2009-11-05

Bulldogs roll past Owls 37-29 at Hondo

By Tim McGrath

The Bandera High School Bulldogs, powered by senior Tyler Stevens’ 250 yard, three-touchdown performance, rolled past the Hondo Owls 37-29 in District 29AAA football action played on Friday, Oct. 30, at Barry Field in Hondo.

The victory by the Bulldogs clinched a playoff berth in District 29AAA while improving their ’09 season record to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in district play. With the loss, Hondo fell to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in district while coming one game closer to elimination in the upcoming playoffs.

In other 29AAA action last week, the Pearsall Mavericks remained on top of the 29AAA standings with a 54-13 victory at Carrizo Springs while the Devine Warhorses shut out the Lytle Pirates 48-0 to all but clinch the third and final playoff spot in District 29AAA. This week, the Bulldogs will celebrate Senior Night and play host to the visiting Lytle Pirates in the ’09 District 29AAA finale on Friday, Nov. 6, at BHS Bulldog Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.

At Hondo, the Dogs racked up a total of 570 yards in offense that included 330 yards rushing and 240 yards in the air while utilizing four quarterbacks to trigger the offensive explosion. Stevens started the game at quarterback for Bandera and shared the duties with Bulldog starter Cole Hubble throughout most of the game. Cisco Ruiz and Ryan Walker also saw action at the quarterback position for the Dogs against Hondo.

Hubble, still smarting from a previous injury, was used primarily in passing situations while Stevens took on the rushing load and more than delivered with three touchdowns and 250 yards on the ground. Stevens also completed three of five passes for 40 yards and another Bulldog touchdown. Hubble, playing in limited duty, put on an impressive passing performance by completing 12 of 15 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns to balance out the Bulldog offensive surge.

Senior wide receiver Cisco Ruiz led all Bulldog receivers with eight catches for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns while sophomore Ryan Walker added 75 yards and a touchdown on five receptions for Bandera.

The Bulldogs got on the board first at Hondo when Ruiz took a 10-yard pass from Stevens for a touchdown at the 5:31 mark of the first period to put the Dogs up 6-0. The PAT attempt was blocked. Later in the opening period, Stevens broke loose around the left side and broke several tackles on his way to a 71-yard touchdown run to extend the Dogs lead to 12-0 over the Owls. The PAT attempt failed.

Stevens’ TD run capped off a four-play, 96-yard drive that included a 24-yard Hubble-to-Walker completion for a first down at the Bandera 29-yard line. The Dogs’ offense kept on rolling while the defense stifled the Hondo ground game time after time.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs stretched their lead to 19-0 when Hubble passed 36 yards to Ruiz for a Bandera touchdown with 8:15 remaining in the period. Sterling Yurrita tacked on the PAT for Bandera. Later in the period, the Dogs scored again when Stevens ran it in from 10 yards out to cap off an eight-play, 45-yard drive as the Dogs took a 25-0 lead with 4:38 remaining in the first half. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Owls countered with an eight-play, 63-yard scoring drive and successful PAT to bring the score to 25-7 with 2:26 still to play in the second quarter. Hondo’s Lee Ray Quintanilla ran it in from three yards out for the Owl touchdown to cap off the drive. Eduardo Luna added the PAT for Hondo.

With just over a minute to play in the half, the Dogs gained possession of the ball at their own 35-yard line and, with Hubble at the helm, moved 65 yards in four plays for a Bandera touchdown and a 31-7 halftime lead. On the drive, Hubble completed four consecutive passes, including a finishing 19-yard toss to Walker for the Bulldog score with only 10 seconds remaining in the half. The PAT attempt failed.

Hondo junior quarterback Hawk Sullivan rallied the Owls in the second half starting with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Esmo Sanchez at the 4:21 mark of the third period followed by Nathan McKinnerey’s PAT to make it 31-14 in favor of Bandera.

However, the Bulldogs countered quickly when Stevens raced 74 yards for his third score of the night with 3:56 left in the period. The PAT failed but the Dogs lead was extended to 37-14. Hondo struck for a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns as Sullivan scored on a two-yard run with 10:04 left in the period followed by a Luna extra-point before Sanchez grabbed a 20-yard TD pass from Sullivan with 4:07 left in the game. On the conversion, Sanchez added two more points for the Owls to close the gap to 37-29 with Bandera in the lead.

The Dogs threatened to score once again but lost the ball on a turnover at the Hondo five-yard line with only 45 seconds remaining in the game.

The Owls took over possession at that point but were unable to mount a drive as Bandera senior linebacker Zach Young picked off a Sullivan pass on the final play of the game to insure the Bulldog 37-29 victory.