(San Marcos) – Navarro hunts down its fourth straight trip to the fourth round of the 4A Division II football playoffs Friday when the Panthers face No. 8 Sinton in the Region IV semifinals at Texas State’s Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos.
Navarro fought past Smithville 45-35 in the bi-district round and clobbered Port Isabel 55-7 in the area bracket last week to move to 9-2 in Rod Blount’s fourth season as head coach.
Michael Troutman, a 1993 Sinton graduate, leads an 11-1 squad in his third season as head coach of his high school alma mater. The Pirates won the District 16 championship with a 7-0 mark before cruising through Bandera 68-14 and La Grange 49-20 in the first two playoff rounds.
Sinton’s only loss was a 34-30 setback to 4A Division I playoff team Corpus Christi-Miller in Week 3. The Pirates have reeled off nine consecutive wins since.
After a dominant effort against Port Isabel’s version of the Slot-T, Navarro’s defense is tasked with facing a more conventional Sinton attack, led by a twin brother tandem that has terrorized opponents in the Coastal Bend region for the bulk of this season.
Senior quarterback Rene Galvan enters Friday with 1,353 rushing yards and 19 scores to go with 1,235 passing yards and 14 touchdowns through the air. His sibling, running-back Rylan Galvan, has piled up 1,058 rushing yards with 21 trips to the end zone. The Galvans were voted Co-MVPs of District 16 at the end of their junior season last year.
The duo works behind an all-senior offensive line. That combination of talent and experience has been the backbone in a Sinton offense averaging 50.5 points, 436 total yards, and 317 rushing yards (8.7 per carry) this season.
Navarro looks to keep the ball away from the Galvans by controlling the clock and giving the Sinton defense a steady mixture of Cole Mouser (1,129 yds., 20 TD), Colton Chambers (730 yds., 8 TD), Brody Whitson (742 total yds., 8 TD), Nick Billings (1,169 total yds., 17 TD), Antoine Mebane (491 yds., 4 TD), and Diego Chapa (467 yds., 6 TD).
Mebane, a sophomore, has topped the 140-yard mark in each of the Panthers’ first two playoff games. Mouser has scored five touchdowns in the post-season.
The play-action pass has emerged as a dangerous weapon when defenses load up against the run. Billings has tossed four touchdown passes in two playofff games on such designs – two of 60-plus yards to tight end Seth Rodriguez, a 34-yarder to Chambers, and a 30-yarder to Jaxen Monkerud.
The Panther defense has forced seven turnovers in the playoffs – five fumble recoveries and two interceptions – and hopes to collect a few from a Sinton offense that has lost 10 fumbles and thrown seven picks on the year.
The Sinton defense has allowed just 12.7 points per game this season, with no opponent scoring more than 21 during the nine-game winning streak. The Pirates have All-District returnees in every position group – defensive linemen Logan Dewald and Jeremiah Molina, linebackers Tyler Ramirez and Jonathan Morin, and cornerback Jaedin Howard.
Sinton has also been adept at forcing turnovers and capitalizing on them, with 20 takeaways and seven defensive touchdowns (6 Int. returns, 1 fumble return) on the year.
Navarro and Sinton last met in the 2019 regional semis, with the Panthers pulling away late for a 31-22 win.
Friday’s kickoff at Bobcat Stadium in set for 7:30 p.m. The game will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m.