Mason Knocks Schulenburg From the Playoffs

The Schulenburg Shorthorns’ football season came to an end Friday night at John Gupton Stadium in Cedar Park. The Horns lost to the Mason Punchers 55-14 in the area round of the playoffs.

Schulenburg got off to a promising start in the first quarter. After forcing Mason to punt in their first series, the Horns got the ball on their own 14 yard line. A 56-yard run from quarterback Owen Brenek followed by a 12 yard push by power back Mason Kunschick set up Schulenburg on The Punchers’ 17 yard line. DaTerrion Houston ran in the score. The extra point was good and Schulenburg led 7-0.

The Horns wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter, when Cootie Ellison reached the endzone on a kickoff return. Penalties plagued Schulenburg all night, especially with personal fouls in the second half as officials struggled to maintain order on both sides of the ball.

Nonetheless, Mason proved themselves a worthy post-season team with their strong shotgun-based rushing game.

“Hats off to those guys,” said Schulenburg head coach Clay Ferguson after the game. “They played a really good game tonight. We had our chances in the first half. We just shot ourselves in the foot. We talked about it - we couldn’t have any pre-snap penalties and things of that nature to have a chance to win tonight. We had to have our best tackling night of the year. We didn’t do that. That’s part of the game.”

The Horns ended their football season with a 6-6 overall record. They went 4-2 in district, finishing in second place.

This season, Ferguson’s first as a head coach, started with an easy win over Sacred Heart of Hallettsville. The Horns then lost two games in a row in overtime against Rogers and Burton, followed by a loss to Brazos, a larger 3A Div. 2 team. With a 1-3 record heading into district, Schulenburg surprised many with a 47-26 win against Kenedy – a team still in the playoffs.

The following week Schulenburg lost 41-26 against their arch-rivals, Weimar, in a game afflicted by poor defense and several key dropped passes. Ganado, a team with a good shot to win the state title this year, beat Schulenburg 42-20. The Horns dominated their next two district opponents, beating Bloomington 41-0 and Danbury 49-6. Schulenburg ended their district season with a 21-7 win over Flatoinia.

The Shorthorns met Freer in a bidistrict game in Poth. They won 56-35, but not before suffering two stinging injuries. Schulenburg’s premier running back, DaTerrion Houston, along with Jayvan Luhrs, a dominant defensive player, both went down in that game. Both played hard against Mason, but lingering effects of those injuries were apparent Friday night..

“I feel bad for these seniors,” Ferguson said. “I love these seniors. I appreciate them because for me, personally as a head coach, this was Team 1. You don’t ever get Team 1 back. It’s something special for me. I appreciate all these guys. I’m proud to be a freakin’ Shorthorn, man.”

Ferguson shared a few words about each of the seniors on his team.

Jayse Janda, WR/DB: “Obviously, he’s Mr. Shorthorn. He did everything we asked of him.”

Jakele Houston, WR/LB: “We found a spot for him late in the year at linebacker. Who would have thought that? He did a really good job there.”

DaTerrion Houston, RB/ LB: “He ran over 1,000 yards this year. He had a really good senior year. I hate what happened last week, it was an iffy tackle kind of deal. So he wasn’t full speed tonight. But he came a long way since I showed up. I really appreciate him sticking with it.”

Landon Connor, TE/LB: “He showed up and put the work in. Talk about someone who took ownership of a role, I’m proud of him.”

Emerson Harvey, WR/ DB: “He was a transfer, and I’m so glad he got a chance to come over and experience what we had from Week 1.”

Jayden Olmos, OL/DE: “Good job securing that tackle spot on the O-line. Good job by him.”

Jayvan Luhrs, TE/DE: “What can you say about Jayvan? He was always up to whatever you wanted him to do. He gave it everything he had.”

Aiden Mendez, RB/LB: “Tough kid. He was always willing to jump in there, but it was one of those deals where injuries kind of got to him. That’s just part of it.”

Cootie Ellison, RB/DE: “He’s another one who took ownership of a role over at Dend, and also getting in there some at running back. He did a great job for us this year. He made a lot of strides in his play throughout the entire year.”

Mason goes on to play Kenedy in the third round of the playoffs this Friday. The game is in Hutto with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. Ganado plays Refugio this week, with a location yet to be announced, in a game that will be closely watched throughout the state. The winners of those two games will face each other in the 2A Div. 1 Region 4 Final.

Last Friday, Gando beat Thorndale 35-14, Refugio beat Rosebud-Lott 42-21, and Kenedy beat Crawford 19-7.