Flatonia Gets Defensive, Downs Ozona 16-5 in Playoff Opener
The Flatonia high school football team kept their season alive Thursday night at Jerry Comalander stadium in San Antonio as they beat Ozona high school 15-6 in order to advance to the next round of the p2A layoffs.
They will go on to face Refugio, who is the defending state champions and went undefeated the last two seasons.
Flatonia plays Refugio this Thursday at 7 p.m. in Karnes City.
“Defense played lights out,” said Flatonia head football coach Chris Freytag of last week’s win. “We were very solid with special teams. Offensively, we struggled some. But that’s tribute to playing a good football team. We found a way to get it done.” The Bulldogs have now won six straight bi-district titles. “That’s something to be proud of,” Freytag continued. “Our kids know how to figure it out and win. It doesn’t matter if it’s 42-41 or 15-6. A win’s a win and a gold ball’s a gold ball.”
Sophomore starting quarterback Keyshaun Green nudged in a crucial touchdown at the goal line with eight minutes to play in the 3rd quarter to give his team some cushion.
“It’s an ugly win, but sometimes you got to take the ugly wins,” Green said. “We had some bad mistakes, and then we just rallied together at the end as a team like I believe my team always does and we’ve always done before. It was just a great win in all.”
Both Flatonia and Ozona went three and out on their first two possessions of the game until the Bulldogs struck first at the 1:03 mark in the first quarter with a blocked punt on special teams from the Ozona seven yard line that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and an 8-0 lead as they successfully converted a two-point attempt on a fake field goal run play around the end.
Although Ozona completed three fourth down conversions on the same drive towards the end of the first half, the Flatonia defense stood their ground and forced a fumble on a run play from their own 24-yard line, which they recovered with 3:11 to go and their offense fed off of as the Bulldogs drove all the way down to the Lions 22-yard line with a couple nice passes and runs from Green, but were unable to get in the end zone on fourth down and sustained an 8-0 advantage going into the locker room.
Ozona went three and out on their first possession of the second half, a drive that the Bulldogs capitalized on with the Ozona snap going over the punters head and Flatonia recovering, leading to Green’s lone touchdown on the night and a commanding 15-0 lead. The Bulldogs were able to muster a stop on fourth down with just over 6 minutes to play in the third quarter from the Ozona 37-yard line and kept their shutout intact heading into the final quarter.
The Lions made things interesting to start the fourth with a 45-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jesse Vega to senior wide-receiver Joe Perez, which dwindled the Flatonia lead at 15-6 after a failed twopoint conversion attempt. Ozona then made an interception with just under nine minutes to play as Flatonia went for it on fourth and four from the Lions 31-yard line. The Bulldogs answered back with an enormous stop of their own on fourth down about two minutes later.
Their defense held sturdy with two more interceptions to follow in the concluding minutes and closed in on a 15-6 victory.
Flatonia 15, Ozona 6
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
FLATONIA – :56, Chris Johnston blocks punt and Holden Kloesel recovers it for a touchdown Alex Hernandez run)
THIRD QUARTER
FLATONIA – 7:58, Keyshaun Green 1 run (Joaquin Vazquez kick).
FOURTH QUARTER
OZONA – 11:09, Joe Perez 40 pass from Jesse Vega.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – Chris Johnston 16-52, Keyshaun Green 11-17, Aiden Gonzales 1-(-1): Ozona: Joe Perez 19-74.
Passing – Flatonia: Green 7 of 17 for 61 yards with 1 INT. Ozona: Jesse Vegas 7 of 21 for 77 yards with 2 INTs and 1 TD.
Receiving – Flatonia: Aiden Gonzales 1-20, Johnston 1-13, Fidel Venegas 2-12, Alex Hernandez 2-11, Holden Kloesel 1-5: Ozona: Perez 2-37.