Shorthorns Beat Thrall to Grab Third Place

The Schulenburg Shorthorns won a shootout against the Thrall Tigers Friday night, 42-35.

“We had a three week stretch with tough, tough games, and we lost on lastsecond plays two weeks ago and last week,” said Schulenburg head coach Luke Hobbs. “They played their butts off. You have to battle. We’re such a young team and they have to learn how to win. They’re learning how to win and I’m very proud of them. It was an awesome game. Thrall is really good. It’s not like we beat a cupcake team. They’ve won six games and they’re a good football team. I’m just very proud of our guys.”

Both teams put up a ton of offense, led mostly by their junior quarterbacks. Schulenburg quarterback Aaron Janecek rushed for 193 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns and another two touchdowns in the air. Thrall quarterback Chance Parker rushed for 228 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns. He also threw one touchdown pass.

Both teams also struggled defensively. Schulenburg and Thrall forced only two punts each during the game. Both quarterbacks also threw one interception. But every other possession for both teams ended in a touchdown.

Schulenburg led by two scores early in the second quarter and again after the half. But Thrall battled back both times. The Tigers tied it up 35-35 with 6:30 in the fourth quarter. Janecek ran the ball eight times that drive and scored on a sneak to give Schulenburg the lead, 42-35, with 1:52 left in the game.

“Aaron Janecek is our workhorse, but the offensive line that last drive was absolutely phenomenal,” Hobbs said. “Aaron is great and everyone knows Aaron is great. He is a very special football player and I think he proved that he is the best quarterback in this district. No offense to anyone else, I just think he is really special. But the offensive line was tough. We’re playing with two backups in there. Gritty, tough kids. The ball bounces your way eventually.”

It looked like Thrall might upset the home crowd on Parents Night as they marched across the field in a no-huddle offense. Thrall head coach Aaron Vanecek expertly managed the game clock. They got the ball within striking distance at the 22 yard line with 11 seconds left and no timeouts. The Tigers took two shots at the endzone. The first pass fell incomplete. Then Schulenburg defensive lineman Jayvan Luhrs burst through Tiger offense to sack Parker in the backfield, allowing time to expire.

“We played coverage and didn’t bring pressure,” Hobbs said. “But (Luhrs) kept his eyes up and his arms extended. He was able to make a sack when their guy stepped up in the pocket. It was a killer for them. He’s a sophomore making a huge play on a big stage. He’s come a long ways this year from not playing a whole lot to being an absolute staple to our football team.”

Schulenburg’s Rodney Walton, one of just four seniors on the team, played an exceptional game on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s our heartbeat on this team,” Hobbs said. “When he has a bad day at practice, the whole team has a bad day. But he very rarely has a bad day. He’s our motor. He’s our energy guy. He leads our guys in the weightroom. We have great senior leadership, there just aren’t very many of them. They work their tails off. Rodney’s one of those guys.”

“I’ve been here for four years and I’ve played maybe 45 games, so I feel like I have some experience,” Walton said after the game. “We’ve got 19 juniors on this team and I feel like it’s my job to get them through this.”

Schulenburg will face Johnson City this Friday in the first round of the playoffs at Shelton Stadium in Buda. The Shorthorns finished the regular season third in district with an overall record of 5-5 and 4-2 in district. That’s a huge improvement over their brutal 0-10 season last year.

“We’re not done yet,” Hobbs said. “We’re not happy just making the playoffs. We battled with some complacency this year. With our tough non-district, it was like, ‘If we can only win one game.’ Then it was ‘If we can only just win two games or three games.’ Well, we’re not stopping here. We want to keep going and take every shot to win some playoff games. We’re going there to win something. We’re not going just to be participants. This is a team that can keep going and play with anybody.”