(Seguin) – Micah Rodriguez threw a career-high six touchdown passes in the first half alone to fuel Seguin’s 49-7 dismantling of Kyle-Lehman in the final home game of the regular season Friday afternoon at Matador Stadium.
The Matadors only needed five offensive snaps to build a 21-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes and three seconds. Rodriguez was 5-5 for 144 yards and three touchdowns during that span.
Tristan Moreno made a leaping catch for 33 yards on the senior quarterback’s first attempt, and Kai Seidenberger scampered into the end zone for 28 yard touchdown on the next Rodriguez throw.
Moreno notched his first touchdown reception on a 39-yard sprint after a jet sweep pass from Rodriguez, and Alex Concepcion pulled in a 26-yard TD catch in the back of the end zone after Ian Box recovered a Lehman fumble that was punched out by John Michael Mata.
Rodriguez and Moreno hooked up again for a 14-yard score to put the Mats up 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
With a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, but no sign of either when the game started, Seguin head coach Travis Bush decided to attack through the air early and often.
“Not knowing what the weather was going to do, we came out and the weather was decent, so we had to win the first quarter,” Bush said. “We really wanted to try to be aggressive and see what we could do early in case the weather came in bad. In the second half, it got pretty cold and windy. So that was good to see. Proud of the guys the way they started. We built the lead there in the first half, and just kind of finished it off there in the second half.”
Rodriguez added a 13-yard touchdown pass to Moreno and a 16-yard strike to Michael Martinez in the second quarter to give the Matadors a 42-0 cushion at halftime.
The second of those scores was set up by Kaleb McCann’s recovery of a fumbled Lehman punt return. Junior cornerback Chris Awshaw came up with first interception of the season in the second period as well.
Seguin only needed three plays to drive 75 yards on the opening possession of the third quarter, as Marques Washington broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run just one minute into the half. Rodriguez delivered a 15-yard completion to Seidenberger and a 17-yard strike to McCann before Washington’s run. Garrett Stiles nailed his seventh PAT kick in as many attempts to put the Mats up 49-0.
The Seguin defense denied Lehman’s first legitimate shot to break up the shutout when Mata and Awshaw stuffed running-back Robert Vasquez on a fourth-and-one carry at the Matadors’ one-yard line inches shy of the first-down marker.
The Lobos finally found the end zone on a 28-yard pass from Zach Casarez to Tanner Johnson with 2:48 left in the game.
“Lehman’s not a bad football team,” Bush said. “They played hard all day. They did a great job stopping the run, and they did some good things offensively, but proud of the way our defense played. They came up with a goal-line stand early in the third that could have allowed them to get some momentum, and the big turnovers when we needed them.”
Rodriguez finished 20-24 for 331 yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions. Washington ran for 119 yards and a score on 15 carries. Moreno totaled 136 receiving yards and three TDs on seven catches, Concepcion 49 yards and a touchdown on five receptions, and Jerivan Contreras 68 yards on three catches to go with 43 rushing yards on 10 carries.
The Matadors out-gained the Lobos 539 yards to 233.
Seguin has forced at least three turnovers in each of the last three games – four apiece against McCollum and Buda-Johnson, and three more against Lehman.
The playoff-bound Matadors are 6-2 overall, 5-1 in district play, and tied with New Braunfels-Canyon for second place in the 12-5A-Division I standings. Dripping Springs sits alone in first with a 6-0 district record.
Seguin can claim a share of the district title and secure the No. 2 playoff seed with a road win over Dripping Springs in the regular season finale this Friday. A loss would leave the Mats with the No. 3 seed. Friday’s game will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.