Shorthorns Beat The Bulldogs 21-7

Schulenburg secured a second-place finish in district with a 21-7 win over Flatonia Friday night at home. For Flatonia, the loss ended their season.

The Schulenburg offense, which had been explosive in the last two games, was slow to start Friday night. They struggled to establish a running game early as Flatonia’s defense forced a punt on Schulenburg’s first possession. And then the Horns turned the ball over on downs for their second try.

The Bulldogs got on the board first with a touchdown run by running back Adrian Anderson. The extra point was good and the Bulldogs led 0-7 with about three minutes left in the first quarter.

“We knew that their defense was really good,” said Schulenburg head coach Clay Ferguson after the game. “They slowed down pretty much everybody in the district.” Schulenburg responded with a 71-yard campaign. Quarterback Owen Brenek scored Schulenburg’s first touchdown of the night on a one-yard keeper. The extra point was good and the game was tied 7-7.

Flatonia fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff and the Horns recovered it in Bulldog territory. Four plays later they reached the endzone on a pass from Brenek to Jayse Janda. The extra point was good and the Horns led 14-7 with about 5:20 to halftime.

Schulenburg recovered a Bulldog fumble deep in Flatonia territory about three minutes into the fourth quarter. The Horns converted that into a touchdown two plays later on a six-yard Owen Brenek keeper.

Flatonia tried putting together a drive on their next possession. They got down to the Schulenburg 23 yard line before the Horns forced a turnover on downs with about five minutes left in the game. The Shorthorns ate up the clock and finished the game in victory formation.

The Bulldogs finished the season 5-5 overall, a huge improvement over their nine-loss season last year. First-year head coach Matt Uzzell spoke after the game about what this season means to Flatonia High School.

“Our school is very successful in some other sports and a lot of other things, but football, it’s been a while since we’ve experienced some success,” Uzzell said. “

I think there was a little disconnect. We’re just trying to build relationships and get kids out to play this great game, because I think this is the best game there is as far as teaching kids how to be teammates. I’m really proud of the way that they played. I’m really proud of our coaching staff, putting kids in position to be successful.

“We have a long way to go,” he added. “But we’re moving in the right direction.”

The nine seniors on the Schulenburg squad get one more chance to take the field this week in Poth. But for the seven seniors on the Flatonia team, it was their last Friday night on the field.

“We had seven seniors play this year and three of them didn’t want to,” Uzzell said. “We talked them into playing.

“One of them was a filmer for three years and he came out for his senior year to play offensive line,” Uzzell said. “I think he played almost every snap all year long. Another one is a receiver and didn’t know if he was going to play because he had some family issues that he’s trying to deal with.

“And I said, ‘That’s exactly why you need to play, because I want to be around you every single day and help you in any way that I can,’Uzzell said.

“And then we had another young man who didn’t know if he wanted to play, and unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to play in these last two games because he got a concussion in our Kenedy game,” Uzzell added. “I feel for him because we were trying to sneak into the playoffs and get him one more opportunity next week. You never know when your last one is.”

Elsewhere in the district, Weimar lost to Kenedy at home 41-14, which resulted in a three-way tie for second place between Schulenburg, Kenedy and Weimar. The district tie-breaker rules resulted in Schulenburg taking second place, Kenedy at third and Weimar at fourth. Ganado, the returning state champs, won the district title going undefeated in district.

Weimar’s fourth-place finish will force them to face Refugio, perhaps one of the best teams in the state. Refugio beat Three Rivers Friday night 63-13 while reportedly resting their starters in a game that featured a running clock the entire second half.

Schulenburg will play Freer in Poth on Thursday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m.