(Seguin) — In a game that had a playoff atmosphere, the Seguin Matadors won a crucial District 12-5A match-up with the Hays Hawks on Friday night at Matador Stadium, 42-24.
The win keeps Seguin within one game of first place Smithson Valley at 3-1 and moved the Mats into a tie for second place in the district. The Wagner Thunderbirds and Boerne-Champion Chargers are also 3-1. The Hawks dropped to 1-3 in district play.
Seguin got on the scoreboard first against the Hawks, by taking the opening kickoff and driving 75 yards down the field in less than two minutes. A long run by running back John Jackson got the Mats down to the Hays one-yard line and Devin Hall would cap the drive by scoring from the one to make the score, 7-0.
Seguin would recover a Hays fumble on their first drive and take the ball and score again. This time, quarterback Corey Dailey connected with receiver Nik Henry on a 42-yard scoring strike to put the Matadors ahead, 14-0.
The Hawks would kick a field goal early in the second quarter to close to 14-3, but then Seguin would score on their third consecutive possession to start the game when Dailey found a streaking Holt Haas down the left sideline for a 23-yard TD pass to put the Mats up, 21-3.
Hays would score on a 35-yard Hail Mary into the end-zone on the final play of the half to pull within 21-10 as the teams headed into the locker room. The Mats had over 200 yards of offense in the first half including over 120 on the ground from Jackson.
The Seguin defense would stop the Hawks on their first series to start the second half and the offense would respond when Dailey found Henry on a 50-yard score as the junior wide-out took a short pass and sprinted to the end-zone to give the Mats a 28-10 lead. The teams would trade touchdowns the rest of the way with Seguin getting touchdown rushes from Jackson and Hall to complete their scoring on the night.
Corey Dailey was 13-17 on the night for 183 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Henry finished the night with four catches for 108 yards. Jackson tallied 214 yards on the ground on 16 carries to give him 1415 yards on the season through seven games.
In other district games Friday, Smithson Valley stayed unbeaten in district by blasting San Antonio MacArthur, 62-0. New Braunfels Canyon shut out Lehman, 47-0. And Wagner handed Boerne-Champion their first loss of the season, beating the Chargers, 34-21
The Matadors will play at Canyon next Friday. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. and we’ll have the game for you on KWED.