LG Miscues Prove Costly in Loss to La Vernia
It was hard to know what was the more surprising fact after La Grange’s 28-20 loss to La Vernia Friday.
Was it the whopping six turnovers the Leps had? Or the fact that despite all those turnovers La Grange still had a chance to win the game at the end?
Maybe the only thing for sure is that the Leps were their own worst enemy Friday. In addition to all the turnovers La Grange was also whistled for 18 penalties that cost them 153 yards. Two Leps touchdowns were called back because of penalties.
It all added up to a night during which previously winless La Vernia got to celebrate on homecoming night, while the Leps had a long ride back from Wilson County.
“Six turnovers and it’s an eight-point game, that’s sickening,” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. “We let this get away and it falls on me. We had so many little mistakes and some big calls against us.”
The stats from this one showcase just what a contrast in styles this game was.
La Grange ran for 338 yards, led by 133 yards from Bravion Rogers, 96 from Ryder Imhoff and 83 from Dana Baker.
Meanwhile, La Vernia managed just 26 yards on the ground.
But it was through the air that the Bears hurt La Grange.
La Vernia junior quarterback Stratten Hayes threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to Colten Schmid – a sophomore.
“Give La Vernia credit, they made plays. They have young guys, but they made plays,” Kates said.
La Grange by contrast had just 46 yards through the air, despite attempting 18 passes.
In all, La Grange actually outgained La Vernia in total yardage 384 to 304, but it was those turnovers that were a killer.
La Grange, meanwhile, had just one takeaway Friday, a Rogers interception.
Despite three first half turnovers, La Grange trailed just 7-0 at halftime, but fumbled away their first two possessions of the second half and eventually the Bears built a 20-0 lead.
La Grange finally got on the scoreboard with 1:42 left in the third quarter on a five-yard touchdown run by Imhoff.
That cut the La Vernia lead to 21-7 but then another Leps fumble was turned into points by the Bears and they took a 28-7 lead.
Later in the fourth quarter La Grange got as 50-yard touchdown run from Baker (who had missed last week’s game with an injury).
“It felt wonderful to be back out on the field,” Baker said. “We just have to get back to practice, skip over this one, and work harder and keep our heads up.”
With 1:15 left in the game Leps senior quarterback Clay Wolff ran for a 21 yard touchdown.
The La Grange quarterback situation remains unsettled with both Wolff and Rogers having their ups and downs at the position through the first three games of the season. After Wolff’s touchdown cut the La Vernia lead to eight, La Grange tried an onside kick, but the Bears recovered and were able to run out the clock from there.
The Leps face another long road trip this week as La Grange heads to Lockhart to face the Lions, who are 1-2 this season after going winless in 2020.
“We had a lot of things go against us today, we’ll fix those things next week and take it to them,” said La Grange’s Justin Lewis, whose 37 tackles this season is second only to Andrew Faske.
Lockhart, which is a 5A school, opened the season with a 33-29 win over Victoria West before falling to Buda Johnson 56-8 and then last week losing to Dripping Springs 49-15.
“We’ll get there. We have plenty of kids and plenty of talent to right the ship,” said Kates. “These games will get us ready for when it counts.”
La Vernia 28, La Grange 20
Score by quarters
La Grange 0 0 7 13 – 20
La Vernia 7 0 14 7 – 28
LG LaVernia
Rushes-yards 43-338 29-26
Passing yards 46 278
Total yards 384 304
Comp-Att-Int 5-18-2 14-32-1
Fumbles-lost 5-4 2-0
Punts-Avg. 4-43.5 5-35
Penalties-yds 18-153 9-90
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
LA VERNIA – 11:00, Colten Schmid 77 pass from Stratten Hayes (John Mecke kick)
THIRD QUARTER
LA VERNIA – 11:04, Schmid 35 pass from Hayes (Mecke kick)
LA VERNIA – 4:29, Schmid 34 pass from Hayes (Mecke kick)
LA GRANGE – 1:42, Ryder Imhoff 5 run (Brendan Maddox kick)
Fourth Quarter
LA VERNIA – 9:49, Rae Leija 17 pass from Hayes (Mecke kick)
LA GRANGE – 7;57, Dana Baker 50 run (Maddox kick)
LA GRANGE – 1:15, Clay Wolff 21 run (kick failed)
Individual Stats
RUSHING – La Grange: Bravion Rogers 21-133, Ryder Imhoff 15-96, Dana Baker 5-83, Clay Wolff 1-21, Jakobe Wilkerson 1-5; La Vernia: Sebastian Sanchez 15-70.
PASSING – La Grange: Rogers 4 of 12 for 13 yards with 2 INTs, Wolff 1 of 6 for 33 yards; La Vernia: Stratten Hayes 14 of 31 for 278 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT, Ty Taber 0 for 1.
RECEIVING – La Grange: Jaxon Cooper 3-34, Ryder Imhoff 1-8, Dana Baker 1-4; La Vernia: Colten Schmid 3-146, Rae Leija 8-87, Zach Simon 2-25, Sanchez 1-20.
District 13-4A Football
Cuero 3-0
Smithville 2-1
Navasota 2-1
La Grange 1-2
Gonzales 1-2
Giddings 0-3
Friday’s scores:
Smithville 38, S. Antonio Highlands 24
La Vernia 28, La Grange 20
Navasota 63, Mexia 21
Taylor 48, Giddings 28
Cuero 28, Yoakum 12
Fredericksburg 42, Gonzales 18
This week’s games:
La Grange at Lockhart
Gonzales at Ingleside
Navasota at Hargrave
Crocket at Smithville
Giddings at Caldwell
Cuero at Navarro