(Seguin) — Jacob Burns made a leaping grab in the back of the endzone on the final play in regulation and Gabe Hernandez split the uprights on the ensuing extra point to give the Seguin Matadors a thrilling 28-27 victory over the Wagner Thunderbirds on Friday night at Matador Stadium.
Matador quarterback Corey Dailey lofted a 20-yard pass to Burns who somehow managed to outjump a crowd of Wagner defenders and come down with the football inside the back line with triple zero’s showing on the clock. The only catch of the night for the senior was the most important one for the Matadors who never held a lead in the game until the game was over.
Seguin drove 70 yards in the game’s final minutes to score the winning touchdown. The drive was set up by a 4th down stop by the Seguin defense. With 2:05 left in the game, Matador linebacker Reggie Richardson stopped Wagner running back Jaden Tardy two yards shy of the first down marker at the Seguin 30 yard line to give the ball back to the Matador offense leading to the game winning drive and play.
The Matadors were behind by 20 points after the game’s first 12 minutes. Wagner’s defense held Seguin to two three-and-outs and forced a turnover-on-downs leading to three touchdowns by the T’bird offense in the first quarter.
Seguin’s defense would stiffen in the 2nd quarter and the Mats got short rushing touchdowns from running back Ian Moreno and Dailey to pull within 20-14 at the break. The junior Moreno already had over 100 yards on the ground by halftime.
The Thunderbirds would score for the final time of the night when Tardy scored on a 14-yard run to cap the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. Seguin answered with a touchdown on 4th down on their next drive. On a 4th and goal from the one, Dailey found tight end Lane Seidenberger open in the right flat at the goal line to bring the Matadors with six again at 27-21 with a little over 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
Wagner threatened to go back up by two scores in the 4th, but Seguin defensive lineman Kyle Medrano forced a Thunderbird fumble at the Matador six-yard line and Matador defensive back Cameron Juarez-Bruns fell on the ball to end the threat. The Mats would then punt and the defense would get the turnover-on-downs that would lead to the Seguin winning score.
Medrano and Jared Rogers had big nights for Seguin on the defensive line. Medrano finished the game with three tackles to go along with his forced fumble. Rogers had six tackles including one for loss. In the secondary, Juarez-Bruns had an interception and safety Ocean Moreno had five tackles. Matador linebacker Julius Rivera had six tackles and one for a loss.
Ian Moreno was a workhorse on the ground for the offense. The running back finished with 174 yards on 36 carries and a touchdown. He added four receptions for 22 yards. Dailey was 18 of 30 through the air for 136 yards with two TD’s. Seidenberger finished with five catches for 48 yards.
With Friday night’s dramatic victory, the Mats improved to 3-2 in District 13-5A. New Braunfels is also 3-2 after they fell to Smithson Valley at home on Friday. The Matadors and Unicorns are tied for 3rd place in the district. Pieper, who will play at MacArthur on Saturday, leads the district at 4-0. The Rangers are 4-1. Seguin and New Braunfels will meet next week in the 112th Guadalupe River Bowl at Matador Stadium. We’ll have the game on KWED.
In other area games on Friday night, Navarro improved to 3-2 in District 13-4A with a 45-15 victory over Smithville at homecoming at Navarro High School. And Marion fell to 2-1 in District 13-3A in a 28-21 setback at Ingram Moore.