Schulenburg Falls to Defending State Runner-Up Poth 48-7
Poth Pirates Friday.
Poth, who lost the state championship last year, were ranked No. 10 in Class 3A Div. II heading into the game. The Shorthorns snapped a 13game losing streak with a win over Burton the week before, and they showed promise against a very good Poth team last Friday.
“There’s a lot of good to take away from it,” said firstyear Schulenburg head coach Luke Hobbs after the game. “They fought hard. They did what we asked them to do. I feel like we kicked ourselves in the butt in the first half. We could have put up a few more points.”
Down 14-0 in the second quarter, the Horns put together a drive that got them down to the seven yard line. But the Pirates’ defense held and the Horns lost the ball on downs. Poth scored twice after that in the second quarter. Schulenburg Rodney Walton blocked the point after on the second touchdown, bringing the score to 27-0 in Poth’s favor at halftime.”
Schulenburg’s only score came in the third quarter. Quarterback Aaron Janecek began the series with a 15 yard pass to freshman receiver Nick Goode. The Horns gained ground that series on two flags against Poth, once for a horsecollar and the second time for roughing the passer. The Shorthorn line gave a big push on fourth and goal at the three yard line, allowing Janecek to punch in a score on a quarterback keeper. The point after by Bryce Schramek was good, making the score 34-7 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
Poth ate up the clock with their running game on the next possession, scoring to make it 41-7 with 7:34 left in the fourth. Schulenburg went four and out in the next series. Poth went 42 yards in two plays to score their final touchdown of the game with about 3:40 left in the fourth.
The Horns played a very disciplined game, giving up only five yards on one penalty. They fumbled the ball twice but never lost it. Schulenburg put up 86 yards rushing versus 288 for Poth. Janecek threw 14 for 24 with 119 yards.
Schulenburg’s offense made 11 first downs, and the Shorthorn defense stopped Poth twice: once with a turnover on downs in the first quarter and they forced Poth to punt in the third quarter.
“A lot of kids played a lot of minutes tonight,” Hobbs said. “It’s just that Poth is freaking good. They don’t have a weak spot. Size – they’re big in every single place. They have guys 6’5” – that takes away your passing game.”
Hobbs said he’s excited to start district play on the road against Thorndale this week.
“Our record shows we didn’t have a great non-district,” he said. “But if you know anything about football in Texas, our non-district was amazingly tough. I feel like we got better every week. I’m not panicking by any means. I don’t think we’re going to see a team that’s good in district.”