmid caught five passes for 94 yards for the Bears.
Hicks had a monster game for Boerne in the loss, rushing 32 times for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Jaxon Baize had 10 carries for 43 yards and two touchdowns, also going 15-for-26 for 114 yards passing. Five different receivers had at least two catches for the Greyhounds.