Team to Watch: Boerne

The magazine’s preseason pick to win District 14-4A-1, the Greyhounds enter the season far from off-the-radar. Following Friday’s 42-13 dismantling of a Beeville Jones team that won its first 11 games in 2019, Boerne may have opened more eyes.

“I thought we would play well,” Boerne coach Che Hendrix said Saturday. “We learned a lot [about defending the Wing T] in our scrimmage against Canyon Lake, and we had a couple of weeks to prepare for them. And defensively, we wanted to play well.”

How well did Boerne’s defense play? Jones didn’t score until the outcome had long been decided and gained just 168 yards on the night.

“I was anxious to see how our defensive line would hold up and they were outstanding,” Hendrix said. “We dominated them from the first drive. I’m really proud of our effort and our attitude.”

Jon Warden anchored Boerne’s defensive effort.

While Jones sputtered, Boerne’s offense had no such trouble. The Greyhounds raced to a 35-0 lead, scoring touchdowns on their first four possessions. Even better, Hendrix said, they did it with a balanced attack that kept the Trojans on their heels.

Scott Hettie rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Rashawn Galloway completed his first 12 passes on a near-perfect night. He threw two first-half touchdowns to finish off a 13-for-14 night.

“We came out firing on all cylinders,” Hendrix said. “Our quarterback was ultra-accurate. We threw and caught it well, and we ran it well also. That was something that we couldn’t do against [Jones] last year [in a 33-17 loss]. I was really happy to see the balance.”

While Hendrix enjoyed the balance, he knows one game – especially an early-season game – won’t define his 2020 Greyhounds.

“Here’s the thing, these early games are as never as good or as bad as you think they are,” Hendrix said. “We made a ton of mistakes, and we have to look critically at what we did. The things we did well this week, we definitely want to build on,” Hendrix said. “But we still have to get a lot better. We want to be at our best in October when district play starts.”

Staking their claim

More often than not, reigning state champions start the following season atop the polls for their respective divisions. That’s not the case in two classifications as the 2020 season kicks off.

In 3A-Division I, Brock opens the season in the top spot, ahead of two-time defending champ Grandview. In 2A-Division I, Shiner occupies the top spot ahead of Refugio, which rallied to knock the Comanches out of last year’s playoffs in a thriller.

If Brock or Shiner had any extra nerves in their season openers, they didn’t show. The Eagles flew past Bushland 55-7 and Shiner won a battle of top-10 teams by outscoring preseason 3A-D1 No. 8 Hallettsville 44-34.

Brock scored early and often in announcing its presence against Bushland. Cash Jones gained more than half of his team’s 414 rushing yards, part of a 659-yard outburst that overwhelmed Bushland.

“We have a lot of weapons and a lot of speed.,” Brock coach Chad Worrell said. “The guys played hard from the get-go. We have confidence to put the ball in a lot of guys hands and know they can make plays.”

Trevor Haynes returned the opening kickoff for a score, and Shiner’s combo of Dalton and Douglas Brooks rushed for 146 yards and scored three touchdowns, enough to outlast Hallettsville’s Johnathon Brooks. The Texas Longhorns commit rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns and also returned a fumble for a score.

“We leaned on the experience we have,” Shiner coach Daniel Boedeker said. “They’ve been in situations like this before. We just had to stay the course and respond when they got back in the game.”

State Champions Open with Wins

The title holders got their 2020 campaigns off on the right foot. While most cruised, 3A-D1 champion Grandview held off Malakoff 31-24 in one of the state’s biggest battles.

Malakoff forced the two-time defending champs to overtime on Nathan Jones’ touchdown with 48 seconds left. Grandview’s Dane Jentsch ran for a 16-yard touchdown in overtime, and the Zebras sealed the win when Dametrious Crownover sacked Darion Pearce on fourth and goal. Jentsch threw two touchdown passes and caught another as part of his four-score night.

A quick roundup of the other reigning champions’ wins:

Carthage opened the season with a methodical 27-7 win over Kilgore. Kai Horton threw for 226 yards, Mason Courtney scored twice on the ground and a dominant defense held Kilgore to just 163 yards. 

Texarkana Pleasant Grove headed east and throttled Nashville (Ark.) 55-14. Jaylen Boardley and Logan Johnson each topped 100 yards as the Hawks built a 48-7 halftime lead.

Ground-based Gunter threw the ball efficiently. Hudson Graham hit 12 of his 13 passes for 275 yards and three scores and the Tigers rolled past Van Alstyne 48-7

Taking on a 4A-D2 team proved no tall task for 2A-D1 champ Refugio. New quarterback Caleb Hesseltine threw for 235 yards to lead a balanced offense.

Mart’s quest for a fourth straight title began with a 34-7 win over Teague. Roddrell Freeman, now the Panthers’ quarterback after earning all-state honors at running back in 2019, ran for 223 yards and three scores.

Blum opened its title defense with a 56-6 win over Aquilla. Richland Springs hasn’t played its first 2020 contest yet.