Schulenburg Defense Comes Up Big as Shorthorns Down Burton 28-7

The Schulenburg Shorthorns defeated the Burton Panthers 28-7 at home Friday night.

The Harris Poll picked Burton to win by five. Even though the Horns wound up winning by 21, much of the game felt closer than the story the scoreboard told.

“I’ve got to give Burton some credit,” said Schulenburg Head Coach Luke Hobbs. “They’re very good. They load the box and throw the ball. We didn’t throw the ball as well tonight. But I’m very, very pleased with our defense.”

Hobbs also credited his special teams for managing the field position battle.

“When you can get two thirds of the game running well, the offense did just enough,” he said. “We wore them down at the end.”

Hobbs said his team still needs to improve on execution. The Horns racked up nearly 80 yards on penalties.

“Penalties killed us,” he said. “They took away some huge plays. I was proud of how resilient our kids were. They battled and got a win.”

Burton received the opening kickoff and started in poor field position due to a couple of penalties on the first two plays. They punted on fourth down from their own 16 yard line. Byron Johnson received the punt for the Horns near midfield and brought it down to the 17. A face mask penalty on Burton put the ball at the 7.5 yard line. Da’Terrion Houston ran in the touchdown. The extra point by Brycen Schramek was good, and the Horns went up 7-0 with 10:01 left in the first.

Burton got a quick first down on the next possession before the Horns took the ball back on a Reid Janda interception. But Schulenburg’s offense sputtered and went four and out. The Panther quarterback Kayden Patterson proved to be a threat on the next possession. On 2nd and 7, he completed a wide open pass to Colton Broesche for a gain of 35 deep into Shorthorn territory. Two plays later Drayton Oakes lined up behind center and reached the end zone on a sweep. The extra point was good and the game was tied at 7-7 with 2:58 left in the first quarter.

With about nine minutes to halftime, Schulenburg got the ball back and drew up a spectacular drive. Houston showed his agility on a screen pass caught at the Horns 28, evading several tacklers before coming down midfield. Janecek connected with Byron Johnson twice in a row to make it first and goal. Cooper Demel punched in the touch-down, and Schramek’s extra point was perfect, bringing the score to 14-7 with 6:07 left in the half.

Jayse Janda scored on a 48-yard pass from Janecek in the third quarter. The extra point was good and the Horns led 21-7 with 9:03 left in the third quarter.

By this point in the game Burton was showing some wear. The Panthers suited out only 18 players Friday night. Many of them never left the field. Patterson took a lot of pressure in the second half. Schulenburg wasn’t perfect, either. Janecek threw an interception later in the third quarter. Burton nearly capitalized on it, driving down to the Schulenburg 7 yard line at one point. A bad snap on 3rd and goal put them back to the 30 yard line. Jayvan Luhrs sacked Patterson on 4th and goal.

The Horns got the ball back on their own 39. They managed one first down before Burton forced them to punt. Burton drew up another good drive with three first downs before Reid Janda picked up his second interception of the night. Janda ran the ball into the end zone, but the referees called it back for an illegal block.

Schulenburg took over on the Burton 42 yard line. They kept the ball on the ground to wind down the clock. Just about everyone in the backfield got in on the action. Janecek punched it in for the final touchdown of the night. Schramek was perfect again on the extra point, bringing the score to 28-7 with 1:36 left in the game.