Weimar Runs Past Schulenburg 41-26

The Schulenburg Shorthorns lost to their district rival the Weimar Wildcats Friday night 41-26.

The Wildcats appear to be the team to beat in District 15-2A Division 1. They punished the Horns with a strong running game led by junior running back Mikael Shifatu, who finished the night with 152 yards rushing, 12 yards receiving and two touchdowns. He had plenty of help, too. The Weimar backfield combined for 338 total yards rushing with big contributions from Jerron Fisher and Raul Sierra.

The Horns, meanwhile, struggled offensively especially in their passing game, which had been outstanding in recent games. Quarterback Owen Brenek finished the night 19 for 35 passing with 231 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. His top receiver Jayse Janda had 11 catches on 16 attempts with 125 yards and one touchdown. The Horns were just a few incompletions away from winning this game.

Weimar got off to a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter. Shifatu scored on a fourthdown pass by Collin Morrison from the 12 yard line. Then on the next series he reached the endzone on a 45-yard run. Schulenburg stopped Weimar on the two-point conversion, leaving the score 13-0.

Schulenburg got on the board with a goalline push from Daterrion Houston at the start of the second quarter. A blocked extra point put the score at 13-6.

Fisher ran in an 8-yard touchdown for the Wildcats with two minutes left in the half. The point after made it 20-6. But the Shorthorns responded with an impressive 60-yard scoring drive just before halftime. Brenek found Houston in the endzone with about 30 seconds on the clock. They went for two points but didn’t get it. The Horns trailed by one score at the half, 20-12.

The Horns would score again on a 18-yard reception from Mason Kunschick in the third quarter, and again on a Jayse Janda reception with about four and a half minutes left in the game. Schulenburg converted on a pass from Brenek to Houston to put the score 36-24.

Weimar put the game out of reach by eating up nearly three minutes before scoring on a keeper from Morrison at the goal line. The extra point was good and the Wildcats led 41-26 with about 1:47 left in the game. Schulenburg nearly got a consolation score when Brenek connected with Nick Goode on second and 17 with 27 seconds left. Goode reached the endzone but the play was called back for holding. A long pass to Janda was incomplete on third and 26. And then Brenek took a sack on fourth down to give Weimar back the ball with 14 seconds left. The Wildcats lined up in victory formation to close out their win in Schulenburg.

Schulenburg Head Coach Clay Ferguson spoke about his team’s offensive struggles after the game.

“We probably had four wide open touchdowns and we just didn’t connect them,” Ferguson said. “That’s football. That’s life.”

Ferguson had made some personnel adjustments ahead of the Weimar game. Notably, defensive playmaker Jayvan Luhrs traded in his No. 83 jersey for a No. 77 so he could help out on the line.

“With some of the injuries we’ve had, we wanted to look at some different kids in different spots,” Ferguson said. “I felt like some kids stepped up and took ownership of some roles this week. I saw some improvement. But there’s some things we need to fix.”

The Horns are now 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in district. The loss against Schulenburg’s historic rival stings, but Ferguson said his team must remain focused.

“The thing we’ve got to understand is this game does not define our season,” Ferguson said. “We’ve got bigger goals. We want to play late into the playoffs. This game is part of that process.”

Weimar improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in district. Their only loss came against Holy Cross San Antonio, a 5A private school.

They face returning state champs Ganado next week. Ganado beat Kenedy Friday night 33-27. Schulenburg had beaten Kenedy two weeks ago 47-26.